Lost in all the raucous at UFC Fight Night: Boston was an entertaining win by a veteran lightweight contender. The victory, over a heralded Irishman, adds another feather to the cap of this scrappy 155-pounder.
I’m not talking about Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone but Brazil’s Gleison Tibau. The 31-year-old behemoth of a lightweight utilized an efficient mixture of boxing and his trademark wrestling, to earn his 11th career decision—he’s now third on the list for most UFC victories of All-Time with 16—in the UFC over Stormin‘ Norman Parke. Tibau‘s victory over the former Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes winner was his fifth in his last six opportunities, proof that he may finally be hitting his stride.
Parke, a formerly undefeated prospect in the 155-pound division and native of Northern Ireland, was fighting in front of a pro-Irish crowd that already saw one controversial decision occur just one fight prior. The Brazilian was expected to be his toughest test and it showed on Sunday night.
The southpaw Tibau was able to slow the ever-active Parke with a steady dose of straight lefts for a good portion of the fight and mixed it up with two takedowns. His takedown defense is some of the best in the business and it helped stifle the takedown attempts of the Judo black belt Parke.
Wrestling, as it has always been, is one of Tibau‘s biggest strengths, which put him over the top in this very close fight that sent the Irishman shipping out of Boston. Both Parke and Tibau landed nearly an identical amount of strikes through 15 minutes.
MMA media outlets were in agreement with the judge’s scorecards on this night of questionable calls. Neither fighter’s stock wavers up or down all that much but Tibau will likely draw an upgrade in opponent; someone that falls between the top 10-15 of the division.
Pairings with Nate Diaz or the winner of the Rustam Khabilov/Adriano Martins meeting seem worthy. Each of these men have experience against the top of the 155-pound food chain and possess challenges for Tibau on the feet and on the ground.
Another teammate, and fellow lightweight, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal has already began his ascension up the lightweight ladder. The 30-year-old Strikeforce veteran has produced a 5-1 record inside the Octagon and has run through opposition like Pat Healy and Daron Cruickshank with ease.
Masvidal has built a strong reputation as a fearsome striker. He has fought top competition throughout the buildup to his eventual UFC run, including a 155-pound title fight with former Strikeforce champ, and current top-5 UFC lightweight, Gilbert Melendez.
Gamebred is also an underrated grappler and slapped this D’arce choke on Michael Chiesa back in July 2013.
The No. 13-ranked Masvidal has a tilt with the No. 9-ranked Bobby Green on tap at UFC Fight Night 63 in April. Green, who’s coming off of a tough decision loss to Edson Barboza, is skilled at making fighters miss and is well-suited to deal with anything Masvidal will throw at him.
Both Masvidal and Tibau have been on the outside looking in of the lightweight division for much of their career’s; albeit Masvidal reaching the pinnacle in Strikeforce. One more win for either of these men will change their career.
Masvidal might be the quicker fighter but Tibau is as equally talented, if not more, as Gamebred. Both are content with cruising to decision victories and are dominant in their strong suits of wrestling and striking.
Let us also not forget that Tibau gave the No. 2-ranked Khabib Nurmagomedov his most stiff test yet and also defeated current No. 1 contender Rafael dos Anjos.
What we’ve seen from Tibau during this stretch, which began in May 2013, is his total game rounding into form. He now has the confidence to stand and trade with most fighters. Before, Tibau had relied far too much on his wrestling against fighters such as Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller.
The success that Tibau and Masvidal have had in the last two years has largely gone unnoticed due to the high level of success achieved by ATT members Robbie Lawler, Hector Lombard and Tyron Woodley. In 2015, the time is now for up-and-coming lightweights.
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