Tallison Teixeira endured a hellacious comeback attempt from Tai Tuivasa but the Brazilian survived and got back in the win column with a unanimous decision at UFC 325 on Saturday.
After largely dominating
the opening two rounds with a grappling heavy game plan, Teixeira was running on fumes and Tuivasa was doing everything possible to knock him unconscious. There were a couple of dicey moments but Tuivasa survived the barrage and before long Tuivasa was just as desperate to catch his breath.
Ultimately, Tuivasa ran out of energy and time to forge his comeback while Teixeira proved he was capable of winning a decision after his early career was nothing but first round finishes.
“He’s a tough guy,” Teixeira said about Tuivasa. “I gave my best. I’m exhausted. He’s a tough guy. He’s a knockout artist. My plan is to get him down and go to work.”
Tuivasa came out swinging hammers but Teixeira wasted no time grabbing a takedown and bringing the fight into his world on the ground. Teixeira trapped him against the cage where he started unloading punches and elbows while Tuivasa was playing defense, making every attempt to get back to the feet.
Teixeira stopped Tuivasa from standing before tripping him back to the canvas where he almost immediately moved into the mount. It was a methodical attack from Teixeira as he attempted to hurt Tuivasa but without giving up his dominant position.
Tuivasa survived and exploded back up again where he started slinging heavy leather at Teixeira, who held onto the clinch until time expired.
As the second round got started, Tuivasa was the aggressor with Teixeira looked labored in his movement as stayed cautious in the striking exchanges. That’s when Tuivasa cracked him with a stiff right hand but Teixeira stayed composed, fired back with a nice combination of his own before grabbing a takedown.
Once again, Teixeira moved to a superior position where he began raining down punches with Tuivasa just stuck underneath him. It was a suffocating game plan but Teixeira couldn’t get the finish as the fight moved onto the third round.
With Teixeira clearly running out of gas, Tuivasa started strong but even knowing that he needed to get a finish to win, he actually grabbed onto the clinch and the heavyweights were jockeying for position on the cage. Tuivasa finally broke free and unloaded a brutal combinations of punches that had Teixeira badly rattled, nearly out on his feet.
Somehow, Teixeira survived and Tuivasa looked just as exhausted as time continued to tick away.
Tuivasa finally unloaded another barrage of punches that had Teixeira in desperation mode as the heavyweights stalled on the ground. Tuivasa stayed on the attack but couldn’t quite get the finish as the horn sounded to end the fight.
Following a disappointing outing against Derrick Lewis for the first loss of his career, Teixeira got back on track while stepping into enemy territory to beat Tuivasa in his home country.
