Ultimate Fighting Championship matchmakers decided the ranked heavyweight bout needed five more rounds.
In 2020, Marcin Tybura (25-8) faced Sergey Spivak (16-4) in the prelims of UFC Fight Night 169 and won by close decision. Since then, the two have posted similar records of 7-2 and 6-2, respectively, and have both finished in the top 10 in the heavyweight division. News broke in June that the two would meet again at UFC Fight Night: The Final on Aug. 10 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, and the promotion announced on Thursday morning that it would be the main event.
The 2020 win over Spivak was the start of a winning streak for the Polish fighter, who won his next four straight bouts to put himself in title contention. He was inspired by Alexander Volkov at UFC 267, but bounced back to win decisions over Alexander Romanov and Blagoy Ivanov to put himself in title contention. “Tybura” then faced Tom Aspinall at UFC Fight Night 224, defeating Aspinall in 73 seconds. In his last bout, Tybura put Tai Tuivasa to sleep in the main event of UFC Fight Night 239 in March of this year.
The Moldovaan will be looking to get back to winning ways after having his three-fight winning streak ended by Cyril Gane in Paris last year. Prior to Gane’s stoppage, Spivak had knocked out Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai and Derrick Lewis within two rounds each. More than a third of Tybura’s wins have come by decision, but “The Polar Bear” has only relied on a referee to secure a win twice as a pro.
The currently unnumbered UFC Fight Night card will take place on August 10 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas. The bout order beyond the main event, Tybura vs. Spivak, has yet to be finalized. Other possible matchups on the main card include the rescheduled featherweight showdown between Damon Jackson and Jose Mariscal and a bantamweight bout between Javid Basharat and Chris Gutierrez. Additionally, Panny Kianzad will face Karol Rosa at 135 pounds. Kianzad’s previous two bouts have been on shows headlined by Tybura, and he has lost both times.
