In the Clinch: Tybura, Spivac Get Reacquainted, UFC Vegas 95

In the Clinch: Tybura, Spivac Get Reacquainted, UFC Vegas 95 – Heavyweight Marcin Tybura is looking to generate some momentum towards a title shot when he rematches Serghei Spivac at UFC Vegas 95 Saturday in Las Vegas.

The No. 8 Tybura (25-8-0), 38, has been wandering the heavyweight desert for over eight years and despite beating Spivac by decision back in 2020, has not been able to put together a run towards the title.

A loss to current interim champion Tom Aspinall at UFC Fight Night 224 in July 2023 set Tybura back to the drawing board. This fight here is his first step back towards another possible run.

The clock is ticking not only Tybura’s title run, but his career. He knows he needs to win and finish people to leapfrog into contention. But his grappling style simply does not tend to generate the highlight reel finishes that other fighters like Aspinall enjoy.

Tybura does have nine TKOs and seven submissions on his resume. At this stage, he can’t throw caution to the wind; he must fight smart and keep winning to generate a title shot run.

Spivac is in a similar position.

The No. 9 “Polar Bear” (16-4-0), 29, is younger, but is picking up the pieces after a loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Fight Night 226 in September 2023. Like Tybura, this fight is unlikely to generate a title shot on its own. But having lost to Tybura four years ago, he needs to be better all around. Can Spivac improve his takedown defense and grappling to match Tybura?

I don’t expect this fight to be a barnburner. This is more like a heavyweight chess match, like last week’s main event showdown in Abu Dhabi. Tybura will be looking to grapple, clinch, or go to the ground and Spivac will be looking for the knockout. Both were fairly pedestrian at media day, acknowledging that it’s been so long since the first fight, that this is a new one altogether.

So, let’s see what Tybura and Spivac and offer us this time.

In the Clinch: Tybura, Spivac Get Reacquainted, UFC Vegas 95– More Resources

• 2022 Panini UFC Products, Checklists, Box Breaks
• 2023 Panini UFC Products, Checklists, Box Breaks

Marcin Tybura

• Beckett Card Catalog
• UFC.com Profile

Serghei Spivac

• Beckett Card Catalog
• UFC.com Profile

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Kenai Andrews

Kenai Andrews lives in Toronto, Canada and is the Editor-in-Chief of MMA Crossfire (http://www.mmacrossfire.com) and the host of the TKO Countdown show. Contact Kenai on Twitter or Instagram @kenaiandrews. Enjoy the fights.

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