Marcin Tybura had more in the tank than Ben Rothwell on the main card of UFC Fight Island 5, winning a decision in the heavyweight battle.
Veteran heavyweights met at UFC Fight Island 5 as Ben Rothwell clashed with Marcin Tybura. Both men were in a similar position: rebounding from a losing streak with consecutive wins. For Rothwell, he had won two consecutive fights against Stefan Struve and Ovince Saint Preux after three straight losses. On Tybura’s side, had two straight losses, but bounced back with wins over Sergey Spivak and Maxim Grishin.
The pressure to start the first by Rothwell was ridiculous. He poured it on non-stop for the first minute and landed quite a bit with basic combinations. The second minute saw Tybura find his footing a bit and land a few of his own, which slowed Rothwell down. Rothwell answered with a right hand to the body that he kept going back to. The round ended with the same kind of chaos as it started with – more aggression and more volume from Rothwell.
Tybura looked to be the fresher if the two fighters coming out of the first break, but Rothwell still maintained his status as the pressure fighter. Tybura seemed interested in tying up against the cage, but Rothwell maintained the control there as well. Tybura mixed in a takedown attempt that was stuffed quickly. Tybura was able to follow up with a knee that partially landed though. Rothwell ended the round moving forward and landing. The sheer volume from Rothwell seemed to be winning him the rounds, but Tybura wasn’t going away.
Tybura’s rate of success picked up to start the third round. Rothwell appeared to be fading thanks to his trademark head movement, and Tybura was taking advantage early. Tybura then landed his first takedown of the night. He worked from guard with some ground and pound and Rothwell looked for some submissions off of his back. Neither looked particularly close to finishing the fight and the round ended there.
Marcin Tybura def. Ben Rothwell by Unanimous Decision (29-27 x3)
