UFC 271: Dana White says Tai Tuivasa will soon be ‘mixing it up’ with Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou
- Tuivasa defeats Lewis by stunning second-round KO in co-main event on Saturday night in Houston
- ‘‘He looked good,’ UFC president says, predicting the Australian will land in top five of heavyweight rankings
Australian heavyweight Tai Tuivasa left jaws on the floor at UFC 271 on Saturday night – including Dana White’s.
Tuivasa, 28, returned to the cage in the card’s co-main event, taking on American knockout artist Derrick Lewis. Despite entering the Octagon as a slight underdog, the Australian picked up a career-changing knockout victory in the second round, levelling his hulking foe with an elbow to the head.
“Awesome fight,” White, the UFC President, told the media after UFC 271. “That’s another [fight], you knew those two were going to get in there and once they loosened up and started letting them go it was going to be an interesting night.”
“[Tuivasa has] got a good chin,” White added. “I knew those two were going to bang it out and somebody was going to get caught with something. The elbows looked good. He did take some big shots. Tonight was his night man, he looked good.”
Before UFC 271, Tuivasa (15-3) was ranked No 11 in the UFC heavyweight division, while Lewis (26-9) was perched at No 3.
White isn’t sure where Tuivasa will land when the rankings are updated, but expects him to settle somewhere in Lewis’ vicinity in the top five.
“He should be top three, top five,” White said. “Wherever he shakes out in the rankings, he’ll be mixing it up with those guys.”
