Tai Tuivasa will look to return to the win column in December.
Tuivasa took on Ciryl Gane in the main event of UFC Paris in September and lost by TKO. After the loss, it was uncertain when he would return or who he would fight but according to MMAJunkie, Tuivasa has now been booked as the co-main event of UFC Orlando against Sergei Pavlovich, which does down on December 3. The event will be headlined by a welterweight scrap between Stephen Thompson and Kevin Holland.
Tai Tuivasa (14-4) had his five-fight winning streak snapped back in September with the loss to Gane. Although he lost, his stock went up as he dropped Gane and had a ton of success in the bout. On his winning streak, Tuivasa scored knockout wins over Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai, Greg Hardy, Harry Hunsucker, and Stefan Struve.
Tuivasa is currently ranked fourth at heavyweight and is 8-4 inside the Octagon as he also has a notable win over Andrei Arlovski.
Sergei Pavlovich (16-1) is coming off a TKO win over Derrick Lewis at UFC 277 to extend his win streak to four. The fifth-ranked heavyweight is 4-1 inside the UFC as the Russian dropped his debut by TKO to Alistair Overeem.
Pavlovich’s other three UFC wins have come by knockout over Shamil Abdurakhimov, Maurice Greene, and Marcelo Golm.
With the addition of Tai Tuivasa vs. Sergei Pavlovich, the stacked UFC Orlando card is as follows:
- Stephen Thompson vs. Kevin Holland
- Tai Tuivasa vs. Sergei Pavlovich
- Derek Brunson vs. Jack Hermansson
- Rafael dos Anjos vs. Bryan Barberena
- Tracy Cortez vs. Amanda Ribas
- Darren Elkins vs. Jonathan Pearce
- Matheus Nicolau vs. Matt Schnell
- Eryk Anders vs. Kyle Daukaus
- Marc Diakiese vs. Michael Johnson
- Clay Guida vs. Scott Holtzman
- Emily Ducote vs. Angela Hill
- Yazmin Jauregui vs. Istela Nunes
Who do you think will win at UFC Orlando, Tai Tuivasa or Sergei Pavlovich?