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Tai Tuivasa was ready for a war but he only needed 67 seconds to put ex-NFL player Greg Hardy away with a devastating first-round knockout on the UFC 264 main card.
The always entertaining Australian was dancing to the octagon after walking out to the Spice Girls and he continued the party in the cage as he started throwing punches with Hardy as soon as the action got started.
It was actually Hardy who took to the center of the octagon as he pointed to the canvas and invited Tuivasa to trade punches with him. To his credit, Hardy actually connected with a stiff right hand that put Tuivasa on his heels momentarily but that’s also what led to the finish just second later.
With Hardy moving forward trying to swarm on Tuivasa with punches, “Bam Bam” just stepped back and unleashed a hellacious left hand that landed directly on the eye.
Hardy went down in a heap as referee Mark Smith rushed into stop the fight immediately as the former defensive end was definitely done for the night.
WHAT IN THE @BamBamTuivasa #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/RXCmomvTsw
— UFC (@ufc) July 11, 2021
“He wanted to bang with me,” Tuivasa said following his win. “I’m not the right guy to bang with. Pick another bloke.”
Afterwards, Tuivasa celebrated with his signature “shoey” on top of the cage while shouting out the sold out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Now riding a three-fight win streak with all of his victories coming by way of knockout or TKO, Tuivasa said he hopes to get a top 15 opponent in his return to action.