Tai Tuivasa's career took another hit at UFC 293.
'Bam Bam' entered his co-main event matchup with Alexander Volkov on a two-fight losing streak after being knocked out by Ciryl Gane and Sergei Pavlovich.
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Tuivasa’s game plan quickly became clear in round one as he continuously hammered away with leg kicks and tried to follow them up with one of his famous looping punches.
However, he was badly beaten up for most of the frame as Volkov enjoyed success with a variety of strikes that left the fan favoruite with a bloody nose and struggling to stay in the fight.
‘Drago’ dropped Tuivasa at the end of the first round and he had the Aussie fight star stuck against the fence waiting for the bell to save him from an almighty beating in his hometown.
Tuivasa continued to chop away at his opponent's legs in round two and it appeared to pay dividends as UFC commentator Daniel Cormier began to vocalise his concern for Volkov.
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The Russian fight veteran decided it was time to take things to the floor where he clearly had an advantage over Tuivasa when it came to grappling.
Eventually, he moved to the mount position and locked up the rarely-seen Ezekiel choke which had only ever been pulled off by Remco Pardoel and Aleksei Oleinik in the UFC.
Tuivasa ultimately accepted his third consecutive loss by tapping out.
After taking a moment to let his latest defeat sink in, he turned to his exhausted opponent and they embraced in front of a cheering Australian crowd.
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Volkov is now riding a three-fight win streak after previously knocking out Alexander Romanov and Jairzinho Rozenstruik to re-establish himself as a top contender.
British MMA star Tom Aspinall is the last man to beat Volkov.
The heavyweight duo squared off at UFC London in March 2022, and Aspinall scored a shockingly quick submission win at the iconic O2 Arena.
Volkov will now edge closer to the heavyweight top five and a potential rematch with Aspinall.
