LAS VEGAS – Although it didn’t go down quite the way he hoped, Marcin Tybura wasn’t in position to complain about his Saturday win.
Tybura (24-7 MMA, 11-6 UFC) outworked Blagoy Ivanov (19-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) on the UFC Fight Night 218 main card in Las Vegas. It gave him back-to-back wins after a loss to Alexander Volkov in 2021, and with seven wins in his past eight, he’s proving to be a threat at heavyweight.
“My mindset was to do a little bit more, but a win is a win,” Tybura said at his post-fight news conference. “He’s really tough to start to close distance. He’s a very solid guy and it’s hard to look well against him. I think I was able to outstrike him at least one round and I handled him on the ground.”
The win may not have Tybura next in line for a shot at the title, but he certainly now is in the mix.
The UFC’s heavyweight division got particularly interesting a few weeks ago when the promotion announced champion Francis Ngannou is gone from the company. His vacant belt will be up for grabs at UFC 285 in March between former longtime light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and former interim champ Ciryl Gane. Jones will be fighting for the first time in more than three years.
Tybura said if anything happens to one of those two, he’ll be ready for a call.
“If someone pulls out of the main event in a month in the heavyweight title fight, I can step in.”
But barring that, Tybura said he thinks Jones can return from his lengthy layoff with a win.
“It’s hard for me to say for sure because I don’t know how Jon Jones will perform after three years off, and changing a weight class,” Tybura said. “But I see him as the GOAT, so I think he’ll come back as his prime time and he’ll win the fight.”
Check out Tybura’s full post-fight news conference in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 218.
