MMA Preview – Tai Tuivasa vs Don’Tale Mayes at UFC Vegas 22
TAI TUIVASA VS DON’TALE MAYES FACTS
When is UFC Vegas 22? Saturday 20th March, 2021 - 22:00 start (UK)
Where is UFC Vegas 22? UFC APEX, Enterprise, Nevada (US)
Where can I get tickets for UFC Vegas 22? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC events
What channel is UFC Vegas 22 on? BT Sport 1
Where can I stream UFC Vegas 22? BT Sport subscribers can stream the fight online via the BT Sport website
For viewers in the United States, the event will be shown live on ESPN+ and you can sign up for access as part of a Disney Bundle here!
TAI TUIVASA VS DON’TALE MAYES LOWDOWN
Tai Tuivasa’s (10-3) last outing on Fight Island was huge for the Aussie. After winning his first three UFC fights including a unanimous decision over Andrei Arlovski, he was looking down the barrel after three losses in a row. He got convincingly knocked out by Junior dos Santos and outpointed by Blagoy Ivanov before getting submitted by Sergey Spivak. He then got paired with Stefan Struve while there were rumours that he got released but Tuivasa was working hard on filling the holes in his game with the help of the elite training team at AKA and it paid off with a vintage first round knockout.
Don’Tale Mayes (8-4) also bounced back from the biggest setback of his career in his last fight. After knocking out Ricardo Prasel on the Contender Series he got the dreaded pairing of Ciryl Gane for his debut. He got submitted and then got submitted again in his next fight against Rodrigo Nascimento. However, he picked himself up, dusted himself off and earnt and managed to earn a unanimous decision over Roque Martinez back in November.
TAI TUIVASA VS DON’TALE MAYES PREDICTION
Both men will look at this match-up with confidence. They are improving their all-round game, but they are sluggers at heart and will be happy to stand and trade without worrying about getting out grappled.
That said, this favours Tuivasa a lot more who has been working hard on his grappling and is keen to show it off. He will still no doubt be hunting the knockout but that is more likely to come if he mixes in the odd takedown attempt to lower Mayes’ guard.
A knockout either way can happen here considering their power and if Mayes can leverage his six-inch reach advantage he can land a killer blow, but we are firmly backing Tuivasa who is expected to have evolved further and utilise his speed and leg kicks to set up the knockout.
Prediction: Tuivasa via KO/TKO - CLICK HERE FOR PARIMATCH'S WELCOME OFFER (BET £5, GET £30 IN BONUSES!)
NOTE: Harry Hunsucker has now replaced Don’Tale Mayes for this fight
