Current UFC interim heavyweight champion, Tom Aspinall, has offered his tactical insight and prediction ahead of the UFC Vegas 88 main event between Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura.
The Mancunian shared the Octagon with Marcin Tybura in July last year, and it was his first fight back after his devastating knee injury midway through 2022. Since then, Tybura hasn’t fought although he and Tuivasa were originally scheduled to fight at UFC 298 this past February.
‘Bam Bam’ Tuivasa is coming in with a lot of pressure having lost his last three fights, making a win here essential. Despite that, he has gone through this same experience once before in his UFC tenure when he lost three in a row in 2018-2019. From there he went on to win five in a row, and he’ll be hoping history repeats itself from here.
With Aspinall having experienced what Tybura has to offer, he gave his insight into how he sees this UFC Vegas 88 main event going, admitting that if the fight goes past seven or eight minutes, then Tybura will likely come out on top.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuivasa knocked him out early’ says Aspinall
Although it’s unlikely considering Aspinall’s trajectory, either one of these two heavyweights could be a future opponent for the 30-year-old.
Speaking to OLBG Aspinall predicted that if Tuivasa doesn’t score an early knockout within the first five minutes, then he is likely to get out-grappled by the Pole because of his lack of improvement in that area.
“I think it’s a good heavyweight fight first of all, and the deciding factor in who wins is how long the fight will go. Tybura is someone who can be caught cold, which is obviously what I did, but he’s also very skilled and unorthodox, and he’s a much superior grappler than Tuivasa.
“Tuivasa doesn’t seem to have improved on the ground for as long as I’ve been watching him at all, while Tyburaa is a good-level grappler. Tuivasa’s cardio is not great at all. If Tuivasa catches him early and finds his range early, he’s going to knock Tybura out. If it goes past the seven or eight-minute mark, I would say the odds stack against Tuivasa.” Tom said.
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The Australian will be looking for his 15th career win by knockout, while Tybura has only suffered five knockout losses in 32 professional fights. Despite that, Aspinall finished by saying that he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if Tuivasa scores the early knockout, returning to the win column.
“I don’t know, it’s heavyweight MMA, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Tuivasa knocked him out early.” Tom added.