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Less than a day remains until the 293rd number tournament of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Sydney. Despite the fact that the title will be at stake in the main fight (middleweight king Israel Adesanya will try to “shut up” the talkative Sean Strickland), the attention of Russian fans will be focused on our Alexander Volkov and his bright rival Ty Taiwasa. Sports introduces you to an unusual Australian who comes out to fight Drago after a heavy defeat from another Russian giant.
UFC 293
- When: on Sunday night Moscow time;
- Where: Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney (Australia);
- Tournament start: 01 :30 Moscow time (main card starts at 05:00 Moscow time);
- Where to watch: UFC Fight Pass/public TV.
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The Australian has the nickname Bam-Bam. It is not connected with the sounds of blows: it’s all because of the main character of the popular cartoon, worker Fred Flintstone from the Stone Age. Although if we talk about a “symphony” of hard punches, then this is definitely about 30-year-old Ty. After all, by September 2022, he scored five knockouts in a row! Among those who folded after Tuivasa's hits were Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai and former National Football League (NFL) star Greg Hardy.
By the way, the Sydney native also has a unanimous decision victory over former UFC champion from Belarus Andrei Orlovsky.
Bam-Bam loses beautifully too. And this has been happening often lately: the Australian approached the fight with Volkov on a series of two early defeats. First, Tuivasa couldn’t cope with Cyril Gan (although he managed to knock down the Frenchman), and then he fell under Sergei Pavlovich’s truck.
The Russian hero from the Oryol region quickly declassed Tai, taking another step closer to the championship belt… Tuivasa (number six in the UFC heavyweight rankings) is approaching the abyss: tomorrow’s defeat from Drago (7) could throw the spectacular grunt out of the title race forever.
But what brought Tuivasa great recognition was not even his fighting performances, but his way of celebrating victories in the cage. He is unusual, even repulsive for many, but fully corresponds to an athlete who enters fights with the flag of the Australian Aborigines (Bam Bam’s father is Samoan, and his mother is a representative of the Wiradjuri). In general, Ty drinks beer… from shoes, often even someone else's.
It's all about the local tradition, which is called «Shoey» («shoe» — shoe). It came about thanks to Australian racer Jack Miller, who enjoyed champagne from his own shoes after his triumphs. Tuivasa pulled this off for the first time back in 2017, and, having explained himself to the media, still hasn’t forgotten about his “trick.”
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“I don’t know whose sneaker it was, just someone in the crowd gave me a shoe and I drank from it. Most likely, this guy will later say that he went to the UFC and was robbed by a fighter! In Australia it’s normal, I do it Since I've been drinking alcohol, it's usually done with other people's shoes… Actually, I ended up with a very modest «Shoey» because usually you make everyone spit in a shoe and then drink from it.»
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By the way, Volkov is ready to have a drink with Tuivasa after the meeting in the octagon. But the Russian has a small condition:
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"Of course, after the fight, Ty and I can drink beer. But not from a shoe, please!'
UFC 293 full card
- Israel Adesanya — Sean Strickland;
- Tai Tuivasa — Alexander Volkov;
- Manel Cape — Felipe dos Santos;
- Justin Tafa — Austin Lane;
- Tyson Pedro — Anton Turkal;
- Carlos Alberg — Da Un Jan;
- Jack Jenkins — Chepe Mariscal;
- Jamie Mullarkey — John Makdessi;
- Nasrat Haqparast — Landon Quinones;< /li>
- Mike Diamond — Charlie Radtke;
- Shane Young — Gabriel Miranda;
- Kevin Jusset — Kjefer Crosby.