{"id":621420,"date":"2026-04-22T16:46:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:46:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621420\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T16:46:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:46:19","slug":"tai-tuivasas-ufc-future-in-doubt-as-perth-opponent-injury-setback-complicates-his-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/621420\/","title":{"rendered":"Tai Tuivasa&#8217;s UFC Future in Doubt as Perth Opponent Injury Setback Complicates His Return"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmanews.com\/tag\/tai-tuivasa\" class=\"tag-link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tai Tuivasa<\/a> is without an opponent for UFC Perth after Sean Sharaf withdrew from their scheduled May 2 bout due to a broken nose suffered in training.<\/p>\n<p>Sharaf announced the withdrawal on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DXZ0O2Cj_eK\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a>. &#8220;Sorry guys, I fractured my nose and won&#8217;t be able to fight May 2nd. Going to get it fixed look forward to getting back in there soon,&#8221; he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The UFC is actively working to find a replacement opponent for Tuivasa, a task that may be easier than usual given the fight is at heavyweight and weight cuts are typically not a significant factor for finding late replacements at that division.<\/p>\n<p>The timing is difficult for Tuivasa, who is currently on a six-fight losing streak and widely regarded as being on the edge of a UFC release. He already holds the UFC record for the longest losing streak in heavyweight history, and a loss in Perth would extend that run to seven consecutive defeats. <\/p>\n<p>Tuivasa had been hoping to turn things around in front of a home crowd, having last competed in Perth at UFC 305 in 2024 when he lost to Jairzinho Rozenstruik.<\/p>\n<p>Sharaf, for his part, had also lost his first two UFC outings, making the matchup between two fighters in search of a win a natural booking.<\/p>\n<p>Whether a replacement opponent is found or not, the Perth bout could represent Tuivasa&#8217;s last appearance in the promotion if the losing run continues. The UFC has not yet announced a new opponent for the 33-year-old.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tai Tuivasa is without an opponent for UFC Perth after Sean Sharaf withdrew from their scheduled May 2&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":621421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,638,82,169111],"class_list":{"0":"post-621420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tai-tuivasa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/621421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}