The UFC Apex in Las Vegas hosts this weekends UFC Vegas 88 event on Saturday. The fighters competing on the fight card officially weighed in on Friday.
The event is headlined by a heavyweight bout between tenth-ranked Marcin Tybura and ninth-ranked Tai Tuivasa. Tuivasa (14-6) will enter the octagon on Saturday in desperate need of a win. On a three-fight losing streak, the knockout artists hopes the right the ship against Tybura.
Tybura (24-8) is coming off a loss to interim champion Tom Aspinall in his last fight, but has won seven of his last nine matches.
Three fighters missed weight on Friday. Natan Levy came in a half pound over the limit for his preliminary card bout against Mike Davis. Chelsea Chandler weighed a pound over the bantamweight limit for her bout against Josiane Nunes. Danny Silva was 2.5 pounds over the featherweight limit for his bout against Josh Culibao. All three were fined 20% of their fight purse.
UFC Vegas 88 Official Weigh-In Results
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
Tai Tuivasa (265.5) vs. Marcin Tybura (247)
Bryan Battle (170) vs. Ange Loosa (171)
Kennedy Nzechukwu (205) vs. Ovince Saint Preux (206)
Isaac Dulgarian (145.5) vs. Christian Rodriguez (145)
Macy Chiasson (135.5) vs. Pannie Kianzad (136)
Bryan Barberena (186) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185.5)
PRELIMINARY CARD (ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET)
Mike Davis (155) vs. Natan Levy (156.5)*
Chelsea Chandler (137)* vs. Josiane Nunes (135)
Jafel Filho (125.5) vs. Ode Osbourne (125.5)
Josh Culibao (146) vs. Danny Silva (148.5)*
Jaqueline Amorim (116) vs. Cory McKenna (115.5)
Thiago Moises (155.5) vs. Mitch Ramirez (155.5)
Chad Anheliger (135) vs. Charalampos Grigoriou (136)
Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura will clash in the UFC Vegas 88 main event Saturday. | Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
MMA Fighting has UFC Vegas 88 results for the Tuivasa vs. Tybura fight card, a live blog for the main event, and more from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nev., on Saturday night.
In the main event, Tai Tuivasa looks to snap his three-fight skid against Marcin Tybura in a heavyweight showdown. Tybura aims to rebound from a first-round TKO loss to Tom Aspinall in his last outing at UFC London this past July.
Welterweights Bryan Battle and Ange Loosa clash in the co-main event.
Discuss your favorite fighters, the upcoming card or whatever's on your mind.
Link to rmma's Thick, Solid and Tight Meme Guide
Link to the Noob's Guide to MMA
How to obtain a custom flair:
place and lose a flair bet in the Friday thread
write a haiku or draw a MS Paint-style image for the sub
The rules for the drawing or haiku are simply that it must be a ridiculous MMA-related scenario. If you would like a custom flair, send a message to us with a link to your drawing and your flair request. We'll probably grant it.
Interested in modding? Please fill out the mod application found here. Do not leave a comment about this in the thread. You can send us modmail if you have questions.
Tai Tuivasa | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
UFC 299 is in the books, but the UFC machine keeps right on rolling. There are four weeks of fights leading up to the highly anticipated UFC 300, and that starts this Saturday with UFC Vegas 88, headlined by a heavyweight matchup between Tai Tuivasa and Marcin Tybura.
No need to stand on ceremony here, this is not a great fight card, but that’s the price we pay for UFC 299 and UFC 300. Plus, there are still plenty of opportunities to get some action down, so let’s get to it.
As always, all odds are courtesy of our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting
Straight Bets
Tai Tuivasa -112
This is a great bounce back spot for “Bam Bam.” Yes, he’s lost three in a row, but as the man said on The MMA Hour this week, it’s not like he’s losing to bums. Sergei Pavlovich, Ciryl Gane, and Alexander Volkov are all among the very top heavyweights in the world, and while Tybura has had a respectable career, he’s not of the same ilk. Tybura is not nearly the potent offensive threat that Tuivasa’s most recent foes have been, and he’s also not nearly as durable. I like “Bam Bam” to get back on track in a big way.
Ange Loosa +150
Bryan Battle and Ange Loosa both enter the co-main event on a good run of form lately, so this should be a competitive fight. The difference is that Loosa is a better athlete and has a style to frustrate Battle. Battle is the bigger man and better grappler, but Loosa is a solid wrestler with fast hands and improving striking. This is a coin-flip affair, so there’s value in Loosa at an underdog price.
Danny Silva +154
Silva is making his UFC debut against Josh Culibao, and I’m excited to see it. Coming off Contender Series, I had Silva as a prospect to watch based on his speed and boxing prowess, and those should show out against Culibao. Culibao is 0-13 in takedown attempts in his UFC career, so he’s likely going to be standing up with Silva, who I think has much better hands than he does.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Parlay of the Week
Pannie Kianzad/Macy Chiasson Over 2.5 Rounds, -375
Sixteen of Kianzaid’s 23 career fights have gone to decision, including her past nine in a row. Five of Chiasson’s 11 career fights have gone to the cards, including four of her past six (and the loss to Irene Aldana was well on the way until the extremely rare upkick to the body knockout).
Josiane Nunes/Chelsea Chandler Over 2.5 Rounds, -125
Nunes has been a knockout machine for most of her career, but she’s had two decisions in her past two fights and is really starting to struggle with being undersized. Chandler, meanwhile, goes to the judges’ scorecards in half of her bouts, and has never been finished.
In 2023, there were 23 women’s fights in the UFC above 125 pounds. Eighteen of them went to decision. While there is some risk here, I still expect both women’s bantamweight fights to go long on Saturday.
Parlay these two bets together for +128 odds.
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Long Shot of the Week
At this point, it’s well-established that if there’s a gimmick bet available, I’m going to take it. Well, this week the only two “Bam Bams” in the UFC are fighting on the same card, and they’re both fighting dudes who have a habit of getting knocked out. What other choice do I have?
I’m parlaying Tai Tuivasa by KO at +110 with Bryan Barberena by KO at +500, and comes Saturday I’m eating a handful of Flintstone vitamins, donning my leopard print loincloth, and rocking out to Camila Cabello to put out the good vibes.
Parlay these two props together for +1160 odds.
Wrap Up
We had roughly 27 bets last week and yet somehow we ended up having a pretty great week! A lot of underdogs hit, which always helps, so let’s try and go back-to-back.
Until next week, enjoy the fights, good luck, and gamble responsibly!
All information in this article is provided to readers of MMA Fighting for entertainment, news, and amusement purposes only. It is the responsibility of the reader to learn and abide by online gambling laws in their region before placing any online sports betting wagers.
Contender Series continues to be an out-sized source for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) newcomers, producing all three debutants set for UFC Vegas 88 this weekend (Sat., March 16, 2024) in Las Vegas, Nevada. On this edition of “New Blood,” the series where every gray ranking on Tapology’s event pages fills me with dread, we checkout a trio of Dana White’s latest prospects with a heap of knockout wins between them.
Syndicate MMA’s Ramirez rode into Contender Series undefeated (7-0), only to get battered by Carlos Prates in little more than six minutes. He then took his talents to Legacy Fighting Alliance (LFA), where he finished Aireon Tavares in less than a half-round.
He steps in for Brad Riddell on around two weeks’ notice.
Ramirez — a slab of a Lightweight at 5’11” — has a fairly straightforward approach: walk after opponents, fire a steady diet of calf kicks, and unload with two-fisted flurries from either stance when he gets inside. Those low kicks can do some serious damage, as seen when he chopped down former Michael Page opponent Jeremie Holloway, and his hands were heavy enough to knock Tavares loopy against the fence.
Unfortunately, I’ve got more negative than positive things to say about Ramirez’s approach. His most visually obvious shortcomings revolve around his stance — he stands extremely flat-footed and square, which makes it difficult for him to cut off the cage against mobile opponents. That combines with limited head movement to make him highly vulnerable to counters, and as eager as he is to tear up his opponents’ lead legs, he’s open to the same in return.
These issues were on full display against the towering Prates. Ramirez had a bit of early success attacking Prates’ trailing leg and pressuring, but once Prates got his timing down, it was pure target practice until a straight left put Ramirez down for good. Holloway, who hadn’t fought in 2.5 years, did some damage of his own before Ramirez finally destroyed his leg.
It doesn’t help that Ramirez throws kicks without setup and isn’t particularly quick.
Grappling-wise, he’ll shoot a double-leg if the opportunity arises, but his top control isn’t great. Prates hit a quick butterfly sweep and Tavares spent less than five seconds on his back before getting to his feet and cracking Ramirez with an uppercut.
I just don’t see Ramirez getting far in the Octagon, especially not in a division this loaded with talent. He’ll start his run with a loss, at the very least, because Thiago Moises only ever loses to quality opposition and boasts decisive wins over similar come-forward sluggers like Kurt Holobaugh, Alexander Hernandez and Christos Giagos.
Silva battled his way to a perfect (6-0) professional start before dropping a narrow decision to Contender Series veteran, Canaan Kawaihae, in his second LFA bout. After returning to the win column with a first round finish of Alex Arteaga, Silva got his own shot on Contender Series, where he overpowered Angel Pacheco in a brutal three-round war.
Those of you saddened by Shane Burgos’ decline and departure from UFC are in luck, as Silva fills a remarkably similar niche. He’s a spitefully aggressive high-volume stalker, punishing the head and body with vicious combinations. Those hands of his are razor-sharp, but they’re far from his only weapons; he’s an artist with elbows on the inside and, like “Hurricane,” tears up opponents’ calves with aplomb.
This offensive potency is bolstered by both a rock-solid chin and an absurd gas tank that let him land more than 200 significant strikes in three rounds.
Oddly enough, Silva’s standout skill and biggest weakness stem from the same source. I regularly chide incoming fighters for being unsubtle with their stance switches and they should all be taking notes from Silva. Even when focusing entirely on what he’s doing, I rarely knew whether Silva was orthodox or southpaw because he hides those switches beautifully, both by walking after his opponents and shifting behind rear-hand punches.
The problem is that his feet stop moving in the pocket. When Silva trades heat, he plants his feet and r, who got the better of their exchanges in the first round by forcing Silva to shell up, then scored a critical takedown in the second by attacking Silva’s hips when he froze in place.
It doesn’t help that he has two or three different ideas of how to guard with his hands, all of which are wrong. Sometimes he’ll bring his right hand up like he’s answering the phone while dropping his left to his waist, which opens him up to right hands, and other times he’ll expose his body by bringing up the earmuffs. Pacheco hitting him 197 times was not a fluke.
On the grappling side, his takedown defense and scrambling are both solid. The big issue is that, as mentioned, his bad habits give opponents a free shot at his hips if they goad him into an exchange.
Despite his flaws, Silva’s one of the more entertaining fighters to join UFC in some time. Like Burgos, he’s guaranteed excitement whenever he steps into the cage. He’s in for a tough debut against the heavy hands of Josh Culibao, but I like SIlva’s chances to bury Culibao in volume and emerge victorious.
Gregoriou — the first Cypriot to join UFC since Costas Philippou — put a two-fight skid behind him to win three straight. His efforts took him to Contender Series, where he smashed Cameron Smotherman in 60 seconds to earn a UFC contract.
Despite the nickname, Grigoriou is at his best when he’s methodical. He stands oddly upright and keeps a lot of his weight on his back foot as he pushes forward, flashing constant feints to set up powerful low kicks and quick combinations. He’s sharp on the counter. mixes in body shots with the rest of his offense, sets up those low kicks with left hooks, and does a great job of attacking while breaking the clinch.
Issues arise when he tries to press the attack. Grigoriou will crash forward headfirst with no regard for managing his momentum, usually with his preferred 2-3. Smotherman took advantage to crack him with some clean straight rights before Grigoriou chased him down and I’m pretty sure any opponent could just dip their head down and break Grigoriou’s nose when “The Ferocious” smashed his face into their forehead.
On top of that, Grigoriou’s gas tank looks quite poor. He was running on fumes halfway through the third round against 6-5 Chris Disonell; the only things that saved him were the damage he’d done to Disonell’s legs, some key takedowns, and Disonell’s general incompetence as a fighter.
Speaking of those takedowns, they’re Grigoriou’s go-to response when opponents try to pressure. He’s happy to grind against the fence for a while if needed, and if he does land on top, he’s very passive. Three fights ago, he laid on top of 2-5 late replacement Joey Crisostomo for the better part of two rounds and only ever threw punches at the end of the first and when he reached mount in the second, causing Crisostomo to basically give up.
On the defensive side, he shut down Crisostomo’s shots and trains out of a strong grappling camp in Longo and Weidman MMA. I do, however, want to stress that 2-5 thing again.
I’m not terribly impressed with Grigoriou. He does a few things well and does have some pop, but his litany of issues and history of can-crushing will keep him from going far in UFC’s most stacked division. He’s in for a rough debut against late replacement, Chad Anheliger, who’s sharp enough to counter Grigoriou’s blitzes and too good a scrambler for Gregoriou to smother.
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 88 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN+“Prelims” matches, which are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. ET, then the remaining main card balance (also on ESPN+)at 7 p.m. ET.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 88: “Tuivasa vs. Tybura” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.
Tai Tuivasa returns to the UFC octagon this Saturday to face Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Vegas 88, which takes place at the APEX. Following a memorable UFC 299 event, can “Bam Bam” provide some more fireworks and avoid a four-fight losing streak, or will Tybura be the one who gets back in the win column?
MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Jed Meshew, and José Youngs previews this weekend’s Fight Night event for the UFC, the headliner between Tuivasa and Tybura, and discuss what is at stake for both fighters in the matchup. Additionally, they’ll talk the co-main event between up and coming welterweights Bryan Battle and Ange Loosa, Ovince Saint Preux making his 27th octagon appearance, other standout fights and fighters the crew has their eyes on, how the card from top-to-bottom looks on paper, and more.
Catch the UFC Vegas 88 preview show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images 
File under: Mmaweekly.com | Leave a comment »