Tai Tuivasa just hit a UFC record he probably never wanted to. And in doing so, the Aussie has turned fight fans against him. At 331 tonight, ‘Bam Bam’ suffered his eighth straight loss, matching Tony Ferguson for the longest losing streak in UFC history after dropping a split decision to Robelis Despaigne in their heavyweight bout at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

And it wasn’t exactly a smooth ride. Despaigne rocked the 33-year-old with the very first punch he landed, sending the Australian crashing to the canvas almost instantly. Somehow, Tuivasa popped right back up and answered with his own wild offense, turning the opening minute into pure chaos before things finally settled down.

Tuivasa did manage to find a few openings on the ground, though. He survived a full mount early on and later ended up on top, briefly hunting for a head-and-arm choke before Despaigne worked his way out.

‘The Big Boy’ started taking over again in the second, catching Tuivasa with a nasty knee in the clinch before launching him with a slick hip toss. From there, he kept finding success in the grappling exchanges and made ‘Bam Bam’ work for every opening.

By the third round, the Aussie was running out of answers. He struggled to put together much offense as Despaigne landed the cleaner, more damaging shots and hit another hip toss to control the closing minutes.

When the scorecards came in, one judge sided with Tuivasa, but the other two gave the Cuban 29-28, handing the 33-year-old another loss, dropping his record to 14-11, and an unwanted spot in the UFC record books.

The loss drops Tuivasa to 0-8, tying Tony Ferguson for the longest losing streak in UFC history. The streak began with a loss to Ciryl Gane in September 2022. He last won a fight against Derrick Lewis in February of the same year.

Speaking of the former UFC interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson’s historic skid began in 2020 and stretched all the way through 2024, when he finally left the UFC. But here’s where the coincidence gets seriously wild: both Ferguson and Tuivasa began their eight-fight nightmares with losses to fighters who are reigning champions in the UFC right now.

Ferguson’s slide started with a defeat to lightweight champion Justin Gaethje, while Tuivasa’s own downfall began against current interim heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane. Different divisions, different eras, but the same bizarre pattern: both men’s historic losing streaks started against fighters who would go on to hold UFC gold.

That’s a brutal fall for a guy who had rattled off five straight wins before everything went sideways and turned ‘Bam Bam’ into one of the UFC’s most popular heavyweight names.

Now, though, the mood around the 33-year-old has changed. With eight straight losses on the books, fans are starting to ask the obvious question: how much longer does the UFC keep him around?

Fans call for Tai Tuivasa’s release after UFC 331

The reaction was particularly brutal, with several fans immediately suggesting that Tuivasa should move on from the UFC. One commenter joked, “I think Power Slap would be a good home for Tai,” while another suggested, “Send him to slap boxing or something.”

A third fan couldn’t believe Tuivasa had survived this long on the roster, asking, “Holy s— how’s he still in the UFC?????”

Others were even more direct. “He needs to be cut from UFC. There’s no way they will let him stay,” one fan wrote, while another simply asked, “Can we fire him already.”

The eight-fight skid also immediately brought Ferguson into the conversation. One fan declared, “Tony Ferguson can rest,” while another joked, “Tony bouta comeback to save his record.”

Others wanted the UFC to give Tuivasa another opportunity specifically so he could take the record outright, with comments including, “Give him one more to break Tony’s record,” and “Give him 1 more fight to break the record.”

Not everyone focused on the record, though. One particularly harsh reaction simply read, “This guy is so f—— s—-,” while another questioned how Tuivasa failed to find a way through Despaigne, writing, “Tuivasa probably could’ve TKO’d him 90 years ago if he just stopped hugging.”

There was also some sympathy mixed into the criticism. “I feel bad for him but at the same time how are you not improving?” one commenter asked, while another summed up the frustration by writing, “Idk how a human could fumble that.”

Still, this wasn’t exactly Tai Tuivasa getting run over. He took Despaigne all the way to a split decision and had his own moments along the way. The problem is that eight straight losses make it pretty hard for the UFC to ignore the bigger picture.

And if the promotion does decide it’s time to move on, the 33-year-old probably won’t be short on options. Boxing, bare-knuckle fighting and Karate Combat could all be on the table, while fans have even thrown Power Slap into the mix.

For now, though, ‘Bam Bam’ is stuck with a record nobody wants—and after eight straight losses, the calls for the UFC to finally cut ties are only getting louder.