UFC Fight Night: Rothwell vs. Dos Santos – Idiot’s Guide Preview to Timothy Johnson vs Marcin Tybura

Hard-charging heavyweight grappler Timothy Johnson faces off against the Polish prospect Tybura in a battle of modest relevance for UFN 86 in Croatia. The first bout on the main card to initiate the Heavyweight action sparks the card this A…

Hard-charging heavyweight grappler Timothy Johnson faces off against the Polish prospect Tybura in a battle of modest relevance for UFN 86 in Croatia.

The first bout on the main card to initiate the Heavyweight action sparks the card this April 10, 2016 at Arena Zagreb in Zagreb, Croatia.

The Match Up

Heavyweight Timothy Johnson 9-2 vs. Marcin Tybura 13-1

The Odds

Heavyweight Timothy Johnson +130 vs. Marcin Tybura -150

3 Things You Should Know

1. Johnson has one of the ugliest games at Heavyweight. But efficiency cares not for grace.

Timothy Johnson is 1-1 in the UFC. In his debut, he beat Shamil Abdurakhimov via TKO before the end of the second round, and his follow up was a loss to Jared Rosholt in predictable fashion. He doesn’t fight pretty, but ugly and violence tend to go hand in hand. Johnson doesn’t have a high ceiling, nor does anyone pretend otherwise. But he’s persistent enough, and large enough to achieve something of a modest Tim Sylvia like success if he plays his cards (and fists) right.

2. Tybura is a well respect heavyweight prospect, in part, because even something is better than nothing.

Tybura may well be more than ‘something’, but a 30 year old well rounded fighter is certainly not prospect status. Fighting under M-1’s banner, he’s grown into his own overseas, but in North America, growing pains quickly become growing strains. Even this matchup, against a journeyman, he’ll have a very tough out to victory given the clash of styles and size.

3. This is competitive matchmaking at its grimiest.

Johnson has a very almost Shipp/Wiezorek method of pressure. Which is to just bullrush forward. There’s a quality to being so crude in simplicity. After all, Johnson doesn’t have to think or anticipate much. He just has to do his thing, and scout for adjustments later. In addition, he has good long punches entering the pocket. He doesn’t make great use of his length, but he can take advantage of it by accident just by sheer momentum.

Like most top control fighters at heavyweight, he’s heavy on the ground. In a way, this could be a problem for him. Tybura is pretty good on the ground. Not only are his strikes active, but he quickly transitions for offense and opportunity. On the feet, his offense kind of phases in and out. Mechanically, he works well with his front foot, chambering them high and low for range management. His right and left hand punches need some work, but he loops them around with enough authority to command respect.

Prediction

Johnson has the perfect skeleton of a game to win. With his size and forward movement, his presence alone should be enough to stifle Tybura’s offense on the feet as well as the ground. However, it’s hard to pick against the more dynamic fighter in most cases. If Tybura had better movement (still good for a fighter his size), I’d be more comfortable picking him. As is, I’m only marginally comfortable picking him to generate enough offense in pockets to counter Johnson’s momentum game. Marcin Tybura by Decision.