Tai Tuivasa pretended to be rocked by head kick before getting knocked out by Ciryl Gane at historic UFC event

‘Bam Bam’ entered the bout on a five-fight knockout streak that included impressive wins over Derrek Lewis, Augusto Sakai, and former NFL star Greg Hardy.  

The Australian MMA fighter had made himself a fan favourite by celebrating his wins by drinking a beer from a shoe – he even convinced Dana White do to a ‘Shooey’ during his rapid rise.

Tuivasa appeared to be just one win away from a heavyweight title shot when he was booked to fight former interim champion Ciryl Gane at the UFC’s first event in France.

The 30-year-old did what Francis Ngannou couldn’t and dropped Gane in round two, but he was unable to close the show in front of a passionate crowd of Parisians.

‘Bon Gamin’ subsequently threw a high kick, and it landed flush on the Tuivasa’s jaw. An audible crack echoed around the arena before the streaking contender began to look unsteady on his feet.

As Gane moved in to close the show, Tuivasa quickly recovered, planted his feet on the floor, and threw a potentially fight-ending overhand at the Frenchman.

Former two-time middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was one of the many people fooled and impressed by Tuivasa’s antics at UFC Paris.

“That was cool, though,” Stylebender said during his post-fight breakdown.

“What Tai did the moment he got kicked in the head and he played possum. He had me fooled. I was like, ‘Oh s***!’ And then he f****** hit him, tried to clap him.”

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Unfortunately, things quickly unravelled for Tuivasa as soon after he pretended to be wobbling, he got rocked badly by a punch.

A powerful left hook shook the notorious beer lover down to his boots before Gane followed up with a flurry of strikes to finish the fight.

Gane’s win earned him another shot at heavyweight gold against MMA legend Jon Jones, but he was submitted in just over two minutes when they met at UFC 285 in March 2023.

The 33-year-old has rebounded with a win over Sergey Spivak and is currently trying to work his way back into title contention.

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Meanwhile, Tuivasa’s career has nosedived since losing to Gane.

The usually tough 265lb KO artist was taken out in 54 seconds when he fought Russian contender Sergei Pavlovich in December 2022.

Alexander Volkov put him on a three-fight skid by locking up a second-round Ezekiel choke submission when MMA’s premier promotion returned to Tuivasa’s home city of Syndey, Australia for UFC 293 last September.

Tuivasa will try to get his career back on track at UFC Vegas 88 this Saturday.  

Marcin Tybura is the man who will stand in his way. The Polish heavyweight had won seven of eight fights before being stopped by Tom Aspinall in 73 seconds at UFC London in July 2023.

Whoever wins this weekend’s UFC main event will rejoin the heavyweight title picture, while the loser’s dream of becoming a world champion will probably be over.