A year on from a brutal knee injury which brought a halt to his perfect promotional run, Atherton native, Tom Aspinall has returned to both the Octagon and winner’s enclosure tonight in the main event of UFC London, stopping Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura with a dominant opening round TKO win in the capital. Aspinall, who […]
A year on from a brutal knee injury which brought a halt to his perfect promotional run, Atherton native, Tom Aspinall has returned to both the Octagon and winner’s enclosure tonight in the main event of UFC London, stopping Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura with a dominant opening round TKO win in the capital.
Aspinall, who headlined a July card in London against Curtis Blaydes back in the summer of last year, suffering a devastating knee injury inside just 18 seconds of the opening minute of the clash with the Illinois native.
And returning in spectacular fashion tonight in pursuit of a labelled dream fight with UFC heavyweight champion, Jon Jones, Aspinall make short work of former M-1 Global heavyweight titleholder, Tybura tonight, landing a brutal first round TKO victory against the latter.
Bouncing back to winning-ways, Aspinall, who recorded another first round win with his opening minute-and-a-half stoppage of Tybura, Aspinall vowed to travel to Paris in September and fight the victor of a main event featuring former interim champion, Ciryl Gane and former foe, Sergey Spivak, before then fighting Jones for heavyweight gold.
Below, catch the highlights from Tom Aspinall’s triumphant return at UFC London
Almost a year to the day of his shocking knee injury suffered at UFC London against perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes, the hotly-tipped, Tom Aspinall is slated to make his Octagon comeback in the capital this weekend – closing as a hard and fast betting favorite to topple Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura in his combat sports […]
Almost a year to the day of his shocking knee injury suffered at UFC London against perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes, the hotly-tipped, Tom Aspinall is slated to make his Octagon comeback in the capital this weekend – closing as a hard and fast betting favorite to topple Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura in his combat sports return.
Aspinall, the current number five ranked heavyweight contender, has been sidelined from active mixed martial arts competition for a year ahead his comeback this weekend, suffering a catastrophic knee injury in the opening seconds of his second consecutive headliner on UK soil last summer.
Blowing out his knee inside just 15-seconds of the opening frame, Atherton native, Aspinall saw his promotional-perfect Octagon run come to a halt against Blaydes, with the Illinois native prospering from the former’s misfortune.
This weekend, on home soil once again, will attempt to return to the winner’s enclosure at UFC London – headlining an albeit lacklustre card, taking on heavyweight staple, Tybura.
12-3 as a professional, Team Kaobon staple, Aspinall, who has been tipped to follow in the footsteps of fellow UK favorites, Michael Bisping, and current welterweight champion, Leon Edwards to himself secure gold in the future, will look to reignite that title run this weekend at The O2 Arena.
An alum of Cage Warriors, prior to his injury TKO loss to Blaydes, Aspinall had enjoyed a roughshod run through the heavyweight ranks in the UFC, toppling the likes of former champion, Andrei Arlovski, as well as upcoming UFC Paris headliner, Sergei Spivak, and in his premiere main event clash, Alexander Volkov.
And linked with a future championship outing – potentially as soon as his next bout, should he return triumphantly against Tybura this weekend in London, Aspinall has been backed to potential earn himself a blockbuster title pairing with current champion, Jon Jones, ahead of the American’s title fight return against Stipe Miocic in November at UFC 295.
Also closing as an impressive betting favorite over at Betway to boot, Liverpool veteran, Molly McCann is currently sitting as a -200 favorite to defeat the +150 betting underdog, Julija Stoliarenko in her return to the Octagon.
Sidelined since featuring against the highly-touted, Erin Blanchfield at UFC 281 back in November of last year at Madison Square Garden, McCann looks to bounce back to the winner’s enclosure following a hugely one-sided first round kimura loss to the New Jersey native.
In another interesting line ahead of UFC London, Scottish grappling ace, Paul Craig can be backed as a +175 betting underdog ahead of his fight with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu counterpart, Andre Muniz – with the Brazilian sat as a -225 betting favorite.
The pairing with come as Craig’s first at the middleweight limit over the course of his professional career, following back-to-back losses against both Volkan Oezdemir, and at the beginning of the year, Johnny Walker at UFC 283 in Brazil.
Serghei Spivac continued his upward momentum and scored revenge in the process with a quick finish of Marcin Tybura in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night. Spivac got right on Tybura’s back as the round started, scoring an early takedown. The Polish heavyweight answered by reversing and getting in the Moldovan’s guard. While […]
Serghei Spivac continued his upward momentum and scored revenge in the process with a quick finish of Marcin Tybura in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night.
Spivac got right on Tybura’s back as the round started, scoring an early takedown. The Polish heavyweight answered by reversing and getting in the Moldovan’s guard.
While Tybura tried to do work from there, it ultimately proved to be his undoing. Spivac locked his legs around the veteran’s arm and rolled through with an armbar from the back, scoring a verbal submission.
Serghei Spivac Avenges Loss To Marcin Tybura With First-Round Submission In UFC Fight Night Headliner
I'm forever indebted to Sergei Spivac for that quick finish #UFCVegas95
You know what's funny. That move is probably going to be Spivac's new super power. He's thin enough for a heavyweight to throw his legs up and do that move, and it's almost guaranteed that 90% of heavyweights will have never seen this move done by someone their size.
Tybura and Spivac first met at UFC Fight Night Norfolk in February 2020, with the former winning via unanimous decision.
“Polar Bear” has now won four of his last five fights and rebounds from a second-round TKO loss at the hands of Ciryl Gane last year in Paris. His only losses in the UFC have come against Tybura, Gane, Walt Harris, and current interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Tom Aspinall.
Tybura, meanwhile, has now lost two of his last three fights.
UFC Fight Night took place tonight from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and MMA News has you covered with all the results and highlights! In the main event, top-ten ranked heavyweights Marcin Tybura (#8) and Serghei Spivac (#9) clashed. While in the co-main event, Damon Jackson faced Chepe Mariscal in a featherweight matchup. UFC Fight Night Results: Main Card Preliminary […]
UFC Fight Night took place tonight from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and MMA News has you covered with all the results and highlights!
In the main event, top-ten ranked heavyweights Marcin Tybura (#8) and Serghei Spivac (#9) clashed. While in the co-main event, Damon Jackson faced Chepe Mariscal in a featherweight matchup.
UFC Fight Night Results:Main Card
Heavyweight Main Event: Serghei Spivac def. Marcin Tybura via submission: R1, 1.44
Featherweight Co-Main Event: Chepe Mariscal def. Damon Jackson via unanimous decision (30-25×2, 30-26)
Welterweight: Danny Barlow def. Nikolay Veretennikov via split decision (29-28×2, 27-30)
Bantamweight: Chris Gutiérrez def. Quang Le via unanimous decision (29-28×3)
Women’s Bantamweight: Yana Santos def. Chelsea Chandler via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28×2)
Bantamweight: Toshiomi Kazama def. Charalampos Grigoriou via submission: R2, 1.55
The UFC has grown exponentially in the years since its inception way back in 1993. While the sport of MMA has come a long way since the days of groin strikes, headbutts and Tank Abbott, the demands placed on the global leader to satisfy an ever-growing audience in this social media-driven world has led to […]
The UFC has grown exponentially in the years since its inception way back in 1993. While the sport of MMA has come a long way since the days of groin strikes, headbutts and Tank Abbott, the demands placed on the global leader to satisfy an ever-growing audience in this social media-driven world has led to a swollen roster of contracted fighters.
The need to provide content to fulfil contractual obligations with TV networks has meant an increase in the overall number of events the UFC are pumping out these days. There are 53 shows scheduled to take place in 2024 alone, between pay-per-view events and ‘Fight Night’ cards, spread out over international locations such as Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, Abu Dhabi, Australia and of course, the United States.
With many of these events taking place in the relatively low-key surroundings of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, some of these cards have become less about putting fans in seats and more about ticking off fights on some fighters’ contracts. The biggest names are being kept for the pay-per-views and the rest are being wheeled out with the sole purpose of filling in the gaps.
This Saturday’s Fight Night event (set to be headlined by a strawweight rematch between Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba) is another card loaded with fights lacking in jeopardy and unlikely to have any telling effect on the title picture in any of the UFC weight divisions.
With that in mind, let’s look at five of the more underwhelming main events the UFC have offered up so far in 2024.
Roman Dolidze vs Nassourdine Imavov, UFC Fight Night, February 3rd (UFC Apex)
The UFC’ had a somewhat slow start to 2024. January brought us an underwhelming Fight Night card followed by a PPV event in Canada that lacked star names outside of the main event between Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis. Coming into February, UFC fans were desperately in need of some high-stakes entertainment.
The Apex middleweight showdown between Dolidze and Imavov was not it. A main card entirely devoid of ranked fighters (outside of the main event) offered up one draw and four decisions, with only Randy Brown’s first-round knockout of Muslim Salikhov managing to give viewers something to get them out of their seats.
Both main event fighters came into this event in stuttering form. Dolidze hadn’t been seen in competitive action since losing to Marvin Vettori eleven months earlier, while Imavov was coming off the back of a difficult 2023. A decision loss to Sean Strickland early in the year was followed by his summer bout with Chris Curtis being declared a “no contest” after an accidental clash of heads.
A majority decision victory for Nassourdine Imavov after twenty-five less-than-inspiring minutes followed. Both fighters picked up victories last month and seem to be rising through the ranks at 185lbs, but their clash at the Apex last February is not one that will live long in the memory of many UFC fans.
Joe Pyfer vs Jack Hermansson, UFC Fight Night, February 10th (UFC Apex)
A week later, with UFC 298 on the horizon and the MMA news cycle being dominated by the build-up to Alexander Volkanovski vs Ilia Topuria, fans were treated to another Apex event with a middleweight headliner. This time, admittedly, there was a little more intrigue surrounding the headline match-up as Joe Pyfer was coming off the back of an unbeaten start to his UFC career. “Bodybagz” had won all three of his fights inside the Octagon to that point, and finishes over Alen Amedovski, Gerald Meerschaert and Abdul Razak Alhassan had earmarked the 26-year-old as a fighter worth keeping an eye on.
Jack Hermansson looked like he was being positioned as the man to give up his place in the rankings to Pyfer. The Swede was returning from a year-long absence due to injury and had lost three of his previous five bouts at 185lbs. Against the odds, however, Hermansson derailed the Pyfer hype train and, after a strong opening two rounds from Pyfer, “The Joker” picked off his opponent from range over the remainder of the fight and walked away with a 48-47 scorecard from each of the three judges.
Jairzinho Rozenstruik vs Shamil Gaziev, UFC Fight Night, March 2nd (UFC Apex)
UFC 298 and the Fight Night that was held in Mexico City a week later gave fans a reminder of how good the atmosphere can be when big crowds and exciting fights are paired together. Ilia Topuria’s title victory in Anaheim, California followed by Brandon Royval’s win over Brandon Moreno the following week meant February had its’ fair share of entertainment inside the Octagon.
Fans were brought back down to earth with a bang on March 2nd however, as perennial heavyweight gatekeeper Jairzinho Rozenstruik was paired with Shamil Gaziev. Although Gaziev came into this event unbeaten at 12-0, the Bahraini fighter had only made one appearance inside the Octagon so far and many fans seemed perplexed at his positioning in the headline slot of a UFC event so soon.
Image: Jairzinho Rozenstruik IG
The gulf in class was evident as Gaziev was utterly dominated by “Bigi Boy” from the off. After four one-sided rounds, a bruised and battered Gaziev was deemed unfit to continue following an inspection by referee Marc Goddard. Not only did Gaziev pick up the first loss of his professional career, his positioning in the main event slot so soon after signing with the UFC drew plenty of criticism from fans and fighters alike.
Marcin Tybura vs Tai Tuivasa, UFC Fight Night, March 16th (UFC Apex)
Just two weeks later, in the wake of UFC 299, the “new normal” resumed in the UFC Apex as heavyweights Marcin Tybura and Tai Tuivasa collided in the main event of an event that featured such names as Ange Loosa, Isaac Dulgarian and Brian Battle on the main card.
Tybura’s first-round submission victory would be his eighth win in ten fights helping the Polish fighter break into the top ten of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings. His opponent however was riding a three-fight losing streak coming into this bout and with the Australian taking significant damage in his defeats to Cyril Gane, Alexander Volkov and Sergei Pavlovich, the discussion among the MMA community in the wake of this defeat centred around whether or not “Bam Bam” should retire.
As it would turn out, Tybura made quick work of Tuivasa and the fight didn’t even see two minutes of action. Another underwhelming main event into the books, then.
Derrick Lewis vs Rodrigo Nascimento, UFC on ESPN+ 32, May 11th (St. Louis)
April brought fight fans one of the most memorable fight cards in the history of the sport. UFC 300 was packed from top to bottom with current or former champions, and the knockouts delivered by Alex Pereira and Max Holloway during the main card will go down in history as two of the most exciting finishes inside the Octagon.
Lewis knocked out Nascimento in the main event but the fight failed to cause a ripple in the heavyweight rankings. “The Black Beast” had lost four of his previous six fights and is unlikely to enter the heavyweight title discussion anytime soon, while Nascimento had won three consecutive split-decision victories over unranked opponents prior to facing Lewis.
It seems in the modern world of the UFC, for every title fight or number-one contender match-up fans are granted, they are doomed to sit through multiple filler events behind closed doors at the UFC Apex.
UFC heavyweight veteran Marcin Tybura rallied to defeat surging contender Alexandr Romanov at UFC 278 on Saturday. Romanov had his way with his wrestling in the first round of the fight, throwing Tybura around the Octagon and showcasing his elite stren…
UFC heavyweight veteran Marcin Tybura rallied to defeat surging contender Alexandr Romanov at UFC 278 on Saturday. Romanov had his way with his wrestling in the first round of the fight, throwing Tybura around the Octagon and showcasing his elite strength. After what many thought was a 10-8 round in favor of Romanov, Tybura was…
Almost a year to the day of his shocking knee injury suffered at UFC London against perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes, the hotly-tipped, Tom Aspinall is slated to make his Octagon comeback in the capital this weekend – closing as a hard and fast betting favorite to topple Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura in his combat sports […]
Tybura ML and OVER 3.5 (parlay) 
