Marcin
Tybura exploited the lack of dimension in the game of his
heavy-handed dance partner.
The former M-1 Global titleholder strengthened his claim as a Top
10 heavyweight in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship, as he rendered Tai Tuivasa
unconscious with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
UFC Fight Night 239 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in
Las Vegas.
Tuivasa (14-7, 8-7 UFC) surrendered his grip on reality 4:08 into
Round 1.
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Tybura (25-8, 12-7 UFC) walked through considerable fire. Tuivasa
blasted him with a series of standing elbows, one of which opened a
cut on his scalp. The 33-fight veteran kept his cool under duress,
closed the distance behind a one-two and completed a takedown.
Tybura hammered away with sustained ground-and-pound and patiently
waited for an opening to present itself. Tuivasa chose to go belly
down and exposed his neck in the process. Soon after, the
fight-ending choke was in place.
The 30-year-old Tuivasa now finds himself on a four-fight losing
streak.
Meanwhile, an inadvertent eye poke from “The Ultimate Fighter”
Season 29 winner Bryan
Battle resulted in a no contest with Ange Loosa in
the second round of their welterweight co-main event. Loosa (10-3,
2-1 UFC) indicated he could not see after a brief pause in the
action, resulting in the stoppage 60 seconds into Round 2. The two
men had to be separated by in-cage security afterward.
Battle (10-2, 5-1 UFC) handled his business in the first round,
where he unleashed a variety of weapons on the backpedaling Kill
Cliff Fight Club representative. Short-range knees, a front kick to
the face, a switch knee and a partially blocked head kick all
penetrated Loosa’s defenses with varying degrees of effectiveness.
A thumb to the eye during their last exchange rendered it all
moot.
Elsewhere, Ovince St.
Preux wagged his finger at Father Time and managed to come away
with a split decision over Fortis MMA’s Kennedy
Nzechukwu in a three-round light heavyweight showcase. All
three judges struck 29-28 scorecards: Derek Cleary for Nzechukwu,
Adalaide Byrd and Junichiro Kamijo for St. Preux.
It was not an aesthetically pleasing exercise. St. Preux (27-17,
15-12 UFC) pawed with jab, mixed in a few front kicks to the body
and fired occasional body-head combinations. Nzechukwu (12-5, 6-5
UFC) seemed hesitant to pull the trigger, until a left uppercut
from the Strikeforce veteran dropped him to a knee in the third
round. St. Preux, 40, struggled to keep pace down the stretch.
Nzechukwu tore into him with knees to the body and sharp one-twos,
hunting a finish that ultimately eluded him.
Nzechukwu has lost back-to-back bouts since he slept Devin Clark
with a guillotine choke at UFC 288 a little less than a year
ago.
Further down the card, Roufusport’s Christian
Rodriguez rallied to eke out a contentious split decision over
the previously unbeaten Isaac
Dulgarian in a three-round featherweight feature. All three
members of the cageside judiciary scored it 29-28: Anthony Maness
for Dulgarian, Sal D’Amato and Ron McCarthy for Rodriguez.
Dulgarian (6-1, 1-1 UFC) stormed out of the gate with a dominant
first round, overwhelming the Duke Roufus protégé with takedowns,
mat returns, ground-and-pound and submission attempts; he was
ambitious enough to try a Peruvian necktie before reconsidering his
options. Rodriguez stayed composed, landed a few close-range knee
strikes in the middle stanza and waited for the Factory X standout
to run out of gas. An exhausted Dulgarian offered little to nothing
in terms of meaningful offense across the final five minutes.
Rodriguez (11-1, 4-1 UFC) capitalized on the moment, sprawled on
weak takedowns, achieved full mount and floated from one dominant
position to another. Dulgarian eventually made his way to an
upright position, only to eat punches while wide-eyed with
fatigue.
Rodriguez, 26, has won four fights in a row.
Not to be overshadowed, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 28 winner
Macy
Chiasson put away ex-Cage Warriors Fighting Championship
titleholder Pannie
Kianzad with a rear-naked choke in the first round of their
women’s bantamweight attraction. Kianzad (16-8, 5-5 UFC) bowed out
3:54 into Round 1, falling to 0-2 in the head-to-head series
between the two.
Chiasson (9-3, 7-3 UFC) set off scrambles, made passes at a kneebar
and an inverted triangle, tripped the Arte Suave rep to the floor
and slipped behind her.
The Fortis MMA export slowly tightened her arms into a face crank,
then transitioned to the rear-naked choke to force an immediate
tapout.
The submission was Chiasson’s first since she dispatched Kianzad
with the same maneuver at “The Ultimate Fighter 28” Finale on Nov.
30, 2018.
Finally, former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Gerald
Meerschaert put Bryan
Barberena to sleep with a face crank in the second round of
their middleweight appetizer.
Barberena (18-12, 9-10 UFC) lost consciousness 4:23 into Round 2,
suffering his fourth consecutive defeat.
Meerschaert (36-17, 11-9 UFC) secured multiple takedowns, advanced
position without much resistance and controlled the flow of action
with superior grappling. He grounded Barberena midway through the
middle stanza, progressed to the back and bit down on the face
crank. From there, Meerschaert tightened the vice until his
counterpart blacked out.
The 36-year-old Meershcaert now has 28 submission victories to his
credit.
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