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Marcin Tybura has no doubts that Iwo Baraniewski can stir things up a lot in his UFC weight class in the coming years. The top Polish heavyweight, who trains with “Rudy,” pointed out an aspect that many fans and future rivals may simply forget.
This coming weekend Iwo Baraniewski will once again check in the octagon of the largest MMA organization in the world. At the UFC Vegas 118 gala, the Aligatores Fight Club representative will cross gloves with Junior Tafa. Originally, the Pole’s rival was to be Billy Elekana, but the American dropped out of the duel a few weeks before the event. In his place has just jumped Tafa, who is a fighter with a completely different profile.
The Australian is primarily known for his stand-up skills. He has had an extensive career in striking sports and several impressive performances under the UFC banner. Despite this, the vast majority of experts and fans point to Baraniewski as the clear favorite of this matchup. There is no shortage of opinions that “Rudy” can add a third knockout in the octagon to his record. After impressive victories over Ibo Aslan and Austen Lane, this is hardly surprising. However, it is possible that this time the Pole will decide to show a slightly different face.
Although fans today associate Iwo primarily with spectacular exchanges and powerful punches, his athletic roots are in a completely different discipline. Baraniewski thrived for years as a judoka, and only later began honing the other elements of MMA.
In an interview with Octagon Live, Marcin Tybura, who has had the opportunity to train with his younger clubmate on several occasions, drew attention to this aspect.
– When I first had the opportunity to train with him, well, he was very strong in that respect, well, because he’s a judoka. He set his hips very nicely. He was very tough in terms of wrestling and ground fighting. And then, as he honed and developed this stand-up, it’s really difficult for me to judge which plane is his strongest. It seems to me that I don’t know an equally difficult fighter in terms of figuring out which plane is easier to beat him in.
Tybura’s words show how versatile a fighter Baraniewski is. So far, fans have mainly had the opportunity to watch his boxing skills, as he finished both of his fights in the UFC with lightning-quick knockouts. However, this can create a misconception about his style. According to the former contender for the interim heavyweight belt, many fighters can make a serious mistake by focusing solely on avoiding stand-up exchanges.
– I suspect that potential opponents in the UFC don’t know how much he has in that wrestling background. A lot of fighters see not to push him in those boxing exchanges, they just look at what they can get away with on the ground or wrestling, and there will be surprises there too.
If Baraniewski actually decides to showcase his full skills already at UFC Vegas 118, fans may see a fighter much more complete than his past performances suggest. And this could be very worrying news not only for Junior Tafa, but also for the Pole’s next rivals in the UFC.
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