Short-notice heavyweight replacement Louie Sutherland isn’t underestimating his opponent, Tai Tuivasa, this weekend at UFC Perth, despite ‘Bam Bam’s’ six-fight skid.
The British marauder has been brought in on naught but a week’s notice, filling in for Sean Sharaf to open the night’s main card. Hometown favorite Tuivasa has had better years and is facing down the prospect of a seven-fight losing streak with a defeat, one of the longest in UFC history — certainly the longest in heavyweight history.
For Sutherland, now 0-2 in the UFC, his third appearance is no doubt the biggest opportunity he’s gotten so far, one he knew he had to accept when the offer came his way.
Louie Sutherland touches down one week in advance for Tai Tuivasa fight
Speaking with Fighters Weekly, Sutherland explained how his short-notice booking came to be, and the difficulties of flying around the world to face off with one of the most feared strikers in the cage.
“…I was at home with the kids, and then my manager called me, and he was like, ‘I’ve got something for you. It’s in Perth.'” Sutherland explained. “Once I heard Perth, I was like, ‘F***, man, not Perth.’ But, I kind of gathered who it was gonna be. Once he told me the name, where it’s gonna be, what date, I just turned around and said, ‘Yeah.’
“But, I was just, you know, training as normal. I wasn’t in camp or anything, I was just training as normal. And then, yeah, I got the call, I think on the Thursday, and then I flew on the Saturday. So, it come around pretty quick, and here we are, fight week. Ready to rock and roll.”
Training out of the UK puts ‘The Vanilla Gorilla’ seven hours behind Western Australian time, making an already brutal one-week preparation even harder. Sutherland says it’s taken him two days to adjust, only a few nights away from the biggest fight of his UFC career.
“Massive time difference. I mean, last time I was here, I came here two weeks before to kind of, try and acclimatize, but, this time I didn’t have that luxury, so I got here on Saturday, well, I landed on Sunday. And then managed to get a good few hours’ sleep. The next night was a bit rough.
“But I think I’m in sync now, so 2 days, I think, it’s taken me to kind of adjust, which is enough. I feel good, I feel on, like, Australian time, and… yeah, the jet lag’s passed now, so I’m feeling pretty good.”
Do-or-die for Louie Sutherland as he fights for his spot on the roster at UFC Perth
Still, it’s hard to shake the feeling that Sutherland is on the chopping block for this fight. Two exciting losses are still losses, and the UFC frequently removes athletes for a plethora of reasons.
“I think at the end of the day, I think I’m always fighting for my spot on the roster, even on my debut against Valter Walker. You know, there’s… you know, you sign a contract, but you have to perform, and you have to win. And I felt like that the first fight, the second fight, this fight.
“And I’ll probably continue on like that for as long as possible, so every fight that I go into, I’m always thinking, ‘You never know when it’s your last fight,’ you know? There’s always people, you know, behind you, ready to take your spot, so you’ve got to be on it.
“… Now I’ve got this fight. So, you know, at the end of the day, I don’t take the easy route. I’m not expecting an easy life, I haven’t asked for an easy life, and I’m ready to put it all on the line, any fight I go into, really.”
Louie Sutherland is not underestimating Tai Tuivasa’s six-fight skid
Despite Tuivasa’s setbacks, Sutherland isn’t underestimating his Aussie foe. Instead, he’s looking at Tuivasa’s six-fight skid rather pragmatically. After all, most of those losses have come at the hands of the division’s best fighters, like Alexander Volkov, Sergei Pavlovich, and Ciryl Gane.
“No, I don’t think you could ever… you could ever [look at Tuivasa as past his best],” Sutherland remarked “… Any fighter, you can’t retire, he’s past his best. Obviously, there’s certain circumstances and stuff that…
“You can kind of say that, but when you’re fighting somebody, you can’t have that mentality. You can’t go, well, I think his best days are over, or… he’s on a six-fight losing streak, but those against… against good opponents as well, they haven’t been s*** opponents. And the guy’s still dangerous, man. He holds power in his hands, he can kickbox really well.
“… He’s crafty, he’s a veteran, you know, so… he’s gonna wanna show out for his crowd, and he knows his spot’s on the line as well.”
Sutherland faces off with Tuivasa in the main-card opener for UFC Perth this weekend. It’s a fight that pits two fighters with a combined eight-fight losing streak against one another — a fight that will certainly contain the highest of highs, and the lowest of lows.
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