Tai Tuivasa interview: Dubai saved me. Now I'm on a roll - and it's my time to take over

Tai Tuivasa has just finished another gruelling morning at Champs UAE gym in Al Quoz, where he sweated and sparred and sweated and grappled and sweated some more.

He is not far out from what he concedes constitutes the most important bout of his professional career, when he takes on fellow heavyweight Derrick Lewis in the co-main event at UFC 271 on Sunday morning.

At present, Tuivasa rides a four-fight win streak, thanks to a breakthrough 2021 in which he reeled off three notable victories. Each one came via knockout, each one succeeded by his now-famous “Shoey” celebration — Tuivasa jumps on top of the octagon, has a drink and a shoe thrown to him from the crowd, and combines both before guzzling — each one adding another layer to lore.

All combined, the past year has lifted Tuivasa to among the most popular fighters in the sport.

Yet, as he sits here now, showered and changed but still wiping sweat from his brow, Tuivasa takes note not only of the rise, but the sacrifices made to get to this point.

“A very long way from home,” the Australian says. “It’s very different to home; it's definitely no Western Sydney over here.

“But that’s what I had to do to keep putting food on the table for my son. These are the sacrifices you have to make, especially in this field of work.”

The move to Dubai came about at the beginning of last year. A few months previously, Tuivasa had salvaged his UFC career; beaten in his previous three bouts — the first losses as a pro — and thus threatened with being cut from the world’s lead mixed martial arts promotion, he defeated Stefan Struve at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi.

“That was my comeback fight, you could say,” Tuivasa says. “Now I’m on a roll.”

That said, any momentum could have quickly been