Athletes
Fighters on the Rise | UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs Tybura
Keep Your Eyes Glued To This Trio Of Talents Beginning To Make Waves Inside The Octagon
In the wake of UFC 299, the action shifts back to the APEX for a fight card headlined by Top 15 heavyweights Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura.
With the abundance of marquee names that competed last weekend in Miami and that are scheduled to make the walk next month at UFC 300, events like this weekend’s fight card provide an opportunity for “under the radar” athletes to step into the Octagon and use this opportunity capture the attention of the audience when all eyes are on them.
Ahead of Saturday’s fight card, we highlight three competitors across three divisions that arrive in Las Vegas on winning streaks, with designs on adding to their current success with statement efforts. Pay attention to these three because you could be hearing more from them in the very near future.
Bryan Battle
The middleweight tournament winner on Season 29 of The Ultimate Fighter, Battle posted an additional win in the 185-pound ranks against the man he was originally scheduled to face in the finale, Tresean Gore, before departing for the welterweight ranks.
Since touching down at 170 pounds, the North Carolina native has gone 3-1, earning stoppages in each of his victories while battling to the horn against the dangerous Rinat Fakhretdinov in his lone setback. More importantly, he responded to that defeat with a pair of impressive triumphs, dropping Gabe Green in 14 seconds at home in Charlotte before collecting a rear-naked choke win over AJ Fletcher last time out.
During his time on TUF, Battle offered a profile similar to another late pick that won the competition at middleweight before dropping down to welterweight, Kelvin Gastleum, showcasing a strong foundation of skills and abilities, but also plenty of room to grow as he continues to mature, and, so far, he’s on the right track.
Saturday's pairing with Ange Loosa is another key test for “The Butcher” — a matchup against an explosive, compact welterweight riding high off consecutive victories and looking to keep moving forward while halting his opponent’s ascent. He carries big power and throws smoke, and we have seen Battle get clipped a time or two, which creates some additional intrigue here.
Saturday's Full Fight Card Preview
Battle is in an interesting position, because the welterweight division is extremely deep, which affords him the opportunity to keep progressing in his development without getting thrown into the fire. A third straight win and fourth victory in five starts at this weight would certainly merit a step up in the future, so it will be interesting to see how much he’s progressed since September and what that produces this weekend.
Mike Davis
The depth of the lightweight division allows talented competitors to exist in the background despite consistent success inside the Octagon, and when you mix in infrequent appearances, an athlete can slide even further back to where some might lose sight of them entirely.
But it would be a mistake to not pay close attention to Davis this weekend and going forward.
The 31-year-old Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) alum lost his short-notice promotional debut to Gilbert Burns, but has posted three consecutive victories since, stopping Thomas Gifford before garnering unanimous decision wins over Mason Jones and Viacheslav Borshchev. What keeps “Beast Boy” a little hidden in plain sight within the division, however, is the fact that those three fights have come across the last four years, with his most recent outing coming in October 2022.
If how you looked getting off the bus or standing on the scale determined your standing in the division, the Floridian would be in title contention. Davis is a physical specimen for the 155-pound weight class, standing six feet tall with a long reach, proven power, and speed in his hands, all of which makes him an intriguing figure going forward.
Saturday night, Davis faces off with DWCS graduate Natan Levy, who enters off consecutive wins and brandishing an 8-1 record overall. The Syndicate MMA representative dropped his promotional debut, like Davis, but posted decision victories in each of his last two outings, most recently out-working fellow Contender Series grad Genaro Valdez in December 2022.
Stylistically, this feels like an opportunity for Davis to potentially shine.
Tuivasa vs Tybura Main Event Breakdown
He’s faced more experienced competition thus far in his UFC journey and even in his DWCS appearance, where he lost to Top 15 featherweight Sodiq Yusuff, with the diversity of his game and speed of his hands standing as potential differentiation points.
It’s been a minute since Davis crossed the threshold into the Octagon, but it shouldn’t take long for fans and pundits to remember why he’s one to watch when he does so this weekend at the UFC APEX.
Christian Rodriguez
Last year was a breakout campaign for Rodriguez, but one that didn’t come without some lows, as well.
The 26-year-old talent posted a pair of impressive victories over fellow prospects, derailing Raul Rosas Jr. at UFC 287 in Miami before turning back Cameron Saaiman in October. In both instances, he handed his opponents their first career defeats, but he also missed weight ahead of each contest, which took some of the shine off his otherwise stellar performances.
Rodriguez earned a win on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2021, but failed to secure a contract, only to debut in the UFC on short notice, up a division four months later. While he lost to Jonathan Pearce, the Roufusport product impressed, hanging tough throughout before taking the fight to Pearce in the final round. Unbeaten in his last three since that debut, he returns to the featherweight division on Saturday for a clash with a third straight unbeaten prospect.
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This weekend, Rodriguez faces off with Isaac Dulgarian, a 6-0 hopeful coming off a first-round stoppage win over Francis Marshall in his first UFC start. Between his amateur run and his pro career thus far, the 27-year-old “Midwest Choppa” has never lost and never been out of the first round, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Rodriguez.
He’s been in this spot in each of his last two outings, facing off with unbeaten emerging talents looking to advance at his expense and, each time, his superior talents shone through. If he’s able to weather the early storm that is sure to come from Dulgarian to start, there is room for Rodriguez to lean on his experience, lean on the amount of time he’s logged inside the Octagon, and keep his winning streak intact.
UFC Fight Night: Tuivasa vs Tybura took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 16, 2024. See the final Prelims and Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass.
