The finishing sequence that ended it all in Tai Tuivasa vs. Marcin Tybura fight
By Amy Kaplan
On Saturday night at the UFC APEX, we all watched Tai Tuivasa lose his fourth straight UFC appearance.
In the first round of the fight the pair traded hands and it seemed Tuivasa might actually bounce back into the win coulmn. He threw some nasty elbows in the clinch which opened up a nasty cut on Tybura's head but those early moments failed to materialize.
After some resistance, Tybura was able to take Tuivasa to the canvas. He began to issue ground and ound which forced Tuivasa to turn his back to Tybura. From there Tybura sunk in the rear-naked choke and put Tuivasa to sleep.
After the fight Tybura told FanSided MMA that his game plan was to wait until he felt like he was in a dangerous position, then he would take Tuivasa to the canvas. The cut on the head was the moment Tybura knew he had to figure out a way to finish the fight.
The official UFC and ESPN MMA accounts didn't share the full finish, but this fan grabbed a clip, which may get taken down. If you are here after that, find the official clip here.
Michael Bisping praised Marcin Tybura after the fight
Former middleweight champion turned UFC broadcaster, Michal Bisping, saw the fight exactly as it played out in the cage. Here's how he saw the fight play out.
“Tai Tuivasa came out and looked very dangerous early on, he always is [because] he’s got that knockout power, but Marcin Tybura proved to be the veteran,” he said. “He had more methods and ways to win the fight. [It was a] beautiful takedown, he went forward and knew he had to fight; he knew he couldn’t be overly technical. He knew he had to fight [and] get down with Tuivasa.”
This loss marks the fourth in a row for Tuivasa, who will liekly remain in the UFC due to his fan favorite status and the heavyweight divisison needing more competitors. All four of his losses came by way of stoppage with two of the four happening in the first round. He needs to work on his ground game as his last two in a row have been submissions.
Tybura was bouncing back from a disappointing loss to the now-interim champion Tom Aspinall. He refused to give a name for his next opponent but responded to Jairzinho Rozenstruik's call-out with a lackluster maybe.
The UFC heavyweight division is a bit of a stall due to the undisputed champion Jon Jones being injured and is promised to Stipe Miocic when he returns. On the flip side, Aspinall should be next after that which leaves top-ranked heavyweights on the shelf for potentially two years.