The UFC’s lightweight division is arguably the most stacked collection of combatants under the promotion’s banner, and there is no fighter in that group with more Octagon experience than Gleison Tibau.
The Brazilian powerhouse has competed under the UFC banner for the better part of a decade, and along the way, he has made 23 appearances inside the cage. While there have been winning streaks and setbacks alike, the American Top Team product has remained a staple in the 155-pound fold while plenty of other fighters have come and gone.
Nevertheless, Tibau has seemingly found his groove as of late and has been steadily climbing up the rankings of the lightweight division. The 31-year-old Florida transplant has broken out of his “get one, give one” rut and has made substantial progress toward a top-10 spot over the past year, as he’s won four of his five showings inside the Octagon—with his two most recent outings both resulting in victories.
He will be looking to keep that momentum rolling when he squares off with highly touted scrapper Norman Parke at Fight Night 59 this Sunday night in Boston.
The Northern Ireland representative has proved to be a talented upstart in the lightweight ranks, and Tibau has every intention of derailing Parke’s progress when the cage door closes on Sunday.
“I believe my experience inside the Octagon is going to play a huge factor in this fight when we go into deep waters,” Tibau told Bleacher Report with the assistance of a translator. “I’ve been there many times and I’m going to force him to make a mistake, then I’m going to capitalize on it and apply a submission or get the knockout.
“Everyone keeps talking about his ground game and his jiu-jitsu game. But guess what? He’s never faced anyone in his entire career at my level of skill on the ground. I feel it’s great that Parke feels confident on the ground. Thank God. Let’s go ahead and go to the ground in this fight and find out who is the better grappler. He’s going to have a rude awakening when he goes to the ground with me.”
While Tibau‘s immediate focus is locked on handing Parke his first defeat in nearly five years, his larger goal is to finally break through into title contention. It has been a long road for the stocky Brazilian, one where finding consistent success has been difficult to come by.
That said, Tibau believes the changes he’s made in camp and the adjustments he’s implemented in his game will allow him to battle his way to the upper tier of a division that continues to grow more competitive year by year.
Tibau wants to run the proverbial table in 2015, and the first step in that plan lies in his ability to defeat Parke at Fight Night 59.
“After my last loss, we changed a few things in our camp and in training,” Tibau said. “We tried to correct mistakes and figure out why we were inconsistent. We tried to figure out why we would win two fights, then lose one and continue to stay in that trend. We tried to minimize as much as we could to address these problems.
“We changed the diet a little bit because that’s a huge part of my camp. My weight loss is easier now and I’m more focused than I’ve ever been before. It is my goal to go through 2015 undefeated.
“I have the most fights and the most wins in the lightweight division. I’m the third-most active fighter in UFC history, but what is missing in all of that is consistency. I win two and lose one, but I’m going to change that in 2015. It is my goal to finish this year undefeated with a good run against tough opponents. When I do that, I will be very close to a top-five ranking or possibly get a title shot by the end of the year.”
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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