This past Saturday night in the main event of UFC Vegas 88, we saw a heavyweight battle. The popular Tai Tuivasa (15-7) was looking to get back in the win column as he was taking on top ten contender Marcin Tybura (25-8).
It seems crazy to think about the fact that Tai Tuivasa made the walk on Saturday night having lost three fights in a row. Just about a year and a half ago, Tuivasa was headlining against Ciryl Gane in a title eliminator. He dropped Gane in that matchup before losing by TKO in the third round.
He then was stopped by Sergei Pavlovich and then he was submitted by Alexander Volkov. He needed a win in the worst way, but Tybura wasn’t going to make things easy. Things did start out solid for Tuivasa who was able to land some big shots and bloody up Tybura. However, he wasn’t able to find the finishing shot.
Because of that, Tybura was eventually able to land a takedown in the first round. From there, the fight was essentially over. Tybura moved through Tuivasa’s defenses with ease and secured a choke. Tuivasa went out on his shield by not tapping, but he still suffered his fourth straight loss at UFC Vegas 88.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 88?
Again, there was a moment in that fight with Ciryl Gane where it looked like Tai Tuivasa was going to get the win and because of that, he would’ve earned a title shot. Now, he’s been finished in four straight fights and things just haven’t gone his way. I will say, from a promotional standpoint, I didn’t understand this matchmaking.
You had to figure that if Tybura got to Tuivasa and took him down, the fight could end quickly which is exactly what happened at UFC Vegas 88. Tuivasa is so popular with the fans that I think they should’ve given him a better stylistic matchup to try and get back on track.
Now that he’s suffered his fourth straight loss, I think the UFC should do that next. A great next opponent would be Marcos Rogerio de Lima. He’s coming off a big TKO win over Junior Tafa and he throws extremely heavy shots. To me, it seems like a solid next matchup and it will make sense from a rankings perspective.