ESPN MMA’s Phil Murphy, Brett Okamoto and Marc Raimondi discuss Tai Tuivasa returning to the Octagon against Sergei …
after the main and co-maine what’s the
fight that should excite us the most
I think for sure it’s tied to ivassa
versus Sergey pavlovich I think it’s
interesting that we’re seeing Thai turn
around so quickly
um you know last time Tai was on a roll
then he ran into Junior dos Santos in a
fight that I believe was in Australia
and he was winning that fight then he
got knocked out and it kind of turned
into a tailspin for him he lost three in
a row I believe and then he got back on
on um on a hot streak and he won four or
five in a row but then he run up against
surreal God so I’m just kind of
wondering how is tuivasa gonna respond
to that loss you know I mean we know
that this guy loves to have fun we know
that he loves to be in fun fights I also
think he could be
heavyweight heavyweight is an
interesting division right you don’t
have to be perfect to to win at
heavyweight right and so I think he’s in
a great position you know all these
heavyweights kind of have some flaws
like as good as Francis agano is you
know who’s to say tied to a bus I
couldn’t go in there avoid some big
shots and be tied to and beat Francis
and Gano who’s to say that he couldn’t
get in there and uh and be to Jon Jones
who hasn’t fought in two years I just
think there’s a lot of question marks at
the top of heavyweight and so I hope the
tie is not just kind of turning into
this you know let’s go out and bang dude
because I think he’s better than that I
think he is a better fighter than that I
know that I I love him for his
entertainment quality but this is a
fight in which I would kind of maybe
drag out the fight a little bit
pavlovich has not been out of the first
round in the UFC so far so if I’m Thai I
would want to fight a little smart and
see what that looks like but knowing
time man he might want to go out there
and uh and get it done quickly and and
try to do a Shoei right away and maybe
he will
um but I do hope that Tai is is not just
kind of looking at himself yes you are a
fan favorite you’re always going to be
that regardless of what you try to be
you’re going to be that because that’s
who you are but I hope that Ty is still
looking at his career very seriously
because I think he can still do some
damage I think he’s capable of beating
just about anybody in this division yeah
both these guys know they’re not paid by
the hour of pavlovich four fight win
streak all Knockouts all totaling eight
minutes and 11 seconds to your point
Brett about two minutes and three
seconds per fight Ty five straight
knockout five straight wins a streak
snapped by Cyril gone by knockout Mark
coming to you on this one we saw Ty
almost get The Knockout win he knocked
it down zero gone which got a lot of us
out of our seats because one hitter
quitters in the lineage of Mark Hunter
it seems like tied to a boss is Keen for
those if two of USA puts that in a
bubble and fights the same fight he did
against Cyril gone does he get his hand
raised here against a very dangerous
opponent on a very short turnaround
yeah I mean I thought he fought pretty
well at times against gone I mean he
kind of it it ended up kind of being a
wild sequence where two of USA got
knocked out gone won the fight but
before that I thought that tuivasa was
affording himself very well against Ghan
and he was actually the one who got the
first knockdown and Sir gone is a guy
who has a lot of striking experience and
he’s really Technical and he and he’s
really tactical and striking so that’s a
good sign uh for me that Ty was able to
get to him knock a guy like that down
who can be very elusive on the feet who
you know got like Francine gone who
wasn’t able to really catch up with as
far as Landing Big Shots Ty did it
pavlovich is a different Fighter for
sure you know a bigger guy you know more
imposing guy but I think if like you
said if your question Phil is if tuivasa
fights the same way against gun uh that
he I’m sorry against pavlovish that he
did against gone I think I think three
Vasa does very well in this fight and I
and what I mean by that is how he he
followed gone early because he kind of
got roped into a brawl he had some
moments in those exchanges where he did
hurt gone but it was uh it was obviously
gone coming away with uh the big shots
and ending it but if he can if he can
stay away from maybe getting roped into
a brawl and being a little bit more
patient and picking a spot a little bit
man he’s got power like Brett said that
could knock on anyone in the division
thank you for watching ESPN on YouTube
for live streaming Sports and premium
content subscribe to ESPN Plus