UFC’s apparent drift toward entertainment over sports per se seems to have disappointed Israel Adesanya. It stems from the way the promotion continues to hold on to a fighter like Tai Tuivasa. With a loss on UFC 331, the Australian is now on a record eight-fight losing streak, a sharp contrast to Michael Venom Page, who was recently relieved, despite a four-fight winning streak.

“It’s unfortunate. They cut Michael ‘Venom’ Page, and they don’t cut Bam Bam (Tai Tuivasa),” he told Demetrius Johnson recently.

The former UFC middleweight champion argued that Tuivasa deserves to keep fighting. The defeat to Robelis Despaigne last weekend tied the Australian heavyweight with Tony Ferguson for the longest losing streak in the promotion’s history.

Yet, despite Tuivasa’s last win coming more than four years ago, he remains one of the most entertaining fighters whenever he enters the cage.

But that also raises an obvious question: why the UFC would let go of someone like Page.

“I feel like they got it wrong on that one because he only lost to Ian Garry, who just went toe-to-toe with the pound-for-pound number one, Islam,” Adesanya added.

Weighing up Page’s situation, the Lagos-born New Zealander said that, though they differ stylistically, he understands the British fighter’s predicament because he belongs to that rare group of fighters who are simply difficult to beat. As a result, a fight with Page becomes a war of attrition, with opponents unwilling to take risks against him.

Adesanya felt Page could have been given more time to adapt so that he could incorporate a more entertaining element into his fighting style. To make his case, he cited Khabib Nurmagomedov and Georges St-Pierre. The latter faced intense scrutiny initially during his championship reign before fans began appreciating the way he ended his career.

“You have to let people cook, give them time. Like, Michael, yeah, I understand he was a big investment from Bellator. He’s getting paid well. And he’s delivering, I think, because he’s winning. But maybe they weren’t seeing what they were seeing in Bellator, and they were hoping for that kind of excitement. Bro, look at what he’s doing as Kevin Holland to Jared Cannonier. I find it exciting,” Adesanya reasoned.

The former middleweight champion reflected when a team member pointed to Page’s past criticism of UFC over the fighter-pay issue.

If the UFC was unhappy with the Briton over those remarks, another question remains.

“If the UFC cut him because it was fighter pay or they didn’t want to resign with him or work with him. It’s like I just don’t understand why they won’t pay the athletes,” Demetrius Johnson said. “Like, just f**king pay them. …I don’t know why they didn’t do that. So, that’s what I think. I agree with you. They got it wrong.”

“I think they should have kept MVP. You keep the guys who are winning. If you want to cut them, wait till they f**king lose thing, then then cut them. But don’t cut somebody.”

While the two legends agreed Page’s departure from the UFC was unfortunate, Tuivasa’s situation presents a different question.

One keeps losing, one keeps winning: Why did the UFC choose Tuivasa?

There are reasonable grounds for why Tuivasa has remained a prominent heavyweight in the UFC. Before his current skid, the Australian fighter produced five consecutive knockout victories, including the Derrick Lewis win. His aggressive style and trademark celebrations became hugely popular among fans.

Some accounts have suggested that Tuivasa’s UFC future now looks uncertain after the split decision loss to Despaigne because he is locked into an eight-fight contract, which he signed after defeating Lewis in 2022. But those claims are not supported by reliable evidence. Reportedly, Tuivasa said before facing Ciryl Gane that his existing UFC deal was ending after that bout.

Dana White’s reaction to Tuivasa’s recent loss perhaps offers some insight into the situation. “We love Tai. We love him. He’s a great guy,” White said at post-fight presser for UFC 331. “Tonight, the first round of that fight was incredible, and yeah, he’s a good guy.”

The debate, therefore, primarily rests on the point that the UFC likely looks forward to a particular type of fighter.

While it’s a sports promotion company, it’s also accountable to numerous stakeholders, including casual fans who attend the event primarily to watch exciting finishes. In that landscape, if you have a fighter who wins consistently but whose bouts lack fireworks, questions about his commercial value can arise.

Barring purists, whose numbers could be much lower than those of casual fans, some viewers may be less inclined to watch such fights. As a result, they may start avoiding his slot on television or streaming and, in some cases, may altogether avoid attending a show if they come across his name on the card.

From a business perspective, putting such a fighter on the card, despite his wins, can still present a degree of risk for the promotion.

A case in point is Muhammad Mokaev, the Dagestan-born British fighter, who remains unbeaten in MMA. In the UFC, he had a seven-fight winning streak after making his debut in 2022. Still, after his win over Manual Kape at UFC 304, Mokaev was relieved from the UFC, without his contract being renewed.

Mokaev later claimed that the promotion expected him to deliver exciting finishes.

While there are a few other such examples, it could be argued that in Michael Venom Page’s case, his decision-heavy style ultimately worked against him. Tuivasa also dropped decisions in his last four bouts, but his past performances and willingness to take risks likely helped him remain a recognizable name in the UFC.