SHARE
Credit: @Alexvolkanovski/Twitter

Just six weeks on from his first round finish over Walt Harris at UFC 216Fabricio Werdum faces Poland’s Marcin Tybura in the main event of UFC Sydney.

Whilst the fight against Walt Harris was smooth sailing for the Brazilian, Tybura will provide a far stiffer test for Werdum but regardless of the opponent many an eye will be cast on the Brazilian, expecting yet another impressive performance.

Despite his most recent win, Werdum has enjoyed mixed fortunes of late, with two losses in his last four fights, though those were at the hands of two heavyweight kingpins Alistair Overeem and champion Stipe Miocic.

A win for the 40-year-old would see him cement his status as a top contender whilst a win for the Pole would cause a stir in the heavyweight division and we could potentially see a new top five contender.

Tybura (16-2) has enjoyed a purple patch after losing on his UFC debut, racking up three consecutive wins with his most recent and notable victory being a decision victory over former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

However, despite Arlovski being the biggest name on his resume, this weekends clash with Werdum will undoubtedly be the Pole’s toughest test to date.

Also featuring on the card will be Australia’s rising star Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski who pits his wits against New Zealand’s Shane Young in a featherweight clash that may see “The Great” enter the official rankings of the division.

Volkanovski (15-1) has looked very impressive throughout his career and is enjoying a win streak of twelve consecutive fights dating back to December 2013.

With Oceanic fighters few and far in between in the UFC, Volkanovski has a chance to become the next star who hails from the continent that has been represented by Mark Hunt for over a decade.

Young, will make his UFC debut after competing under several different promotions prior and who on paper at least looks like he could be a real test for Volkanovski with Young winning all of his last five contests.

Another interesting bout on the card features Elias Theodorou returns to the cage against Australian native Daniel Kelly with both fighters looking to get back to winning ways after setbacks in their last outings.

Theodorou was outclassed by Brad Tavares at the TUF 25 Finale whilst Daniel Kelly was knocked out in devastating fashion by the surging Derek Brunson.

Both fighters have a lot at stake with both on the verge of breaking the top 15 in the UFC rankings. For 40-year-old Kelly, this may well be his last fight in an impressive career to date.

UFC Sydney main card

Heavyweight contest – Fabricio Werdum vs Marcin Tybura

Women’s Flyweight contest – Bec Rawlings vs Jessica-Rose Clark

Welterweight contest – Tim Means vs Belal Muhammad

Welterweight contest – Jake Matthews vs Bojan Velickovic

Middleweight contest – Elias Theodorou vs Daniel Kelly

Catchweight contest (150lbs) – Alexander Volkanovski vs Shane Young

UFC Sydney Preliminaries

Flyweight contest – Ryan Benoit vs Ashkan Mokhtarian

Lightweight contest – Nik Lentz vs Will Brooks

Heavyweight contest – Anthony Hamilton vs Adam Wieczorek

Lightweight contest – Damien Brown vs Frank Camacho

UFC Sydney Early Preliminaries

Women’s Strawweight contest – Alex Chambers vs Nadia Kassem

Flyweight contest – Jenel Lausa vs Eric Shelton

Heavyweight contest – Rashad Coulter vs Tai Tuivasa