Marcin Tybura returned to the win column on Saturday night, handing Tai Tuivasa his fourth consecutive loss in the UFC Fight Night main event.
Tybura (25-8) stopped Tuivasa in the opening round of their five-round heavyweight title after absorbing a punishing elbow strike, which opened the Polish heavyweight with a significant cut on the head.
After putting Tuivasa on the ground, Tybura took control of the back and worked on a choke until Herb Dean rendered Tuivasa out and awarded the technical submission victory to Tybura.
The win provided the 38-year-old with a performance of the night bonus and an extra $50,000 while achieving his first win in over a year. He was coming off a first-round TKO loss to current interim title holder Tom Aspinall last July.
For Tuivasa (14-7), the Australian fighter has lost four consecutive fights going back to September 2022 with losses to Ciryl Gane, Sergei Pavlovich, and Alexander Volkov before Saturday’s main event.
An anticlimactic ending ruined the welterweight contest between Bryan Battle and Ange Loosa with the fight ending in a no-contest after an accidental eye poke to Loosa.
Loosa was poked in the opening minute of round two and checked on by the medical staff when he revealed that he could not see, and the referee waved off the fight. It led to a tense exchange with Battle berating his opponent and a pull-apart among the fighters.
Battle (10-2, 1 NC) was critical of Loosa (10-3, 1 NC) and believed he was looking for a way out of the fight and found it with the eye poke. It’s unknown if the UFC will opt to rematch the two.
The main card saw Ovince Saint Preux (27-17) earn a split decision victory against Kennedy Nzechukwu (12-5) as Saint Preux rebounded for a knockout loss to Philipe Lins in February 2023. It was Nzechukwu’s second consecutive loss, and he is 6-5 throughout his UFC campaign.
Macy Chiasson (9-3) returned to the bantamweight division and submitted Pannie Kianzad (16-8) in the first round with a rear-naked choke. This was a rematch from the TUF Finale in November 2018 where Chiasson submitted Kianzad to win that season’s featherweight tournament.
There was no fight of the night recipient as performance bonuses were handed out to Tybura, Chiasson, Jafel Filho, and Jaqueline Amorim.
The UFC runs the Apex again next Saturday night with a headline fight involving flyweights Amanda Ribas (13-4) and former two-time strawweight champion Rose Namajunas (11-6).
RESULTS:
*Marcin Tybura def. Tai Tuivasa by technical submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:08 of Round 1
*Bryan Battle vs. Ange Loosa ended in a no-contest at 1:00 of Round 2 due to an accidental eye poke
*Ovince Saint Preux def. Kennedy Nzechukwu by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Christian Rodriguez def. Isaac Dulgarian by split decision (28-27, 27-28, 28-27)
*Macy Chiasson def. Pannie Kianzad by rear-naked choke at 3:54 of Round 1
*Gerald Meerschaert def. Bryan Barberena by technical submission (neck crank) at 4:23 of Round 2
*Mike Davis def. Natan Levy by arm-triangle choke at 1:43 of Round 2
*Chelsea Chandler def. Josiane Nunes by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Jafel Filho def. Ode Osbourne by rear-naked choke at 4:27 of Round 1
*Danny Silva def. Joshua Culibao by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Jaqueline Amorim def. Cory McKenna by armbar at 1:38 of Round 1
*Thiago Moises def. Mitch Ramirez by TKO at 0:15 of Round 3
*Chad Anheliger def. Charalampos Grigoriou by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
