The best and worst from UFC 221

#2 Best: Pedro and Tuivasa have fun in violence

Tyson Pedro and fellow Aussie Tai Tuivasa picked up big wins last night

In the modern-day UFC, when there’s so much talk of money fights and superfights and complaints about Reebok and Dana White, it’s nice to see fighters just going out into the cage to perform violence while having fun. And last night, that’s what young Aussie stars Tyson Pedro and Tai Tuivasa did, both picking up first-round victories over Saparbek Safarov and Cyril Asker respectively.

Granted, neither man’s win was perfect – Pedro’s defensive wrestling didn’t look great at points while Tuivasa’s opponent Asker was probably the closest thing you’ll find to a tomato can in the UFC in 2018, but they picked up massive points for finishing in style – Pedro catching Safarov in a beautiful kimura from a sweep and Tuivasa simply destroying Asker with a barrage of punches and elbows.

Their post-fight interviews, however, couldn’t have gone better. Showing tremendous charisma and really getting the crowd behind them, both fighters came off like they’d had the time of their life inside the cage. That bodes well for them in the future as the UFC is more likely to get behind such personalities, and with exciting fighting styles to match, these two could help to usher in a golden age of Australian MMA.