5 takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Marcin Tybura vs. Sergey Spivak 2
The UFC was back at the Las Vegas APEX last night for its latest event. Unfortunately, the show didn't provide many fireworks.
UFC Fight Night: Marcin Tybura vs. Sergey Spivak 2 was an underwhelming card on paper, and in execution, it didn't give fans much to enjoy.
Still, with a handful of good performances and finishes, there were a few talking points at least.
Here are five takeaways from UFC Fight Night: Marcin Tybura vs. Sergey Spivak 2.
#5 How high is the ceiling of Chepe Mariscal?
While a weight miss meant that he was ineligible for a bonus award, Chepe Mariscal was still one of the more impressive fighters last night.
'Machine Gun' basically beat down veteran Damon Jackson, bullying him in the clinch and taking him down on numerous times, often in high-impact fashion.
On the ground, 'The Leech' tried his best, but was unable to get his grappling game going, and Mariscal came close to a finish with some heavy strikes in the third round.
While he couldn't get it, he was awarded a lopsided decision, moving his UFC record to an overall 4-0.
How high is the ceiling for Mariscal? In all honesty, it's hard to say right now as he hasn't really fought a truly dangerous, high-level test yet.
He does appear to have the raw ability to at least test himself against an elite-level foe, though, so with any hope the promotion match him with someone higher up on the ladder next time. A top 15 foe, or even a highly experienced gatekeeper would be perfect.
#4 Chris Gutierrez is back on track - but time might be running out
After retiring the legendary Frankie Edgar at the back end of 2022, Chris Gutierrez appeared destined to become a title contender at bantamweight.
However, when the UFC pushed him up the ladder and matched him with veteran contender Pedro Munhoz, 'El Guapo' faltered. He fell to a defeat, and then saw the same result against another ranked foe in Song Yadong last December.
Last night was Gutierrez's chance to right the ship. Faced with a last-minute opponent in the form of newcomer Quang Le, 'El Guapo' looked just about back to his best.
He landed some heavy strikes - particularly leg kicks - on the newcomer in the first and third rounds, giving him enough to edge the win despite a poor second round. That second round saw Le control Gutierrez on the ground, but 'El Guapo' was able to defend well enough.
Will this win be enough to give Gutierrez another shot at a ranked foe? Quite possibly, but whether he can capitalise is another thing. More to the point, at the age of 33, his window of opportunity to become a true title contender is perhaps closing.
For 'El Guapo', then, his next bout is probably a case of now or never, despite his win last night.
#3 At what point do the UFC look to change things with their smaller Fight Night events?
Last night's event was the second of four UFC cards planned for August. Last weekend's event saw plenty of great action between high-level fighters. Next weekend's, meanwhile, is a pay-per-view headlined by one of the promotion's biggest stars, Israel Adesanya.
Unfortunately, last night's event had very few selling points. Not only was it short on name value, but it was short on ranked fighters, too.
The big question, then, is whether the UFC are doing the right thing by spreading themselves so thinly at this point.
It's true that under the current ESPN broadcast deal, these cheaper Fight Night shows still make the promotion plenty of money, particularly if they're produced in the cheaper APEX.
However, it's hard to deny that the watered-down nature of many of the smaller events these days also has an effect on the bigger shows, too. Due to sheer overexposure, the product is not as hot as it was even five or six years ago.
Dana White and company aren't likely to change things up under the current deal, but once it expires, cutting the number of shows is definitely something that might be worth exploring.
Until then, though, fans are likely to be treated to weaker events like last night's, and judging by the reaction to this event, that's not a good thing.
#2 Weight issues cast a long shadow over this UFC event
One of the biggest talking points coming into last night's event was the number of fighters who missed weight at Friday's weigh-in event.
Danny Barlow came in at 171.25 pounds, but as that's only a quarter of a pound above the welterweight limit, it's perhaps fair to overlook that as a slight error.
The same could not be said for Chelsea Chandler and Chepe Mariscal, though. Chandler came in at 141 pounds, five pounds over the bantamweight limit, while Mariscal was 149.5 pounds, three and a half over the featherweight line.
All three bouts went ahead, and saw mixed results. Barlow and Mariscal won decisions, while Chandler ended up losing to Yana Santos.
The results of these fights tell you that whether there's a benefit to coming in heavy is debatable. Mariscal - who outpowered Damon Jackson - may well have had an advantage.
While Chandler was defeated, Santos wasn't happy after the bout, essentially claiming that her foe hadn't even tried to make the weight.
All three fighters who missed weight were fined 20% of their purse and were not eligible to win bonus awards. However, should the UFC do more to deter this kind of issue?
Perhaps forcing fighters who, like Chandler, continually miss the mark to move up in weight could be one way of going forward. It's definitely something for Dana White and company to ponder.
#1 Sergey Spivak produces the first heavyweight armbar in four years to dispatch Marcin Tybura
Last night's headliner saw a heavyweight rematch between top 15 ranked contenders Marcin Tybura and Sergey Spivak.
Coming into the bout, many people suspected Tybura would repeat what he did in their previous meeting and bully and stifle Spivak en route to claiming a win.
Here, though, 'The Polar Bear' surprised 'Tybur' with an armbar after he was taken down, and coaxed a sudden tapout after just under two minutes.
The result doesn't really change anything in terms of the heavyweight division's picture. Neither man was in title contention coming in and Spivak won't climb up there following his win.
However, the thing worth discussing is the finish itself. Remarkably, this was the first armbar to end a heavyweight bout in the UFC since Fabricio Werdum tapped Alexander Gustafsson over four years ago.
What's the reason for the lack of heavyweight armbars? It's arguable that, Spivak aside, the division is now a striker's domain more than it is a grappler's.
Whether that changes in the future, only time will tell. Either way, it was fascinating to see a finish that has become a rarity in the UFC used to great effect last night.