MY ULTIMATE TEST
KNOCKOUT king Tai Tuivasa has one man in his sights when he eventually returns to the UFC octagon in 2023; Jon Jones.
Tuivasa revealed earlier this week he would take an extended break from the sport for six months after this weekend’s fight against Sergei Pavlovich.
But when he does return midway through 2023, Tuivasa would love to get his hands on none other than former lightheavyweight champion Jones, who is expected to begin campaigning at heavyweight next year.
“I would love to fight Jon Jones, we’ve had words on Instagram before,” Tuivasa said.
“I do this to challenge myself, and I still do regard him as one of the greatest of all time. What better way to challenge myself than against the greatest?
“I would definitely love to. But he is part of all the commotion and politics side of the sport, I ain’t got time for all of that.
“I come here, I earn my money, I fight whoever they tell me to fight, I go home.”
Tuivasa’s doubts about a showdown against Jones are reasonable. While he has a string of behavioural issues, Jones is one of the biggest names in the UFC, and would be seen as a big-money fight for heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou.
Putting him in the cage with the heavy-handed Tuivasa may be seen by the UFC as too great a risk before any title fight.
In any case, Tuivasa will have his hands full in Orlando on Sunday when he takes on
Russian Pavlovich on a UFC Fight Night to be televised live on ESPN2 from 2pm (AEST).
Tuivasa is ranked No.4 and Pavlovich No.5, but Pavlovich is the favourite with oddsmakers.
Pavlovic has a 16-1 (13KO) mixed martial arts record, while Tuivasa is 14-4 (13KO) but coming off defeat to Frenchman Cyril Gane in September, having forged a five-fight winning streak prior to that.
“I took a lot from it as an experience. Things are harder in person than watching and definitely being face-to-face with Gane, he was a lot more skilful and the size and speed that he had compared to others, he was much faster than I thought,” Tuivasa said.
“You train for these things but when it comes to real life it’s a lot different. It just wasn’t my day, it was his day.
“I couldn’t land that ending punch that I was looking for, I couldn’t land the leg kicks I wanted.
“Right now I’m keen to get back to the winning circle and put this guy out that everyone is scared of apparently, that’s why they offered him to me.
“I’m coming off a loss, and I want to redeem myself and get back into the winning column.
“It’s a fight, and for him to win he has to go through me and for me to win I have to go through him, it’s real simple to me.
“He likes to bang on, he likes to stand up. That’s a go for me already. “I feel like I’m a lot faster than him. Obviously he’s got knockout power, so do I.
“If he tries to get caught in a swinging match, he might end up second best, like a few others.”