This past Saturday at UFC 325 in Sydney, Australia, fans witnessed a heartbreaking moment as fan-favorite heavyweight Tai Tuivasa suffered his sixth consecutive loss, falling to Brazilian Tallison Teixeira in front of his home crowd. The defeat marked a new low in Tuivasa’s career, extending his skid to the longest losing streak in UFC heavyweight history, with his last win coming nearly four years ago.

Despite many expecting a retirement announcement to come soon, the Aussie doesn’t seem to have any such plans at the moment. In his first words since the loss, the 32-year-old has expressed a desire to fight again.

Tai Tuivasa eyes wrestling reset after Tallison Teixeira loss, calls on Khamzat Chimaev for help

“That hurts the soul more then any punches,” Tai Tuivasa confessed in a lengthy Instagram post alongside a carousel of images of him with his son and the rest of his team. “I tried. I had a great camp. Looking forward to getting back in camp with the boys… I’m sorry for falling short again. F–in shit feeling ayy.”

He then expressed anguish over his son having to witness the defeats. “My poor boy has watched me get a hiding a few too many times now.” However, he didn’t want his son to feel down over his loss. “As long as you give it all you have and keep trying, that’s all that matters. As long as I’m doing this, I will always keep trying had a great week together, taking him and showing (the things). Didn’t get the result, son. But that is how life goes sometimes.” He then thanked his partner, his team, and everyone who supported him.

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But an important bit came at the very end. The heavyweight called on the UFC middleweight champion to help him with his wrestling. “Khamzat Chimaev, I’m coming to wrestle, brother. Teach me. I am sick of this cuddle sh-t,” he stated. It remains to be seen how Khamzat Chimaev responds to this request.

His performance in comparison to Teixeira’s wasn’t all bad, though. While Tuivasa had his moments on the feet, Teixeira’s three takedowns and nearly seven minutes of control time helped seal the deal in the Brazilian’s favor.

It’s been a rough run for Tuivasa, who was potentially nearing title contention as recently as 2022 when he scored a fifth straight knockout with his win over Derrick Lewis. But Tuivasa fell to former interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane in a Fight of the Night performance, and that started his long losing streak. Alexander Volkov submitted him in the second round at UFC 293 with a rarely-seen Ezekiel choke in 2023. And, in 2024, Tai lost to Marcin Tybura in the first round, tapping to a rear-naked choke.

Once a knockout away from title contention, Tai Tuivasa now finds himself at a crossroads where toughness alone isn’t enough in a grappling-heavy UFC. If this really is the moment he commits to wrestling, the skid may not define him, but the response to it will.

Tai Tuivasa refuses to give up despite a six-fight skid threatening UFC career

After suffering six straight losses, there’s no word yet if the UFC plans to retain Tai  Tuivasa on the roster. He sounds ready to get back to work to fix the problems that plagued him in this latest fight. It wouldn’t come as a surprise if the promotion opted to cut the formerly ranked heavyweight contender.

Because there is no indication that Tuivasa has been removed from the UFC roster, chances are that the promotion will give him one last chance. Despite that, if the 32-year-old were to unfortunately lose his next fight and set an unwanted record for the new longest losing streak in heavyweight history, it is undeniable that his position would be untenable in the promotion.

Tuivasa sounds ready to get back to work to fix the problems that plagued him in this latest fight. Whether the promotion grants him another opportunity remains to be seen, but Tuivasa’s willingness to adapt and his refusal to give up demonstrate the fighting spirit that brought him success earlier in his career.