UFC 273: Marcin Tybura believes he will be in the upper echelons of UFC heavyweight division soon

Marcin Tybura believes he is not very far away from breaking into the top tier of the UFC heavyweight division. He is scheduled to meet Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 273 this weekend.

While Tybura expects to fight a top contender in the division with a win over Rozenstruik, he doesn't have a problem with being matched up against a lower-ranked opponent. He currently occupies the No.10 spot in the rankings, while his upcoming opponent is two places above him at No.8. The 36-year-old told Daniel Vreeland in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA:

"I lost my last fight and I almost got into the main event at UFC London, so. You never know what's happening in the future. It might happen just after this. But I always say that I am a patient guy. That I don't need to rush anything. I know what I am capable of. Working hard and waiting for my time. But I just feel like I'm there in the mix. You know, five-fight win streak before... I feel like it can happen anytime after this fight. But if I have to fight somebody who's a lower ranking than me, I don't have a big problem with that."

Watch our exclusive interview with Marcin Tybura below:

"I feel confident about my defense"- Marcin Tybura on his upcoming bout against Jairzinho Rozenstruik

Marcin Tybura will be looking to get back to winning ways when he meets Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 273. In his last outing, he saw a magnificent five-fight winning streak get snapped by a decision loss to Alexander Volkov at UFC 267 last year.

While Rozenstruik is a feared knockout artist, Tybura isn't scared of getting caught by 'Bigi Boy'. The Pole is confident that his defensive game will hold up against the Surinamese fighter's kickboxing skills.

Tybura also noted that many of Rozenstruik's knockout victims never tried taking him down. He further told Sportskeeda MMA:

"He has heavy hands and that's his biggest weapon. I think he might have some bigger problem in wrestling and ground game. And I am kind of surprised that lots of fighters who have been knocked down by him, they didn't look for taking him down or something. Or come up with some gameplan for that fight instead of just standing and exchanging strikes. I feel self confident about it. I feel confident about my defense, not getting hit by him."

Jairzinho Rozenstruik started his UFC journey on a four-fight KO streak which was snapped by a vicious knockout loss to Francis Ngannou. He has struggled with consistency since, going 2-3 in his last five outings.