UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2 is stacked, with plenty of amazing matchups on the main card. We’ve already covered the event headliner, as well as the co-main event, and now it’s time to preview the only heavyweight clash of the evening – Marcin Tybura vs Alexander Romanov.
Marcin Tybura vs Alexander Romanov UFC 278 Odds
All odds are per FanDuel as of August 17.
Moneyline
| Marcin Tybura | +330 |
| Alexander Romanov | -480 |
Where and When to Watch
- Date: Saturday, August 20
- Location: Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah
- Watch: ESPN+, PPV
Marcin Tybura Hoping to Bounce Back After a Loss in October
The 36-year-old Polish fighter is 22-7 in his pro career with a 9-6 record since joining the UFC in 2016. Most of his defeats happened early on in his UFC career. In fact, it was 2020 when Tybura started a superb run that saw him win five straight fights, for two of which he was given the Performance of the Night bonus.
Tybura’s vintage streak ended last October when he lost by unanimous decision to Alexander Volkov. Fast-forward to August 2022 and Tybura is determined to bounce back to the winning track. He has every right to feel confident about his chances at UFC 278, considering that he’s more experienced than his opponent.
After all, Tybura’s already fought against some of the best fighters in the UFC Heavyweight division, including Andrey Arlovski, Derrick Lewis, Augusto Sakai, Sergey Spivak, Ben Rothwell, and many others.
He’s also more well-rounded than his next opponent, the fact being that Tybura’s got nine wins by KO/TKO in his portfolio, along with six submission wins, and seven wins by decision.
Alexander Romanov Wants to Stay Undefeated
The 31-year-old Moldovan fighter is 16-0 in his professional career, with five wins in the UFC. Although he hasn’t fought as elite fighters as Tybura, he did beat some pretty good opponents so far. For instance, he won against knockout wizard Chase Sherman last April.
The reason why this fight is important is that Sherman is a similar fighter to Tybura. Same as the Polish fighter, Sherman to is a prolific striker who likes finishing his fights by KO/TKO. In fact, 15 of Sherman’s 16 wins happened via this method. Another similarity between the two is that they both are great in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
However, Sherman’s BJJ skills didn’t save him from Romanov. The Moldovan fighter beat him by keylock submission in Round 1.
Marcin Tybura vs Alexander Romanov Prediction
Romanov is coming off an impressive win over Sherman, who’s a very similar fighter to his next opponent, Tybura. However, you can think of Tybura as a 2.0 version of Sherman – he’s better than him in practically all aspects.
That said, the UFC 278 fight is probably going to be the toughest challenge of Romanov’s career. Oddsmakers think he’s going to prevail, but we’re not so sure. We think this fight might bring us a surprise.
Pick: Marcin Tybura to win