UFC Singapore, a.k.a. UFC Fight Night 111: Holm vs. Correia started bright and early for those of us stateside on Saturday. The event, hosted at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore, featured a main event of Holly Holm vs. Bethe Correia, and an exciting preliminary card that did not disappoint. In the co-main event of the evening, former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski faced off against the up-and-coming M-1 vet Marcin Tybura.
Arlovski entered the night on an 0-4 run, the second such stretch of his career. Yet while he had cheated the MMA gods once before, it seemed to defy logic that he’d be able to go on another run. One last win in the promotion, however, was certainly not outside the realm of possibility.
Tybura, for his part, entered UFC Singapore on a two fight win streak, including a Performance of the Night head kick KO of Viktor Pesta.
Round one saw Tybura taking the center of the cage and opening with a leg kick, then launching a front kick that was a mile short of the mark. Arlovski landed a spining back kick to the body that sent Tybura reeling. The Polish fighter would catch a body kick shortly after, however, and take The Pitbull to the ground.
Arlovski worked hard from the bottom to hang on, used his closed guard, and prevented Tybura from scoring much damage. However, the former champ nearly gave up the back trying to roll free of his opponent, and Tybura would manage to mount shortly after. While Arlovski survived some punches, an elbow caught his attention, and he rolled to avoid further damage only to eat more strikes. Bloodied, Arlovski made it to the final minute and rolled over, giving up his back and covering up – and with seconds left reversed back to his feet and began unloading on a tired Tybura! The bell, however, stopped the action momentarily.
The second saw a bruised Arlovski going out to war. He immediately went back to work on the feet, landing some shots then clinching against the fence. Off the break Arlovski did more damage and scored a brief takedown, but Tybura scrambled back up immediately. The Pitbull maintained control against the fence, looking for another takedown. The ref broke up the action with a minute left, which led to a brief exchange and accidental clash of heads. Though much slower, Arlovski likely took the second round, evening it up at one a piece in all likelihood.
The Pitbull opened with a leg kick in the third, but was almost caught on his next kick. The takedown was a definite threat from Tybura at this point. He worked along the fence to take Arlovski down as the latter employed a whizzer and looked for a kimura. Tybura would hang on looking to complete, and eventually scoop Arlovski up and plant him on his back. The Polish fighter then looked to step over into mount, but Arlovski managed to keep him in half guard. After taking the back Tybura would transition to mount. Arlovski continued to fend him off, but was unable to shake Tybura, who controlled for pretty much the entire round. It would go to the scorecards, with Tybura being given the nod.
Was UFC Singapore the last time we would see Andrei Arlovski in the UFC octagon? The heavyweight legend left the cage without giving an interview, so time will tell.
Marcin Tybura def. Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision (29-28, 28-27, 29-27)
