Sergehi Spivac wasted little time exacting revenge on Marcin
Tybura.
The Moldovan made short work of Tybura in the
UFC on ESPN 61 headliner, submitting his Polish opponent in the
opening stanza of their heavyweight encounter at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas on Saturday night. An armbar from Spivac (17-4, 8-4 UFC)
elicited a verbal tap from Tybura (25-9, 12-8) at the 1:44 mark of
Round 1. “The Polar Bar” has finished 15 of his 17 career triumphs
— including 11 inside a round. Tybura defeated Spivac via unanimous
decision in their initial meeting at UFC Fight Night 169 in
February 2020.
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Spivac closed the distance quickly and made his way to Tybura’s
back early in the fight. However, Tybura was able to reverse into
top position shortly thereafter. That success proved to be short
lived, as Spivac worked his guard up, flipped his opponent over and
locked in the decisive hold.
Spivac has won four of his last five promotional appearances, while
Tybura has dropped two of his last three.
Mariscal Overwhelms Jackson
Takedowns, scrambling ability and a steady stream of
ground-and-pound carried Jose
Mariscal to a lopsided unanimous decision triumph against
Damon
Jackson at featherweight. “Chepe” received tallies of 30-25,
30-25 and 30-26 for his seventh consecutive professional triumph.
Jackson (23-7-1, 6-5-1, 1 NC UFC) has lost three of his last four
Octagon appearances. Much of the fight was contested in the clinch
early on, and Jackson held his own against the judoka for the
majority of the opening stanza. Mariscal (17-6, 1 NC, 4-0 UFC), who
missed weight by 3.5 pounds, gradually began to assert himself,
battering his foe with dirty boxing in close quarters and landing
multiple takedowns. Once the combatants were on the canvas, the
Elevation Fight Team member made Jackson carry his weight while
unloading with punches from various angles. Mariscal appeared to be
on the verge of a finish late in the bout, but a battered Jackson
was able to survive until the final horn.
Barlow Edges Veretennikov
Memphis native Danny
Barlow kept his undefeated record intact with a split verdict
over Kazakhstan’s Nikolay
Veretennikov in a welterweight scrap. Two judges scored the
contest 29-28 in favor of Barlow (9-0, 2-0 UFC), while a third saw
it 30-27 for Veretennikov (12-5, 0-1 UFC). Barlow missed weight by
0.25 pounds on Friday.
In a low-output affair, Barlow appeared to land the strikes of
consequences over the course of the first 10 minutes. He enjoyed
periodic success with kicks to the body and occasionally found a
home for his powerful left hand, though he was never able to
significantly hurt his adversary. Veretennikov upped his aggression
somewhat in the final frame, as he was able to connect more
consistently with punches down the stretch. It wasn’t enough to get
the nod on the scorecards, however.
Gutierrez Holds Off Short-Notice Foe Le
Factory X product Chris
Gutierrez weathered a game effort from Quang Le,
taking a unanimous decision in a featured bantamweight contest. All
three cageside judges submitted 29-28 tallies in favor of Gutierrez
(21-6-2, 9-3-1), who rebounds from a loss to Yadong Song
this past December.
Le (8-1, 0-1 UFC), who was a short-notice replacement for Javid
Basharat, had his moments in Round 2, when he jumped on
Gutierrez’s back and spent a decent portion of the period in top
position. However, “El Guapa controlled the first and third frames
with his trademark low kicks and timely counter punching. Le was
unable to replicate his success down the stretch as Gutierrez
gradually grew more comfortable at range.
Santos Snaps Three-Bout Skid
Former Invicta FC title holder Yana Santos
ended a three-fight losing streak, as she cruised past Chelsea
Chandler via unanimous decision in a bantamweight affair. All
three judges scored the contest in favor of the Russian veteran:
30-27, 29-28 and 29-28. Chandler (6-3, 2-2 UFC) missed weight by
five pounds on Friday. Santos (15-8, 1 NC 5-5 UFC) had a clear edge
in striking exchanges. She attacked with kicks to all levels and
floored her opponent with a straight right hand early in the second
frame. Chandler’s only course of action was to punch her way into
the clinch, but despite the weight miss, the Stockton, Calif.,
native didn’t appear to have strength advantage. In close quarters,
Santos was able to land knees or elbows and disengage with
relatively little difficulty.
Kazama Earns First UFC Win, Taps Grigoriou
Toshiomi
Kazama kept his cool under heavy fire, and the end result was
his first UFC triumph.
The 27-year-old Pancrase veteran survived a second-round surge from
Charalampos
Grigoriou and rallied to submit his foe with a triangle choke
at the 1:55 mark of Round 2 in a bantamweight bout. It’s the sixth
career submission victory for “The Silent Finisher.”
After Kazama (11-4, 1-2 UFC) controlled Round 1 with his grappling,
Grigoriou (8-5, 0-2 UFC) came out with a sense of urgency in the
second stanza. The Longo and Weidman MMA product pressured his
Japanese adversary and dropped him with a big left hand early in
the period. Grigoriou then assumed top position and dropped a
series of thudding elbows on a reeling Kazama. When the finish
didn’t arrive, Grigoriou fatigued badly, allowing Kazama to secure
the fight-ending maneuver.