Tai Tuivasa will now fight Louie Sutherland at UFC Fight Night 275 in Perth, Australia on May 2nd after his original opponent Sean Sharaf had to withdraw after suffering a broken nose.
The 33-year-old Tuivasa comes into this fight in desperate need of a victory as he’s now lost his last six fights in a row.
That slump began with back-to-back KO losses against Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich back in 2022, while Alexander Volkov and Marcin Tybura then went on to submit him.
After a split-decision loss to Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the summer of 2024, Tuivasa announced he was burned out and needed to take time away from the sport to recuperate, but after a year-and-a-half out his comeback fight against Tallison Teixeira in February resulted in another defeat, this time by unanimous decision.
Now he’ll go up against the 32-year-old Sutherland, who comes in on a little over a weeks notice seeking his first UFC win.
Sutherland has suffered two defeats in the Octagon so far, being quickly submitted via Valter Walker’s trademark heel hook last year, followed by a 1st round TKO loss to Brando Pericic just last month.
Tuivasa vs. Sutherland is part of next weekend’s UFC Fight Night 275 card that will be headlined by former welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena vs. Carlos Prates, while Beneil Dariush fights Quillan Salkilld in the co-main event.
