UFC 298 News: Tai Tuivasa Returns for Heavyweight Showdown
Fan favorite UFC slugger Tai Tuivasa will fight Marcin Tybura at UFC 298 on February 17.
Set to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, UFC 298 is headlined by a featherweight title fight between champion Alexander Volkanovski and unbeaten challenger Ilia Topuria.
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo recently revealed that he’ll take on #2-ranked bantamweight Merab Dvalishvili at the event, and now the promotion has announced the card will also feature a heavyweight clash between Tuivasa and Tybura.
Both longtime staples of the UFC heavyweight division, the meeting between #9-ranked Tuivasa and #10-ranked Tybura is an opportunity for each man to spring back from defeat and resume their climb towards a heavyweight title fight.
Tybura began 2023 strong, handing Alexandr Romanov his first ever defeat. "Tybur" carried his success into February, securing a victory over Blagoy Ivanov. However, his winning streak came to an end in July.
The 38-year-old was matched up with current interim heavyweight king Tom Aspinall for a UFC Fight Night main event in London. Aspinall quickly silenced any concerns about his injury-related layoff when he stopped Tybura in just over a minute.
Tuivasa will attempt to halt a three-fight losing streak at UFC 298.
(Jasmin Frank/USA TODAY Sports)
Tuivasa had an incredible run of five knockout victories starting in 2020 with his win against Stefan Struve. However, since then, he has experienced a three-fight losing streak - all by knockout.
“Bam Bam” only fought top ranked heavyweight contenders during this skid, most recently tapping to an Ezekiel choke against Alexander Volkov at UFC 293.
The newly booked heavyweight matchup is a strong addition to UFC 298, and will likely secure a spot on the main card underneath Volkanovski's featherweight title defense against Topuria.
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