Heavyweight sluggers Tai Tuivasa and Greg Hardy traded meathooks at UFC 264 tonight (Sat., July 10, 2021) inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Neither big is ranked in the Top 15, so it was more of a pay-per-view (PPV) treat for blood-thirsty combat sports fans.
And it delivered as advertised, with Hardy hurting Tuivasa with a big shot early, but “Bam Bam” countered with a brutal left hook that put the former NFL pro-bowler down for the count little more than one minute into the opening frame.
Both fighters touched gloves to open up the festivities, with Hardy pointing to the center of the cage and inviting Tuivasa to come trade hands. Instead, Tuivasa started with some low kicks, with Hardy firing back with a hard shot upstairs. More low kicks from Tuivasa — inside and out — as Hardy responded with a huge punch that got Tuivasa on a stanky leg.
Or, perhaps, maybe he was just playing possum?
Hardy charged in looking for a violent finish, but Tuivasa drilled him with a huge left hand that dropped him immediately. Hardy grabbed his eye as if something was really wrong, but Tuivasa didn’t care, drilling him with several follow up shots on the ground until the referee mercifully pulled him off less 90 seconds into round one.
Tuivasa now has three straight major knockout wins, reminding the world why fight fans were excited about “Bam Bam” in the first place.
SHOEY FTW!!!!!
Knockout
Shoey@bambamtuivasa doing what Tai Tuivasa does at #UFC264 pic.twitter.com/cERJzjlp3A— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 11, 2021
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