TL;DR
Louie Sutherland won against Tai Tuivasa at UFC Perth by unanimous decision, crediting his corner's advice for the victory. This marked Sutherland's first UFC win after previously ignoring his coaches in fights.
All Louie Sutherland had to do was listen to his team.
Sutherland took on heavyweight veteran Tai Tuivasa in hostile territory at UFC Perth on Saturday. âThe Vanilla Gorillaâ outgrappled Tuivasa for three rounds amidst a sea of boos to earn a unanimous decision win. The Englishman revealed that his victory over Tuivasa was the first time that he paid heed to his corner mid-fight in quite some time.
The bulky Brit Sutherland stated that he lost his composure and ignored his training partners in his recent last knockout loss to Brando Pericic. While Sutherland knows that he can brawl when he wants to, it was crucial to earn his first Ultimate Fighting Championship victory. Sutherland admitted in his post-fight interview:
âItâs the first time Iâve listened to my coaches is probably about six fights,â Sutherland said sheepishly. âAnd thatâs the result. Against Brando, I lost my composure, didnât listen to the corner. My cornerâs like, âLook, we know you can brawl, youâre an MMA fighter, in the gym day in day out.â I can do it all. Itâs just taken me 16 pro fights to show it. Who doesnât like a knockout or a finish at least? But I was here to get the win, get my money, go home, feed the kids.â
Sutherland (11-5) made his UFC debut on short notice last year against Valter Walker, who tapped him out with a heel hook. Sutherlandâs subsequent outing came against the aforementioned Pericic, which didnât go his way either. Meanwhile, Tuivasa (14-10) is now on a seven-fight losing streak, one shy of the company record held by Tony Ferguson. Nevertheless, Tuivasa has claimed he plans to fight on, regardless of if he remains on the roster or not.