UFC Vegas 88: Marcin Tybura chokes out Tai Tuivasa in wild one-rounder

Poland’s Marcin Tybura weathered an early storm against hard-hitting contender Tai Tuivasa, then turned the tables on the big Aussie before finally choking him unconscious to pick up arguably the biggest win of his UFC career.

Tybura, who has perennially sat in the upper echelons of the UFC’s heavyweight division without quite breaking into true contender status, faced Tuivasa in the main event of UFC Vegas 88 at the UFC Apex, and had to be on his mettle to avoid a damaging first-round bludgeoning from a fast-starting Tuivasa.

Tybura was clipped, stunned, and cut on the top of his head. But the sight of blood running down his face only seemed to inspure the big Pole, who continued to stay in and around the pocket looking for entries for a takedown.

Eventually, after somehow breaking through to Tuivasa’s legs, Tybura completed a takedown and assumed top position. From there he transitioned to his opponent’s back, then unloaded a relentless salvo of punches to the helpless Tuivasa’s head. The shots didn’t overly affect Tuivasa initially, but the cumulative effect of Tybura’s non-stop barrage eventually wore him down and opened up the opportunity for Tybura to swap strikes for submissions.

It took a little time for Tybura to overcome Tuivasa’s hand-fighting, but he eventually locked up a rear-naked choke. Tuivasa gamely held on in the hope of either burning out Tybura’s arms or running out the clock. Neither happened, and when Tybura adjusted the hold and applied additional pressure, Tuivasa slipped into unconsciousness at the 4:08 mark of a wild opening round.

It was a superb performance from Tybura, and should put him in striking distance of the division’s contenders for his next bout.

UFC Vegas 88: Official results

MAIN CARD

• Marcin Tybura def. Tai Tuivasa via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:08
• Bryan Battle vs. Ange Loosa ruled a no contest (accidental eye poke) – Round 2, 1:00
• Ovince Saint Preux def. Kennedy Nzechukwu via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Christian Rodriguez def. Isaac Dulgarian via split decision (27-28, 28-27, 28-27)
• Macy Chiasson def. Pannie Kianzad via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, .
• Gerald Meerschaert def. Bryan Barberena via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:23

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Mike Davis def. Natan Levy via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:43
• Chelsea Chandler def. Josiane Nunes via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jafel Filho def. Ode’ Osbourne via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:27
• Danny Silva def. Josh Culibao via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jaqueline Amorim def. Cory McKenna via submission (triangle armbar) – Round 1, 1:38
• Thiago Moises def. Mitch Ramirez via TKO (leg kicks) – Round 3, 0:15
• Chad Anheliger def. Charalampos Grigoriou via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)