Sakai vs Tuivasa

Who won Sakai vs Tuivasa?

Tai Tuivasa beat Augusto Sakai by knockout in the 2nd round during the prelims of UFC 269, on Saturday 11th December 2021 at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 3 rounds in the Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 265 pounds (18.9 stone or 120.2 KG).

Sakai vs Tuivasa stats

Augusto Sakai stepped into the octagon with a record of 15 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw, 11 of those wins coming by the way of knock out.

Tai Tuivasa made his way to the cage with a record of 12 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 11 of those wins coming by knock out.

This was Augusto Sakai's 9th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2018. Tai Tuivasa marked his 16th fight for them, having made his own debut for the promotion in 2017.

Augusto Sakai's UFC record stood at 5-4-0, while Tai Tuivasa's came in at 8-8-0.

The stats suggested Tuivasa had an advantage in power over Sakai, with a 92% knock out percentage over Sakai's 73%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested that Sakai and Tuivasa would have been pretty equal, both with a 0% submission rate.

Augusto Sakai was the older man by 2 years, at 34 years old.

Sakai had a height advantage of 1 inch over Tuivasa. That also extended to a 2-inch reach advantage.

Sakai was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 3 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 8 months earlier than Tuivasa, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 22 more professional rounds, 57 to Tuivasa's 35.

Sakai vs Tuivasa form

Augusto Sakai had beaten 1 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Sergey Spivac at UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Hill on 6th August 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been beaten by Tai Tuivasa at UFC 269 on 11th December 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Going into that contest, he had been defeated by Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC Vegas 28 on 5th June 2021 by knockout in the 1st round.

Before that, he had lost to Alistair Overeem at UFC Vegas 9 on 5th September 2020 by knockout in the 5th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had won against Blagoy Ivanov at UFC Vegas 1 on 30th May 2020 by split decision in their 3 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Tai Tuivasa had stopped 1 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he had been beaten by Marcin Tybura at UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs. Tybura on 16th March 2024 by submission in the 1st round at UFC Apex, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Alexander Volkov at UFC 293 on 9th September 2023 by submission in the 2nd round at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney, Australia.

Going into that contest, he had lost to Sergei Pavlovich at UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland on 3rd December 2022 by knockout in the 1st round at Amway Center, Orlando, United States.

Before that, he had been beaten by Ciryl Gane at UFC Fight Night Paris on 3rd September 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

He had beaten Derrick Lewis at UFC 271 on 12th February 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Toyota Center, Houston, United States.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Tai Tuivasa had been fighting more than Augusto Sakai.

Going to this contest, Augusto Sakai had last fought 2 years, 11 months and 11 days ago, while Tai Tuivasa's last outing had been 1 year, 4 months and 1 day ago.

Sakai's last 5 fights had come over a period of 5 years, 1 month and 17 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year and 9 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 13 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.6 rounds on average.

Tuivasa's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 5 months and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 7 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 9 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 1.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Sakai vs Tuivasa?

Sorry, we couldn’t find any historical odds for Sakai vs Tuivasa.