Tai Tuivasa was unranked after six fights inside the Octagon and was pretty much forgotten about in the 265-pound title chase. Then “Bam Bam” went on an absolute tear, racking up five straight wins with five consecutive knockouts, including his second-round destruction of Derrick Lewis earlier this year.
The Aussie is now ranked No. 3 in the official heavyweight rankings.
That position has afforded him the right to call for any matchup he wants, including a potential banger against former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. “Bones” is expected to make his heavyweight debut at some point later this year and reached out to “Bam Bam” to put him on notice.
Mission accomplished.
“He messaged me actually, which was pretty funny,” Tuivasa told The MMA Hour. “I must have said I’ll fight him [in an interview] and he’s going, like, ‘Keep winning, you’ll get your wish’ or something. I don’t know if he was trying to scare me or turn me on, but it did kind of both.”
Tuivasa will first have to get past former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in the UFC Paris main event this Sat. (Sept. 3) at Accor Arena in Paris, France. Finishing “Bon Gamin” would likely put “Bam Bam” on a very short list of 265-pound title contenders for reigning champion Francis Ngannou.
“I think Jon Jones is the best fighter to ever fight,” Tuivasa continued. “Just how he fights. How he fights, he is probably the best fighter to ever step foot in the cage. But is he a dickhead? Yes, I think he’s a dickhead. And will I fight him? Yes. He’s one of the greatest to do it, but I’d love to fight him. Win or lose, I’ll go in there and have a swack. If I dink him, I sink him. Dink him, I sink him. That’s fair dinkum, you know what I mean?”
Jones responded by blocking Tuivasa on Instagram.