What martial arts does Tai Tuivasa use in the UFC?

Tai Tuivasa is an Australian MMA fighter who fights in the UFC at the 120KG mark. His large size has earned him the nickname ‘Bam bam’ due to his explosive knockout power. However, it’s not just his fighting skills that have earned him many fans around the world. Due to his interesting character, Tuivasa has also caught people’s attention with his funny antics and charisma.

As a result, many people also refer to him as a joker due to his light-hearted nature. His unique name is taken from his indigenous background. Tuivasa’s mother is a native Australian, whilst his mother is from Samoa. This is the perfect combination for fighting, as these people are known to have large, stocky genes – just like Mark Hunt.

Back to MMA, Tuivasa has a solid record and as you can imagine, is a pretty solid mixed martial artist which is a given considering he’s a pro UFC fighter. Here’s a list of the martial arts that he trains and what he’s best at.

Tai Tuivasa knows kickboxing and muay thai

Tuivasa is known for his love of striking and although most of the power lies in his fists, he can also land some pretty heavy kicks and elbows too. Over the years, Tuivasa has trained at the legendary Tiger Muay Thai gym in Thailand. This is a good investment for any ambitious fighter, as it means you’re serious about Muay Thai. Geographically, Thailand isn’t too far from Australia either, so it makes sense in terms of convience.

Elsewhere, Tuivasa has also trained in Kickboxing and also fought professionally for a while. As a Kickboxer, Tuivasa had an impressive 16-2 record. This is kind of ironic, considering that he’s known for his punches – but also shows that he’s more versatile than you may think when it comes to throwing kicks. Interestingly, Tuivasa’s Kickboxing record is significantly better than his boxing record.

Tai Tuivasa knows boxing

In 2012, Tuivasa had his first boxing match and retired in 2016 with a pro record of 5-2. All of these fights took place in Australia and also took part around the same time as his earlier MMA career took place. Often, MMA fighters will compete in all sorts of skillsets during the earlier stages of their MMA career. The point of this is to become more versatile and improve at pure disciplines, in this case Tuivasa did this with boxing.

As you can imagine, taking a shot from Tuivasa would be devastating and he could have probably gone on to have a successful career as a boxer if he went down that path. In his earlier career, Israel Adesanya also did similar activities outside of MMA.

Tai Tuivasa knows some wrestling

In his earlier days before fighting, Tuivasa was actually a professional rugby player. This isn’t too surprising given his stocky physique and Australia’s love for the sport. Interestingly, Alex Volkanovski also trained rugby before transitioning into MMA. Why mention this? Because rugby uses a lot of grappling techniques. For instance, the rugby tackle is very similar to a double leg takedown and so on.

This would have served for a good athletic base before Tuivasa moved into MMA. These days, he does train wrestling formerly which is a must for any MMA fighter who takes it seriously. For all his knockout power, Tuivasa may be a bit useless on the floor, so even if he learns wrestling purely to defend takedowns, that’s better than not learning how to grapple. A good example of using defensive wrestling is seen with Conor McGregor. Although he doesn’t shoot for takedowns himself, he certainly knows how to stop them.

Tai Tuivasa doesn’t do BJJ

Famously, Tai Tuivasa doesn’t really train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. This isn’t too unusual at the higher weights as most of the wins come by way of knockout. In fact, this is quite literal in Tuivasa’s case as all of his wins have been knockouts. Therefore, he doesn’t really train BJJ. As ever, Tuivasa is a bit of a joker and even took part in a game where he had to guess the names of BJJ moves. Here, he failed miserably which shows his lack of knowledge in this area.

He also listed his favorite BJJ move on the UFC website as ‘standing back up’ which further shows his attitude toward ground fighting. Arguably, he could at least learn some of the basics such as how to defend or finish a rear naked choke. However, for the most part you can probably get away with neglecting BJJ at the higher weights compared to the lower weight classes.

What is a shoey?

Contrary to popular belief, Tai Tuivasa did not invent the shooey. However, it’s fair to say that he did shine a big light on the act and was the first ever UFC fighter to do a shoey. In short, a shoey is an Australian term that describes the process of drinking alcohol out of a shoe. This is done by Tuivasa as part of his celebrations whenever he wins a fight.

Whilst some find this gross, others see it as comical and once again this is in line with Tuivasa’s funny image. The shoey has been done in Australia for many years and is popular amongst college kids and the working class. Although outsiders may find it odd, this is another example of Australia’s unusual humor.

What do Tai Tuivasa’s tattoos mean?

As Tai Tuivasa’s mother is Samoan, his tattoos pay homage to his roots. Samoan tattoos are common, even amongst those with no connection to the country. Here, people have them due to their interesting and cool-looking patterns. Obviously, as Tuivasa is part-Samoan, it makes sense for him to pay respect to his past.

Some Samoan tattoos are given to warriors to show their prestige, which is ironic as Tuivasa is a modern day fighter – so with this said, it’s quite an appropriate touch. He has Samoan tattoos on his legs, arms, and lower back.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s fair to say that Tuivasa is primarily a striking-based martial artist. In fact, his game heavily revolves around striking more so than most other fighters. Partly, this is due to his size where striking is more emphasized. However, part of this is also down to his general style and background in striking to begin with.

In conclusion, Tuivasa isn’t much of a grappler but this doesn’t matter too much. If you give him the time and space to start punching then there’s a good chance you’re getting knocked out pretty quickly.