SALT LAKE CITY – Alexandr Romanov is one of the biggest favorites at UFC 278, but Marcin Tybura isn’t fazed.
Tybura (22-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) takes on Romanov (16-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) at heavyweight to close out the preliminary card at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City. Romanov said a win over Tybura is the kind that will move him to the next level at heavyweight, but Tybura thinks he might need to pump the brakes on talk of an ascension.
“He was scheduled to fight me for his first fight int he UFC, and he had to pull out,” Tybura said at Wednesday’s UFC 278 media day. “We’ve been checking him, and I actually follow him – he’s 16-0, quite impressive. I never reject fights. I got an offer and I agreed.
“I think he deserves it, and it’s a good matchup for me, too. I see me as a big thing (instead of him). 16-0 is a big thing in this division. I think he still needs something more than he’s shown right now. There’s lots of craziness in his fights, lots of things that I see that aren’t right. … Maybe he’ll come to the title picture, but he’ll need more time after me.”
Tybura was scheduled to be back to action a lot sooner than Saturday. After a loss to former Bellator champion Alexander Volkov in October 2021, he signed on for a February fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik. That fight then got moved to April, but then Romanov had to pull out.
When he steps in against Romanov, it’ll be after a layoff of more than nine months. That’s a stretch of inactivity Tybura has only dealt with once before in his pro career. But he’s trying to not dwell on the negative and think squarely of the challenge Romanov presents, instead.
“It’s been a rough time lately – a long time out of the octagon,” he said. “Things happen. I’m not thinking about them anymore. The past is the past. I try to live in the present. I’m here, I’m ready, focused and happy.
“I always try to react to what happens. I’m not trying to predict things because you never know. … There were some circumstances, and I don’t want to talk about them because I’ve already tried to kick them out of my head. That’s it.”
Check out Tybura’s full media day interview in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 278.
