Tai Tuivasa entered UFC Perth with a sense of urgency. Six consecutive losses had already driven ‘Bam Bam’ into dangerous territory, and fighting in front of his home fans seemed like the ideal opportunity to finally halt the decline. A win would have given him more breathing room. Another loss would raise questions that nobody in the sport wants to answer.

And now, those questions are impossible to avoid.

Going one-on-one with short-notice replacement Louie Sutherland and Tai Tuivasa had moments that hinted at life: brief bursts of pressure, a quick elbow in close, and the usual ferocity that once made him one of the most entertaining knockout artists. But those moments faded quickly.

Sutherland drove him into a different type of fight—takedowns, top control, ground pressure, and long stretches in which ‘Bam Bam’ was forced to react rather than dictate. That’s what made the loss feel so heavy.

It was not a wild firefight where Tai Tuivasa got caught swinging. It was a simple, grinding defeat that lasted three rounds and revealed the same faults in his game that have plagued him throughout his losing skid in the UFC so far. The 33-year-old’s wrestling defense, scrambling, and control on the mat once again proved to be expensive.

When the judges gave Louie Sutherland a unanimous decision, ‘Bam Bam’ suffered his seventh consecutive defeat. In fact, he is tied with BJ Penn for the second most consecutive losses in UFC history with seven.

And honestly at this point, this number that feels less like a slump and more like a career-threatening reality for the heavyweight. To make things worse, even the fans are now turning against him, especially after what they considered a sheer display of refereeing bias at UFC Perth.

Fans call out massive judging and refereeing errors at UFC Perth

That nasty defeat only fueled another argument brewing around UFC Perth—one that focused on how the fight was handled rather than Tai Tuivasa’s performance. Because, while Louie Sutherland clearly controlled the contest, many fans were convinced that the refereeing had tilted in Tuivasa’s favor.

The sharpest criticism came in the third round, when referee Rich Mitchell stood the heavyweights up with less than a minute remaining while Sutherland was still working from the top position. Viewers found it perplexing.

‘Vanilla Gorilla’ had built the fight around takedowns, control, and ground pressure, so being reset on his feet seemed to be a last-ditch attempt to give ‘Bam Bam’ one final puncher’s chance.

So, as expected, fans did not hold back on the criticisms. One fan wrote a lengthy tweet to call out a clear case of refereeing interference in a fight that was already slipping far away from the Australian. “Referee Rich Mitchell tried to give Tai a puncher’s chance with that disgusting standup. Louie was working on punches when he stood them up. WTF was that?”

More chimed in with tweets such as “The referee is more biased toward Tuivasa than his own mother but still couldn’t pull it off” and “Referee Rich Mitchell makes them stand up with 45 seconds to go in the third round… Tai Tuivasa could barely even stand up lmfao.”

Some even called out the judging and the promotion, claiming that even they are trying to help out ‘Bam Bam’ in their own ways. A fan tweeted, “20-18 clear as day for Louie Sutherland.” Another demanded, “Tai Tuivasa is loved by the public, but that’s not enough to stay in the UFC; he should already be cut.”

To many, the optics were even worse. Despite what many perceived as favorable officiating, Tai Tuivasa was unable to turn the tide. Louie Sutherland won comfortably; the scorecards showed complete control, and the crowd’s anger quickly turned from the referee to the fight itself—an awful heavyweight slog that many considered one of the division’s lowest moments in recent memory.

One fan wrote, “I think we’ve officially reached a low point in UFC history with this fight.” Another fan added, “It just doesn’t get any worse than this. Boring, terrible, awful fight.”

More joined the hate parade with their versions of tweets pointing out the same problem, as they wrote tweets such as, “Waking up at 6am just to see two obese guys fighting each other was hard to watch,” and “The absolute state of the heavyweight division right now is concerning.”

For Tai Tuivasa, that makes the fallout even harsher. He left UFC Perth not just with his seventh consecutive loss but also with fans openly asking whether public support is enough to justify one more UFC opportunity, especially when even the love seems to be fading away as well.