Michael Bisping hailed Marcin Tybura and his ‘veteran’ gameplan as the Polish contender delivered Tai Tuivasa his fourth consecutive loss at UFC Vegas 88 last night.
Heavyweight contender Marcin Tybura earned the biggest win of his professional MMA career to date at UFC Vegas 88 last night, as he submitted fan-favorite brawler Tai Tuivasa in the very first round.
Speaking during the ESPN+ broadcast, Bisping hailed the gameplan of Tybura and explained that the Pole “couldn’t be overly technical” against such a powerful opponent; ultimately, he had “more ways to win the fight.”
Michael Bisping reacts to Marcin Tybura defeating Tai Tuivasa
After the main event of UFC Vegas 88 wrapped up, both Dominick Cruz and Michael Bisping hailed standout performances for Mike Davis and Bryan Battle, although ‘The Count’ noted that it was Marcin Tybura who delivered the most impressive victory at the Apex.
“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,” explained the former middleweight world champion.
“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.”
The finishing sequence came after Tybura was able to land a flurry of punches from short range, before shooting under Tuivasa and getting ‘Bam Bam’ to the ground with a “beautiful double leg” takedown.
“He lands a couple of good shots and then the control afterward…The way he was able to maintain that control and rain down the ground and pound, take home the rear naked choke. It was a beautiful victory, well done.”
Speaking to Heidi Androl via the ESPN MMA YouTube channel, an overjoyed Tybura celebrated the fact that the fight wasn’t extended into the later rounds and that he was able to withstand Tuivasa’s legendary power, especially with the elbow that opened a nasty cut on the Pole’s head:
“[His power] was huge, I knew I had to be a little bit more balanced because I was thinking that I would receive some [damage] anyway…There was a brawl and I don’t remember everything [about the elbow], I just felt the blood coming down into my eyes.
Tybura noted that seeing the blood tricking down was a sign that he needed to step up the pace, saying that he was concerned that the injury might have been severe enough that the cage-side doctor could have stopped the fight.
Marcin Tybura’s professional record improves to 25-8 with the UFC Vegas 88 victory, whilst Tuivasa slumps to 15-7 having lost each of his last four fights via stoppage.