UFC 271: Tai Tuivasa puts Derrick Lewis to sleep with nasty elbow

After putting out Derrick Lewis face-first with a brutal elbow, we saw the debut of the “ShoeyVasa.”

Tai Tuivasa, whose become beloved in the UFC for a habit of drinking a beer out of a shoe after his knockout victories that he calls a “shoey,” scored the most significant KO of his career Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 271 at the Toyota Center in Houston.

After a wild first round that saw a bit of everything, including a pair of takedowns by Lewis, the UFC’s all-time knockout leader, they got to what the fans came to see in the second.

It was, as Lewis said before the fight, “swangin' and bangin'.”

Lewis hit Tuivasa with a combination, but Tuivasa landed a crushing left hook, a right hand and then a brutal right elbow to the jaw. Lewis went down face-first and the bout was over.

“That’s the king of KOs,” Tuivasa said of Lewis. “Much respect to Derrick. But I’m young and I’m upcoming. I’m taking over now.”

The fight was expected to be a mega-slugfest and it didn’t disappointment. Tuivasa’s chin may have saved him in the first, when Lewis took him down. As Tuivasa was getting up, Lewis hammered him with a series of right hands. Few, if any, UFC fighters would've took those and kept going.

But Tuivasa did and it led him into the second. He never backed down despite Lewis’s vaunted power and scored a crushing finish.

The 28-year-old Australian joked about using the elbow to get the finish.

“My name’s Tai, like Muay Thai,” Tuivasa said. “I like throwing elbows. I like getting nitty gritty. I’m f***ing down to get down, baby.”

He did that Saturday, winning his fifth in the row and he figures to rocket up the heavyweight rankings. He entered ranked 11th, but beating No. 3 Lewis will push him way up.