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Tai Tuivasa plans to do ‘bare minimum’ at UFC 221: ‘Then I’m off to the bar’

Tai Tuivasa needed less than a round to get the job done in his UFC debut in November. In his sophomore octagon appearance at UFC 221, he hopes to need even less.

Tuivasa (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) isn’t big on racking up cage time. His six first-round finishes – four of which have come in less than a minute – prove as much. He wants to keep the trend going on Saturday when he meets Cyril Asker (9-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) in a heavyweight bout on the UFC 221 pay-per-view main card, which takes place at Perth Arena in Perth, Western Australia, following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

“I’m going to try to keep it bare minimum,” Tuivasa told MMAjunkie. “Get in there, get out of there. As soon as I get it done, then I’m off to the bar.”

Tuivasa, 24, is regarded as one of the top prospects in the heavyweight division. He might not be the most physically defined athlete, but he can certainly fight, as he showed by delivering a flying-knee knockout in his promotional debut against Rashad Coulter at UFC Fight Night 121.

After making waves with his first UFC fight, “Bam Bam” believes matchmakers have handled him properly for his second contest. Naturally, Tuivasa has aspirations of holding UFC heavyweight gold, and given the thin nature of the division it only takes a handful of impressive wins to get a title shot.

Tuivasa is realistic about his progression, though. He said it’s pivotal to move to the top at a comfortable pace, and in his mind, a four-fight UFC veteran such as Asker is an appropriate next foe.

“Of course (the title is) in my mind, but at the moment I only have one fight,” Tuivasa said. “Everyone is on me saying, ‘You should fight these guys.’ Right now I just want to keep fighting the best guys and sooner or later I will be up there. But for now I’m just taking the fights as they come, and I want to get paid.

“I have a family I have to look after. Right now, I’m just going to knock the first few guys out that I’m up against and at the end of this year I’m going to be knocking on the door for the top-15, top-10 guys.”

Tuivasa said his popularity has gone up since his UFC debut and more people have begun to notice his “ugly head.” He relishes the spotlight, but Tuivasa is intelligent enough to know that it only continues to shine bright when things are going well. Because of that, he said there was no reason to not prepare for UFC 221 with a maximum effort.

“For me, as long as I’m fit and I feel good and I’m on point, then I’m sweet,” Tuivasa said. “We’re going in there to punch on. Anything can happen.”

For more on UFC 221, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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