It wasn’t pretty but Marcin Tybura survived an early scare and came back to hand Alexandr Romanov the first loss of his career at UFC 278.
The heavyweights fought at high altitude, leaving them exhausted. However Tybura was able to weather the storm and return to deliver a torrent of strikes in the second round and third to win the fight. Tybura won the fight 29-28, 29-28 by the judges. The third official gave the score of 28-28,. This resulted in the majority verdict.
It took less than 30 seconds for Romanov to close the distance, grab onto the body lock and then toss Tybura to the ground as he looks to employ his grappling advantage. Romanov was meticulous on the ground, hammering away at punches and looking to improve his position.
When Tybura managed to work his way back to the feet, Romanov picked him up and brought him crashing back down again as he showcased his superior strength. Romanov’s offense was unstoppable as Tybura was unable to get up.
The restart in the second round gave Tybura a chance to escape Romanov’s clutches as the heavyweights started swinging heavy leather at each other as the altitude in Utah started to wear on both men. Tybura appeared to be the fresher of the two fighters, which allowed him to start working over a quickly tiring Romanov.
Even when the fight reached the floor Tybura maintained control and power until Romanov was finally freed just before the horn went off.
With the heavyweights fighting for oxygen as much as they were battling each other, Tybura was the more active fighter as he and Romanov continued slugging it out until the third round came to a close. The difference was really whether the judges gave Romanov a 10-8 opening round and ultimately only one official scored the fight that way, which led to Tybura’s win.
The Polish fighter is now 6-1 in his past seven fights while Romanov suffers the first defeat of his professional career.
