Tai Tuivasa: ‘Shoey’ celebration was timid due to lack of spit

Unbeaten Australian Tai Tuivasa believes his “Shoey” celebration after his first-round victory at UFC 221 was “timid” because there was no spit in the shoe that he drank from.

As he left the Octagon, Tuivasa produced a shoe and drank from it to the delight of the Perth crowd.

Speaking about the memorable celebration, Tuivasa revealed that he didn’t know the owner of the shoe that he drank from. He also claimed that the shoe most likely contained bourbon.

“I think it was Jim Beam,” Tuivasa told Ariel Helwani on the latest episode of The MMA Hour. “It tasted like it anyway.”

“I have no idea,” he replied when asked who owned the shoe he drank from. “Someone in the crowd, I took his shoe, and I took his drink as well. He was probably like, ‘Sh*t, I went to the UFC and I got robbed by one of the fighters.”

While the “Shoey” isn’t common in most parts of the world, Tuivasa insisted that it’s considered normal in Australian. He also outlined that it’s best performed with a stranger’s shoe and accompanied by numerous peoples’ spit.

“It’s really normal over here in Australia. I’ve been doing it as long as I’ve been drinking.”

He continued: “You usually do it with a stranger’s shoe. It’s better out of someone else’s [shoe]. That was actually a really timid shoey. You’d usually get everyone to spit in it and then you would drink it.”

For Tuivasa, shoeys are a regular occurrence:

“On a regular basis,” he replied when asked how often he consumed shoeys containing other peoples’ spit. “I’m not sure (when I did it last)…at my after party I think I did a few…a few too many.”