Tai Tuivasa Falls to Robelis Despaigne at UFC 331—Ties Unwanted Record

Tai Tuivasa walked into Crypto.com Arena chasing a lifeline. He walked out with a piece of history no fighter wants.

The Australian fan favorite dropped a split decision to Robelis Despaigne on the UFC 331 prelims in Los Angeles, a result that ties him with Tony Ferguson for the longest losing streak in UFC history at eight straight defeats. The scores read 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Despaigne, who grinded out the win in his second stint with the promotion.

Wild start, slow burn

The fight opened like a heavyweight car crash. The very first punch Despaigne threw dropped Tuivasa to the canvas, a jarring moment that briefly silenced the arena. Tuivasa bounced straight back up, shook it off, and bit down on the mouthpiece. He did what he always does: he started swinging.

For about a minute, it was chaos. Both men hurled huge shots, trading in the pocket and testing each other’s chins. Then the pace sagged, and the fight turned into something far more tactical and far less crowd-pleasing.

Despaigne used the clinch to drag Tuivasa to the mat and briefly secured full mount. Tuivasa stayed calm underneath, avoided serious damage, and eventually scrambled back to his feet. When they returned to open space, the brawl flickered back to life. Tuivasa landed a takedown of his own and finished the round on top, hunting for a head-and-arm choke as the horn sounded.

Despaigne leans on the grind

Tuivasa came out for Round 2 with urgency, loading up on his shots and tagging Despaigne early before closing the distance to clinch. After a brief separation, Despaigne answered with a sharp knee, then turned the tables in the next tie-up.

The Cuban heavyweight hit a clean hip toss and put Tuivasa on his back again. It wasn’t pretty, but it was effective. From there, Despaigne settled into control and slowed everything down. The action stalled long enough for the referee to stand them up, and the round bled away with neither man landing anything decisive before the final frame.

Final push falls short

With five minutes left and his career momentum hanging by a thread, Tuivasa didn’t empty the tank in open space. He chopped at Despaigne’s lead leg with a heavy inside kick that knocked the big man off balance, then immediately crashed into the clinch in search of another takedown.

Despaigne answered with composure. He created just enough space to land several clean, damaging strikes that left blood streaming from Tuivasa’s nose. When Tuivasa tried to force another grappling exchange, Despaigne again went to the hip toss, dumping him and chewing valuable seconds off the clock.

Tuivasa finally scrambled to his feet in the closing moments, but by then there were only about 10 seconds left. No late rally. No trademark finish. Just the horn, and then the scorecards.

Two judges sided with Despaigne’s control and timely offense. One leaned Tuivasa. The split went the Cuban’s way.

A record nobody wants

The defeat cements a brutal run for Tuivasa, whose last win came in February 2022 — a second-round stoppage of Derrick Lewis at UFC 271. Since then, the heavyweight knockout artist who once felt like a title dark horse has slid into the history books alongside Ferguson with eight consecutive losses.

Despaigne, meanwhile, steadies himself after a turbulent first spell with the UFC. His original run began and ended in 2024: an 18-second knockout of Josh Parisian in his debut, followed by flat decision losses to Waldo Cortes-Acosta and Austen Lane. This time, he didn’t deliver a viral finish, but he did deliver a result, starting his second UFC chapter with a grinding, hard-earned win.

On a night when others on the UFC 331 card made statements — Ryan Gandra and Joanderson Brito both scoring first-round knockouts, Casey O’Neill snatching a slick first-round armbar, Edmen Shahbazyan banking a composed decision, Michael Aswell Jr. edging JooSang Yoo — Tuivasa’s story cut the other way.

The question now is no longer how high he can climb. It’s whether he gets the chance to climb again.