Tai Tuivasa has been assigned a new opponent for his upcoming bout at UFC Perth.
Tuivasa was initially slated to take on Sean Sharaf in a heavyweight clash on the UFC Perth main card, in his second appearance on home soil this year, with the event set for May 2 at RAC Arena. But on Wednesday, Sharaf, who is 0–2 in the UFC, revealed on social media that he has been forced out of the Fight Night event aftersuffering a fractured nosein training, leaving “Bam Bam” without an opponent.
🚨| Sean Sharaf has announced via Instagram that he is OUT of his#UFCPerthbout with Tai Tuivasa on May 2nd after suffering a fractured nose. ❌pic.twitter.com/mXlzPhhg23
However, with just nine days remaining until UFC Perth, Tuivasa remains on the card after being matched with a replacement opponent.
On Friday morning, the MMA promotion announced that Tai Tuivasa will now face Louie Sutherland at UFC Perth in a late-notice replacement bout.
BOUT UPDATE 🇦🇺Tai Tuivasa will now take on Louie Sutherland at#UFCPerth!🎟️ LIMITED TICKETS REMAINING AT LINK IN BIOpic.twitter.com/lpP7SrIFtp
Tuivasa is enduring the toughest stretch of his career, currently riding a six-fight losing skid. The 33-year-old Australian was once on a five-fight knockout run, highlighted by wins over Derrick Lewis and Greg Hardy, but hasn’t tasted victory since September 2022, when he was stopped in the third round byCiryl Gane.
“Bam Bam” was last seen in action at UFC 325 earlier this year, where he suffered a unanimous decisionloss to Tallison Teixeira. He now holds an 8-9 record in the promotion and is 14-9 overall.
Meanwhile, Sutherland heads into UFC Perth still searching for his first win in theOctagonsince making his promotional debut in October 2025. The 32-year-old Englishman suffered a first-round submission loss to Valter Walker at UFC 321, followed by afirst-round knockout defeat to Brando Peričićin his sophomore outing at UFC London last month.
“Vanilla Gorilla” currently holds a professional record of 10–5 and is 0–2 in the UFC.
Source: LowKickMMA.com
