Tai Tuivasa celebrates triumph on UFC 225 undercard with glorious shoey

Australian heavyweight Tai Tuivasa took a leaf from the Daniel Ricciardo's celebration playbook after claiming the biggest scalp of his burgeoning career at UFC 225 in Chicago.

Tuivasa was taken the distance for the first time but toughed out a unanimous points win over former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski on Saturday night, extending his MMA record to 10-0 and his UFC log to 3-0.

The big Sydneysider celebrated with a Ricciardo-style "shoey", drawing a mixed reaction of amusement, cheers and disgust as he borrowed a shoe and drank beer from it on his victory walk out of the octagon.

He had never been taken beyond the first round before and didn't have things all his own way despite landing several strong right-hand blows and a few more total strikes than Arlovski.

Tuivasa was marked on his face in the first round and blood streamed from his nose in the third as Arlovski also landed some good strikes.

All three judges scored the fight 29-28 to the Australian.

"I'm pretty happy with that performance," Tuivasa said.

"Obviously I was coming out for the knockout but sometimes it doesn't happen, especially against a tough opponent like that."

Tuivasa's countrywoman Megan Anderson did not fare so well, suffering a loss in her UFC debut against former bantamweight world champion Holly Holm.