Marcin Tybura (born November 9, 1985) is a Polish professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2011, Tybura previously fought for M-1 and was an M-1 Global Heavyweight Champion and M-1 Grand Prix 2013 Heavyweight Champion. As of July 25, 2023, he is #11 in the UFC heavyweight rankings.
Early life
Tybura began training in 2006 after a friend introduced him to the sport. Within weeks, he began feeling the urge to compete. However, he would not make his professional debut until several years later.
He earned a Master's degree in Physical Education at the University of Łódź.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Tybura made his professional debut on November 5, 2011, against Robert Marcok, whom he beat by a rear-naked choke. He won his next five fights on the Polish MMA circuit, most notably defeating the future UFC heavyweight Adam Wieczorek by a unanimous decision. His last fight at the regional level was a third-round TKO of Krystian Kopytowski at Gladiator Arena 4.
M-1 Global
In 2013, Tybura signed with the Russian based M-1 Global promotion. For his promotional debut, Tybura was scheduled to fight Denis Komkin as a Heavyweight Grand Prix alternate bout. He won the fight by TKO, after Komkin retired from the bout at the end of the first round.
Tybura was then scheduled to fight Chaban Ka at M-1 Challenge 41, in a Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal. He beat Ka by a first-round TKO.
In his next two fights, Tybura beat Konstantin Gluhov at M-1 Challenge 42 by rear-naked choke and Maro Perak at M-1 Challenge 47 by a third-round TKO.
At M-1 Challenge 50, Tybura fought Damian Grabowski in the M-1 Heavyweight Grand Prix finals. Tybura submitted Grabowski with a north-south choke 88 seconds into the first round, to become the M-1 Heavyweight champion. He was scheduled to make his first title defense against Denis Smoldarev at M-1 Challenge 53. Tybura successfully defended the title with a first-round submission.
After successfully defending his title, Tybura was scheduled to fight the M-1 Light-heavyweight titleholder Stephan Puetz in a super-fight. The super-fight was contested at heavyweight, with neither of the belts being on the line. Tybura came into the fight with a 10 kilogram weight advantage. Despite winning the first two rounds on the judges' scorecards, Tybura suffered a cut in the third round, which forced the ringside doctor to stop the bout. Tybura suffered the first loss of his professional career, as Puetz was awarded the TKO win.
In his last fight with M-1, Tybura was scheduled to defend his title for the second time against the Croatian heavyweight Ante Delija. The fight ended two minutes into the first round, as Delija suffered a leg break, due to a checked leg kick.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Tybura signed with the UFC in January 2016.
Tybura made his promotional debut April 10, 2016 against Timothy Johnson at UFC Fight Night 86. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Tybura next faced Viktor Pešta on August 6, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 92. He won the fight via KO (head kick), earning a Performance of the Night bonus in the process.
Tybura next fought at UFC 209 on March 4, 2017. He faced Luis Henrique and won the fight via TKO in the third round.
Tybura faced Andrei Arlovski on June 17, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 111. He won the fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 28–27, and 29–27).
Tybura was supposed to face Mark Hunt on November 19, 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Tybura. On October 11, 2017, Hunt was pulled from the fight by UFC officials citing "medical concerns" on recent Hunt's first person interview statement, and Hunt was replaced by Fabrício Werdum. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Tybura faced Derrick Lewis on February 18, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 126. He lost the fight via technical knockout.
Tybura faced Stefan Struve on July 22, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 134. He won the fight via unanimous decision.
Tybura faced Shamil Abdurakhimov on April 20, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 149. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.
Tybura faced Augusto Sakai on September 14, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 16. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
Tybura faced Sergey Spivak on February 29, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 169. He won the fight via unanimous decision.