As Tai Tuivasa prepares for the fight of his life against Ciryl Gane at UFC 209 in Paris, he reflects on his dual cultural influences.
Yet, when he walks out to fight, he drapes himself in the Aboriginal flag and wears a traditional Samoan Kukui nut 'ula.
His "Samoan mum" raised him and his 13 brothers and sisters, along with his biological mum and a whole lot of other people."I used to live at my uncles and aunties, my Dad's house, my Mum's house, I was everywhere. I was a c*** of a kid.""I think once you become an adult you realise a few things, and I'm a mummy's boy," Tuivasa says.
They settled in Mount Druitt in Sydney's west, "where everyone is a Pacific Islander," Tuivasa says, including fellow UFC fighter of Samoan heritage,John Pedro is a formidable character, holding at least six black belts in karate and is a Japanese jiu-jitsu master.
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