Our man Tai ‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa will be in the biggest fight of his UFC career this Sunday morning when he takes on Ciryl Gane in Paris.
The Western Sydney product will earn a shot at the Heavyweight title with a win over the #1 ranked Gane and the whole of the country is with him to do just that.
We have followed Tai through his entire training camp since his win over Derrick Leiws in February and as you can see below, he is primed and ready to finish Gane in front of his home crowd just like he did in Houston in his last fight.
Former UFC Middleweight champion Robert Whittaker is also looking to get another title shot as he takes on Marvin Vettori in the co-main event.
Our full UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Tuivasa Tips & Preview can be found below.
Five wins in a row.
All by KO/TKO inside the first two rounds.
This has been some ride by Tai Tuivasa and it has been a pleasure to be on the train with him.
He’s a likeable, charismatic, and relatable to many MMA fans and the guy will stand and trade with whoever is put in front of him.
In plenty of our interviews and video content pieces he acts aloof and doesn’t mind taking the piss out of himself but like you have seen in our latest piece, he understands this is the biggest fight of his career and he has been training accordingly.
He was taken down twice by Derrick Lewis in Houston but never panicked and his Muay Thai style was on full show with plenty of clinching up against the cage and of course the vicious elbow that put Lewis to sleep.
Gane, of course, is a former interim champion of the division after he also beat Derrick Lewis to make it 10-0 in August 2021.
He suffered his first loss when attempting to unify the belt against Francis Ngannou but lost a unanimous decision which showed holes in his game that many didn’t believe to be there.
There is no doubt that Ciryl Gane is the far quicker fighter with superior foot work but Tai is a much smarter striker than people give him credit for.
Just like he did in Houston, Tai needs to use his powerful leg kicks to slow down Gane and close the distance as much as possible.
There is no doubt that this is the toughest fight of Tai’s career and while Gane will be looking to score points while staying out of range, let’s hope Bam Bam can catch him when the fight is in close.
Just like Max Holloway in the Featherweight division, Robert Whittaker is clearly the second best Middleweight in the UFC in my opinion.
His only two losses since June 2014 have been to Israel Adesanya and there are many, including myself, that thought he did enough to win their last fight in Houston in February.
Marvin Vettori’s only two losses in his last 10 fights have been to the champion Adesanya as well and the loser of this fight will be left with little options in this division in terms of title prospects.
Vettori took on Paulo Costa at Light Heavyweight in his last fight and won a unanimous decision and he often times controls a fight with his wrestling.
But Whittaker has an excellent ground game which is severely underrated in my opinion and the reason is that he has been able to deal with most of his opponent’s with his kickboxing.
His double jab into high kick is beautiful to watch and his fitness and pressure means he is always a threat throughout his fights.
Both guys have great chins and excellent gas tanks but the Aussie has too many weapons in my opinion and will score enough points to win the fight by decision.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram because we are on the ground in Paris with all the latest news and insights on fight night.
Italian Middleweight Alessio Di Chirico come into this fight having lost four of his last five fights, the most recent a first round head kick KO this time last year.
He started his professional career with nine wins in a row but has since slumped to 13-6.
His opponent is Roman Kopylov who also went 7-0 to start his professional career but has since lost his last two, and only two in the UFC.
There has been a string of cancelled bouts since 2019 for Kopylov but he finally gets inside the octagon for the first time since October last year.
Both of these guys are go forward type of fighters with plenty of power in their hands and the winner will be the one that piles the pressure on the other.
I’m not expecting this to go three rounds.