Scouting Report: Marcin Tybura

Marcin Tybura

Born: Nov. 9, 1985 (Age: 37) in Uniejow, Poland
Division: Heavyweight
Height: 6’3”
Reach: 78”
Record: 24-7 (11-6 UFC)
Association: Jackson-Wink MMA
Stage of Career: Post-Prime

Summary: Tybura can be thought of as an old-school specialist. While he is an outstanding, highly skilled grappler, his striking is downright poor. His punches are generally telegraphed, inaccurate and improperly thrown, lacking even basic technique. Though his kicks are marginally better, they also suffer from technical flaws. Moreover, porous defense is exacerbated by a shaky chin and subpar recovery skills. Grappling is Tybura’s wheelhouse. Strong and technical, he can secure a variety of takedowns from either a shot or a clinch. Tybura has excellent takedown defense and can easily get back to his feet or sweep opponents who manage to get him to the ground. He has outstanding top control—a rare quality in heavyweights—and punishing ground-and-pound, particularly with his elbows. When Tybura fights at a measured pace, his cardio has been good enough to get him through three rounds. Every opponent knows the Tybura gameplan and how to beat him, but relatively few of them have managed to do so.

STRIKING

• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Average to slightly below average.
• Jab: A pawing shot that is easy to counter and offers little impact.
• Cross: An arm punch with which he tends to fall forward.
• Left Hook: Wide and inaccurate, though it appears to carry some power.
• Overhand Right: Telegraphed and slow when it has proper rotation; simply a weak arm punch when it does not.
• Uppercuts: Rarely throws them.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Throws one strike at a time.
• Favorite Combination(s): No go-to sequences to point to.
• Leg Kicks: They have some impact, and he targets the calf with a nice front kick. However, he throws some of them naked and leaves himself open to counters.
• Body Kicks: Fairly accurate, but he does not turn into them fully, thus robbing them of a degree of power.
• Head Kicks: Puts too much weight on his back foot while lacking flexibility and range of motion.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: No.

Tybura’s standup remains inadequate. His jab is a major liability that poses far more danger to him than any of his opponents. Tybura’s power punches lack impact, too. His kicks are moderately better but have their own technical flaws. Defense is also not a strong suit, as Tybura calls upon strange head movements and defective footwork that results in his missing opportunities to counter.

CLINCH

• Physical Strength: A tremendously powerful heavyweight who has matched or exceeded other strong counterparts, like Sergey Spivak and Alexander Romanov.
• Technique: Always in good position to work for takedowns.
• Knees: Rarely uses them.
• Elbows: Does not throw them.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Excellent. Rarely gives opponents space to unleash them.

Tybura is a terrific grappler, which is his primary focus in the clinch. He has proven difficult for opponents to hit in close quarters, as he gives them little space with which to generate offense.

GRAPPLING

• Wrestling from a Shot: Stellar. Features a nice double-leg and can also run the pipe well on singles, allowing him to produce takedowns with both. Tybura could once time shots whenever opponents threw leg kicks, thought that skill seems to have vanished as he has aged.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Another area in which Tybura shines. He can suck out opponents’ hips, finish with double-legs and even throw them around, as he did against Derrick Lewis.
• Takedown Defense: Difficult to get to the mat, even for solid grapplers who are reacting to his leg kicks.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Can hip escape to stand or sweep or reverse into top position.
• Submissions: Limited. He has never executed one in the UFC and rarely tries for them. When he does, he struggles to complete maneuvers.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: He may not throw up submissions from his back, but he minimizes the effects of his ground-and-pound.
• Top Control: Smothering.
• Ground-and-Pound: Decent, though the effectiveness of his punches can vary. He throws hard, sudden elbows and can go to body-head punches when the situation calls for it.

Tybura is a formidable grappler who can land takedowns from either a shot or in the clinch. From a shot, he can nail down double-legs or run the pipe on singles. In the clinch, he can secure double-legs and excels at sucking out the hips. Tybura often calls upon impressive top control and damaging ground-and-pound, especially when he involves his elbows. He has proven difficult to take down and even more difficult to keep down, as he uses hip escapes quite well and has also shown the ability to sweep or reverse into top position.

INTANGIBLES

• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: While he is not dynamic at all, Tybura is undeniably powerful.
• Cardio: Slows down a little with each round while fighting at a measured pace, but he retains his strength and fundamental approach for the full 15 minutes.
• Chin: Mediocre at best. He was stunned and unable to recover from a Shamil Abdurakhimov left hook that did not look all that devastating, and he was hurt badly by a single right hook from Augusto Sakai, who connected with the inside of his hand. Tybura managed to absorb some powerful shots from Greg Hardy, including a few straight rights, so durability is not an outright liability.
• Recuperative Powers: Poor. Even after getting a respite after his encounter with Sakai’s aforementioned hook, he had seemingly not recovered at all.
• Intelligence: Tybura is aware of his striking limitations and looks for openings to grapple—an approach at which he has been successful for years. Still, it is somewhat surprising that his standup remains such a weakness.