Big boys whip up a storm at Yas
Tuivasa snaps losing streak with knockout win over Struve
The UFC wrapped up its second visit to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi yesterday with a spectacular card of 12 fights, headlined by the hotly anticipated lightweight contest between unbeaten champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and the challenger Justin Gaethje.
At the time of going to press the show — stealer was Australian powerhouse Tai Tuivasa who snapped his three- fight losing streak to stop Dutch veteran Stefan Struve in the very first round.
Tuivasa ( 11- 3 MMA, 4- 3 UFC) may have been conceding height and reach to Struve ( 29- 13 MMA, 13- 11 UFC but not punching power as began to land bombs on his rivals to finish the fight at 4: 59 of the round.
“This feels so good, it’s been a while,” Tuivasa, who was born in Sydney to an Indigenous Australian ( Wiradjuri) mother, and a Samoan father, told commentator Jon Anik in the ring, a reference to his losses against Sergey Spivak, Blagoy Ivanov and Junior dos Santos.
UFC 254 got off to an explosive start earlier in the evening with both the opening preliminary fights ending in firstround finishes.
Spanish up- and- comer Joel Alvarez defeated Alexander Yakovlev via an arm- bar submission at 3 minutes of round one after the Russian attempted a takedown that went horribly wrong.
Alvarez secured a choke from a strong position of his back and although Yakovlev survived, he found himself in a nasty arm- bar as the Spanish
fighter squeezed the life out of his arm forcing the tap. It was another impressive first- round submission for Alvarez.
This paved the way for a women’s flyweight bout between UFC debutant Miranda Maverick and Liana Jojua, which did not last long either.
Doctors rushed in at the end of roundone to take a good look at the cut on Joju’s nose but waived off the fight even as she pleaded to continue.
Maverick was winning on her promotional debut.