Tallison Teixeira completely ran out of steam before the final bell tonight at UFC 325, but his work in the earlier rounds against an equally tired Tai Tuivasa ensured he emerged with a unanimous decision win.
Round One
Tuivasa immediately on the front foot applying pressure and looking for strikes, but Teixeira is able to take him down.
Teixeira keeping Tuivasa down and starts landing a few solid elbows. Tuivasa onto his knees and struggling to stand. He does manage to, but Teixeira is still clinched up and is able to trip him back down to the mat.
Teixeira gets full mount and lands an elbow. Back to half-guard now. He lands a couple of punches. Tuivasa traps an arm. Teixeira wrenches it free. Teixeira lands an elbow.
Teixeira steadily chipping away with occasional punches and lands another elbow too. A few more strikes land. Tuivasa now finally battling back to his feet, narrowly missing a knee strike in the process.
Tuivasa immediately marching forward again and ends up in the clinch against the cage. Tuivasa opts to just stay there and slow things down in the final seconds of the round.
Round Two
Teixeira misses with a front kick upstairs and then unleashes a punch behind it. Leg kick for Tuivasa.
Inside leg kick from Tuivasa and a head kick attempt that just comes up short from Teixeira.
Teixeira just misses with another big strike. Tuivasa with a short combo. Body kick for Teixeira. Low kick for Tuivasa. He lands another and almost knocked Teixeira off-balance.
Low kicks for Teixeira. Inside leg kick for Tuivasa. Now a hard one on the outside of the calf.
Right hand lands nicely for Tuivasa. Teixeira lands a three-piece combo and Tuivasa just eats them, but is then slow to react when Teixeira goes for the takedown and that enables him to land it.
Tuivasa almost able to get out from under him, but isn’t able to escape before Teixeira gets back on top. Teixeira able to pass to full mount now.
Tuivasa gives up his back and is now flattened out. Teixeira with a few left hands. Back to full mount and Teixeira smothers Tuivasa in the final minute of the round. Tuivasa trying to punch from his back, but not much happening there.
Round Three
Tuivasa with low kicks. Teixeira fires back with hooks. Tuivasa fends off a takedown attempt.
Tuivasa with a couple of sloppy swinging punches. He’s tired, but so is Teixeira. Tuivasa opts to clinch up, perhaps to get a breather.
A few knees to the leg from Tuivasa. Suddenly Tuivasa is looking for punches and is getting through. A big punch and Teixeira is a bit wobbled, but still standing.
Tuivasa lumbers forward. He lands another big punch and Teixeira is wilting. Tuivasa clinches up.
Another breather for him. Tuivasa at risk of getting taken down, but he musters up the strength to throw a punch and an uppercut behind it. He’s exhausted though and so he gets back into the safety of the clinch.
Tuivasa buying some time again, then fires off a few punches in close. More clinching. Teixeira trying to get the fight to the floor, but Tuivasa stuffs it. They stay on the mat. Tuivasa needs to work for a finish, but he’s running on empty. He starts to chip away with body punches. He’s working up to a final flurry, but isn’t able to summon the strength to find the big punch he needs.
Decision
Teixeira was able to use his advantage on the mat to get the better of the first couple of rounds, and so Tuivasa’s rally in the striking department in the final round wasn’t enough to swing the fight in his favor. Teixeira wins by unanimous decision (29-28 x3).
