Tai Tuivasa's run in the UFC is over. Multiple reports, including one from Bloody Elbow, confirm the promotion has released the heavyweight after he lost to Louie Sutherland by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Della Maddalena vs. Prates on May 2, 2026. The news has already stirred up a thread on r/MMA with fans weighing in on where things went wrong.

The skid closed out last month. Our own Elo model has him sitting at 1381 across eight tracked bouts, a number that reflects just how far he's slid from his peak run inside the division's top five.

Despite the release, Tuivasa doesn't sound like a man ready to walk away. According to Bloody Elbow, he broke his silence on the losing streak with a message simply captioned "back to work," a clear signal that retirement isn't on his mind even as his UFC tenure closes.

That stretch of losses is brutal by any measure, especially for a fighter who once carried real buzz as a knockout artist capable of beating anyone in the heavyweight division on a given night.

What happens next is the real question. Tuivasa's stated intent to keep fighting suggests he'll look for work outside the UFC rather than call it a career, and his name recognition alone should make him an attractive signing for another promotion looking for a heavyweight with a built in fanbase. For the UFC's heavyweight division, it's one more roster spot opening up as the promotion continues to churn through its deepest and most top heavy weight class.