Derrick Lewis vs. Marcin Tybura verbally agreed for UFC Manila

While Derrick Lewis wanted to fight Fabricio Werdum on short notice in September, he will end up fighting someone else in October. According to MMAjunkie, verbal agreements are in place for “The Black Beast” to face Marcin Tybura on October 15th in the Filipino capital of Manila. Lewis had announced the bout himself on Instagram, but the post appears to be taken down.

Lewis (16-4, 1 NC) is coming off a split decision win over Roy Nelson last month in Las Vegas. He’s currently on a four-fight winning streak, including a violent 1st round KO against Gabriel Gonzaga in April. Lewis is known for his vicious KO power, but not even he could put “Big Country” away, and that fight marked the first time he’d ever won by decision. When Ben Rothwell pulled out of UFC 203 against Fabricio Werdum, Lewis jumped on social media to express his interest in getting the fight, but Werdum will instead be rematching Travis Browne.

Tybura (14-2) had a poor UFC debut in April, losing by unanimous decision to Timothy Johnson. The native of Poland bounced back beautifully with a thumping head kick KO of Viktor Pesta — whom Lewis defeated last October — at UFC Salt Lake on August 6th. Tybura has finishes in 12 of his 14 victories, although whereas Lewis is all about the knockout, Marcin’s stoppage victories are 50% KO/TKOs and 50% submissions.

UFC Fight Night: Manila expected to be headlined by a featherweight main event between B.J. Penn and Ricardo Lamas. The UFC has not announced any bouts for the event. It is expected that the whole event will stream live on UFC Fight Pass.