UFC Fight Night 121 results: Tai Tuivasa takes out Rashad Coulter with first-round knee KO

With a leaping right knee, Tai Tuivasa announced his arrival to the UFC’s heavyweight division.

Tuivasa (6-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) took out Rashad Coulter (8-3 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a first-round knockout in his promotional debut, getting the stoppage with 25 seconds left in the first round. It was another first-round knockout for “Bam Bam” Tuivasa.

The heavyweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today’s UFC Fight Night 121 event at at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It aired on FS1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of the main card on FS1.

Coulter tied Tuivasa up quickly and drove him to the fence. But Tuivasa reversed the position quickly and pushed his back to the cage. About a minute in, they broke apart and Tuivasa landed two big punches, then tied things back up. But 90 seconds in, Coulter managed to get a takedown and got on top in side control.

Tuivasa got back up and escaped back to his feet. Midway through, they nearly tied up again, but Tuivasa clipped Coulter with a jab, then a solid leg kick. Tuivasa stepped in with 90 seconds left and tripped Coulter to the canvas. Then he loaded up with right hands and connected before Coulter got back to his feet. Huge elbows landed for Tuivasa with a minute left, but Coulter stayed on his feet.

Tuivasa landed with kicks after that and stayed patient. A big right kick took Coulter’s legs out from under him, and when Coulter got back to his feet, Tuivasa took advantage. He landed a huge leaping left knee that put Coulter out and on the canvas.

Tuivasa continued the perfect start to his pro career with his sixth straight win. All six have come by first-round knockout. Coulter lost for the second straight time, including a knockout loss to Chase Sherman at UFC 211 in May in front of his home Texas fans. He now has the first losing skid of his pro career.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 121 results include:

• Tai Tuivasa def. Rashad Coulter via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:35
• Frank Camacho def. Damien Brown via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nadia Kassem def. Alex Chambers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Eric Shelton def. Jenel Lausa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
• Adam Wieczorek def. Anthony Hamilton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Sydney.)