Despite his reported release from the promotion, Justin Willis is paradoxically playing matchmaker for his next UFC fight, and the opponent he has selected is nemesis Tai Tuivasa.

Tai Tuivasa and Justin Willis have a shared animosity that dates back to last Dyear,, and it was Tuivasa who wanted to fight Justin Willis at the time. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, Justin Willis was released from the UFC after reportedly rejecting a fight against Walt Harris for UFC San Antonio, and Tuivasa lamented the release:

“I was pretty bummed. I want to fight him,” Tuivasa said on the Ariel Helwani show recently. “But I don’t blame the UFC. He’s a bum. He’s shit.

“I think if he’s not gonna accept fights, what do you need to do? Look good? You’re not pretty, so…I’m not hiring him, either. If they sacked him, that’s up to them.“


Justin Willis has now responded to Tai Tuivasa and has expressed a mutual interest in fighting Tuivasa, even if he is no longer in the UFC. He even believes that if Tuivasa does not fight him, it is Tuivasa who should be released from the UFC:

“If Tai Tuivasa don’t fight me, cut him,” Willis said in an appearance on MMA Junkie Radio. “And the thing is, I hope and I pray that after I whoop his ass, that they don’t cut him. I hope they let him build himself back up so I can whoop his ass again. That’s it, that’s all. That’s all I have to say about that situation.”

“So I can’t wait to get in there against him and shut it down, shut him up. Because at the end of the day or at the beginning of the day, he was out talking shit. And now, he’s trying to play victim. But when we get in that cage, I’m gonna victimize him, chastise him.”