UFC Fight Night 121 results: Fabricio Werdum outlasts Marcin Tybura for 25-minute decision

Not many were expecting Saturday’s heavyweight main event to go the distance. But that’s just what it did.

Fabricio Werdum (23-7-1 MMA, 13-4 UFC) and Marcin Tybura (16-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) went five rounds, and it was Brazil’s Werdum, a former UFC heavyweight champion, who took the unanimous decision with a pair of 50-45s and a 49-46 from the judges.

Werdum-Tybura wrapped up a 13-fight card that proved to be the longest 13-fight event in UFC history when it comes to total fight time – which surpassed three hours.

The heavyweight bout was the main event of today’s UFC Fight Night 121 event at at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney. It aired on FS1 following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Werdum went to the center, then countered a leg kick from Tybura with one of his own. A minute in, Werdum pushed Tybura back with punches, then reset in the middle. Werdum stayed patient, and just past two minutes into the round landed some Thai knees and punches. Tybura kicked up the middle, then glanced a left hand off Werdum’s chin. With 90 seconds left, Werdum landed a combination and had Tybura backing up. Werdum easily got inside and tied Tybura up on the fence. With 20 seconds left, Werdum got a takedown – but Tybura reversed it before the round was over.

Werdum and Tybura worked kicks early in the second. A minute in, Werdum nearly landed a jumping knee. The pace wasn’t too heavy, and nearly midway through, Tybura landed a solid head kick. But just past the two-minute mark, Werdum chased Tybura down. With 25 seconds left, Werdum started to have some success with punches and kicks, but Tybura lived to see the third.

Tybura had a head kick partially blocked in the third, then landed a short uppercut when Werdum landed a knee. A jumping knee from Werdum was just off the mark three minutes in. Werdum missed a spinning back fist with 80 seconds left, but came formward with knees and punches to the body. With a minute left in the round, Werdum landed knees against a near frozen Tybura, but Tybura survived the brief attack.

Werdum kept outworking Tybura in the fourth. At the midway point, he finally landed a takedown and started smashing elbows down. Werdum worked around to side control and went after an armbar. But Tybura scrambled out and ate a knee for his troubles. Werdum had a guillotine choke late in teh round, but it was too late. Werdum may have held the choke too long past the buzzer – angering Tybura and ihs cornermen.

In the fifth, Tybura rocked Werdum in the first minute, but Werdum worked through it. A head kick came 90 seconds in, and again Werdum walked past it. With a minute left, Werdum tried to bring some pressure, but he couldn’t find the finish.

Werdum won for the second straight time and third time in three fights since losing the heavyweight title in May 2016. Tybura hada three-fight winning streak snapped.

Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 121 results include:

• Fabricio Werdum def. Marcin Tybura via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
• Jessica-Rose Clark def. Bec Rawlings via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Belal Muhammad def. Tim Means via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Jake Matthews def. Bojan Velickovic via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Elias Theodorou def. Daniel Kelly via unanimous decision (30-28, 30-27, 30-26)
• Alex Volkanovski def. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)
• Ryan Benoit def. Ashkan Mokhtarian via knockout (head kick) – Round 3, 2:38
• Nik Lentz def. Will Brooks via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:05
• Tai Tuivasa def. Rashad Coulter via knockout (knee) – Round 1, 4:35
• Frank Camacho def. Damien Brown via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Nadia Kassem def. Alex Chambers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27)
• Eric Shelton def. Jenel Lausa via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-25)
• Adam Wieczorek def. Anthony Hamilton via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 121, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan contributed to this report on site in Sydney.)