Jhonata Diniz was scheduled for a UFC Edmonton bout two weeks ago against Derrick Lewis, who suffered a medical issue which removed him from the card. As a result the UFC enlisted Poland’s Marcin Tybura to come stateside to fight the former kickboxer at UFC 309.
Although ‘Tybur’ does not have the resume or knockout record of Lewis, he may be a harder stylistic fight.
Brazil’s Diniz cut his teeth on the kickboxing scene, including in GLORY, before making his MMA debut in just May of 2022. He has only faced ten takedowns and defended seven of them in his two UFC bouts plus his DWCS fight.
Though beating Karl Williams was a good performance against a good unranked opponent, and bodes well for Jhonata given his takedown defense in that fight, a ranked guy like Marcin Tybura can be another story entirely.
Tybura can wrestle and strike without looking utterly bewildered against a superior athlete or striker. He is not a knockout artist himself but has a gritty, grindy style of fighting which is excellent for defusing dynamic hitters like Diniz, or outlasting other big boys without fifteen minutes of gas in their tank.
His 12-8 UFC record with wins over past and present ranked HWs like Tai Tuivasa, Walt Harris, Alexander Romanov, Andrei Arlovski, and Stefan Struve are a testament to that.
Although he is 1-2 in his last three (3-3 L6) Tybura has the tools at 39-years-old to fend off the undefeated Diniz.
If Jhonata attacked the body better and had shown more ability to defend a consistent – but not desperate – wrestling attack then I could pick him despite his inexperience. However, his distance management, his leg kicks, and Tybura’s age may be X-factors which help the kickboxing specialist earn a spot in the UFC heavyweight top fifteen.
