Marcin Tybura had to survive an early onslaught before staging a comeback to finish ex-NFL player Greg Hardy in the second round to kick off the main card at UFC Vegas 17.
It was a tough start for Tybura after he ate a number of punches from Hardy on the feet but he showed off his veteran experience by weathering the storm before completely shifting the momentum into his favor. Once Tybura took the fight to the ground it was a complete mismatch as Hardy had no chance to escape as he just ate a series of blistering punches until the referee finally saw enough to stop the contest.
The end came at 4:31 into the second round.
“That was the plan,” Tybura said. “I knew in the first round it would be really hard to take him to the ground. He’s really strong and much bigger than me. I needed to make him tired a little bit and take him down. The plan worked completely.”
@MarcinTybura FLEXING THE POLISH POWER! The G&P closes it out! #UFCVegas17 pic.twitter.com/WmgYmbNLd4
— UFC (@ufc) December 20, 2020
As the fight got started, Hardy showed patience in order to display his power while digging to Tybura’s body and then going back up to the head during his combinations. During one particular exchange, Hardy tagged Tybura with a hard right hand but rather than rushing forward, he continued to pick his shots in order to set up a potential finish.
With a minute remaining in the opening round, Hardy blasted Tybura with another straight right down the middle and the Polish heavyweight was left on wobbly legs. Hardy followed up with a barrage of consecutive punches that had Tybura in trouble but the round ended before he could get the knockout.
Despite a tough start, Tybura began staging a comeback in the second round by cutting off the cage and forcing Hardy to fight at his distance. That allowed Tybura to then set up a takedown as he planted Hardy on the ground and the former defensive standout never got up again.
Tybura immediately began raining down punches and Hardy could only cover up without offering any real resistance to the ground and pound attack. Finally with Hardy no longer fighting back, the referee stepped into stop the fight as Tybura earns his fourth win in 2020.
A UFC veteran since 2016, Tybura has endured more than a few ups and downs but his current four-fight win streak is his best run since joining the promotion. As for Hardy, his two fight win streak comes to an end while he suffers the first knockout loss of his career.