UFC Fight Night Werdum vs. Tybura preview - Australian fans embrace both local and travelling fighters

UFC commentator and analyst Dan Hardy looks ahead to this weekend’s event ‘Down Under’ as the UFC Octagon touches down in Sydney, Australia

Dan Hardy
UFC commentator and analyst
Friday 17 November 2017 18:00 GMT
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Werdum's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is supported by an excellent level of Muay Thai striking
Werdum's Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is supported by an excellent level of Muay Thai striking

As I make my way across the globe to sit Octagonside for this weekend’s fights, Sydney has already been taken over by the fighters, coaches, and the UFC team ahead of another big event.

Each time the UFC heads to Australia, the fans come out in force and show their support for both the local and travelling fighters. There are many local fighters on this card looking to represent on home soil, but the main event is a heavyweight clash featuring former UFC heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum.

His opponent is rising Polish contender Marcin Tybura, coming off the biggest win of his career. Werdum wasted no time at all in submitting Walt Harris at UFC 216 less than a month ago. At just over a minute into the first round Werdum locked in a tight armbar and forced the tap. His submission skills are unrivalled on the current UFC heavyweight roster and Tybura is well aware of the dangers if this fight hits the canvas.

After bettering another former UFC heavyweight champion in Andrei Arlovski in his most recent bout five months ago, Tybura expressed to me after he event that he wasn’t happy with the performance and expects more from himself going forward.

Mark Hunt was originally scheduled to face Tybura in this event and would have been an incredibly tough striking bout, in which I would have expected Tybura to have a similar approach, grounding his opponent and using his huge frame and grappling skills to smother and strike his way to a TKO stoppage. Hunt would have been tough but more predictable than his new opponent.

With Werdum standing across the Octagon things become a lot more complex. Although Tybura’s potential is evident, he is a growing prospect and still at the beginning of his UFC career. Werdum on the other hand is already a proven finisher at every range. Working closely with Rafael Cordeiro for a number of years, Fabricio’s world class Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is now supported by an excellent level of Muay Thai striking. His flying knee knockout over Mark Hunt, three years ago at UFC 180, shows that he can beat anyone at their own game.

Hunt has shown he has a granite chin but was baited into making a mistake which cost him not only the fight, but the UFC heavyweight title. Werdum kept shooting for Hunt’s lead leg, as if he wanted to get the fight to the floor. He realised that Hunt was starting to drop his hands and head, expecting to be defending a takedown attempt. With the trap set, Fabricio motioned as if he reaching for the lead leg of Hunt, but in the last second Werdum sprung forward and planted a flying knee to the chin of his foe and sent him crashing to the canvas.

Werdum is a former UFC heavyweight champion

That analytical mindset during fights allows him to read his opponent, adapt to their attack and then set them up.

It’s a high level of fight intelligence which we have seen Werdum use in the grappling range many times, but in recent fights he is also applying it to his kickboxing attack as well. The obvious gameplan for Tybura is to defend Werdum’s takedown efforts, which is likely the weakest part of the former champion’s game. From there Tybura can keep testing the defence of Werdum with long-range front kicks and overhand rights. As we saw in his bout against Victor Pesta in August last year, Tybura is able to use feints and lighter strikes to set up the fight ender, which in this case was a huge head kick.

Tybura feels confident if the fight does go to the floor. With a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu and ADCC veteran Kamil Uminski in his corner, he may feel like a grappling exchange is a manageable risk. The danger here is falling into one of Werdum’s traps, like when he pretends to be hurt and falls to the mat.

Assuming he is vulnerable, many fighters would rush in to get the finish and fall straight into a submission, which is what he did to the great Fedor Emelianenko way back in 2010 and attempted against Mark Hunt. As long as Marcin sticks to his gameplan, I do believe he can force Werdum into a kickboxing match, which is where this fight is most winnable for him.

Tybura is riding a three-fight win streak

With the heavyweight division wide open at the moment and several rising heavyweight prospects vying for a top five position, beating the number two-ranked Fabricio Werdum will boost Tybura into contention, from his current position at number eight, quicker than any other fight in the division. For Werdum, it’s all about staying at the top of the tree and trying to get back to a title fight. It is an excellent headlining bout and a huge opportunity for Marcin Tybura.

Looking down the card at the supporting cast, many match-ups stand out as possible ‘Fight of the Night’ contenders and most feature at least one local fighter. The co-main event between “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings and Jessy-Rose Clark will be a very competitive fight in the women’s flyweight division. C

lark, coming in on short notice for an injured Joanne Calderwood, is looking to win local bragging rights as these two athletes both fight out of Australia, but Rawlings is already well-known from her time on The Ultimate Fighter.

One more to watch out for is the Prelim opener between Frank “The Crank” Camacho and Damien “Beatdown” Brown, which is definitely my pick for 'Fight of the Night’ bonuses.

Watch UFC Fight Night: Werdum vs. Tybura live on BT Sport 2 from 1am GMT early on Sunday, November 19 or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 11:30pm GMT on Saturday

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