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On October 15, two of the UFC's biggest men will face off at UFC Fight Night 97 when Derrick Lewis takes on the former M-1 champion Marcin Tybura.





Taming the beast

Both men will enter the Octagon on winning form with Lewis riding a four-fight win streak and Tybura hot off a victory against Viktor Pesta at UFC Fight Night 92 just last month. Despite only having entered the UFC back April, Lewis is a man Tybura has always had his eye on fighting.



"I offered to fight him actually," Tybura said speaking earlier this week. "I've paid a lot of attention to him recently because he's been doing really well in UFC and I think he is one of the better heavyweights to watch--I think he is a great fighter.



"I didn't think I would fight him so quick after my win over Pesta, but as soon as they came back to me with the offer of the fight I agreed straight away."



Lewis can do all the talking

As well as his notable performances inside the cage, Lewis has been garnering plenty of attention of late with his funny antics on social media. Tybura admitted he hadn't always been following him, but that he had noticed him talking about their fight once it was booked.



"I didn't follow him, but I have now seen a few tweets from him," Tybura said. "He was showing that he was drinking a beer after his training and he was speaking about fighting me. That was the only thing I've seen on his social media.



"I'm not the kinda guy that sends any message to my opponent because I try not to pay attention to them as I don't want to be distracted. I'm not very good at trash talking. I'm happy for Derrick Lewis to be selling this fight and I don't mind that--I'm sure he will do a good job," he added laughing.





Breaking into the heavyweight rankings

Although Tybura is ranked yet, he sees this fight with Lewis as a big opportunity for him to get a win over the number #10 ranked man in the division and thinks that a win will seem him breakthrough.



"I think this is a much bigger opportunity for me that it is for him," Tybura said honestly. "He's #10 right now and if I can get a win over him it will take me to a much higher level. That's what I want to do and that's exactly why I'm here in the UFC.



"I know it's not going to be easy. We are stilling figuring out the plan in my camp and of course, I won't be telling you what it is. As everyone can see he's a good striker and can knock people out. I also think he's very quick as a heavyweight at 265 pounds. He's also always aggressive in the Octagon so I must watch out for that."





Climate control

Lewis won't just be the only thing Tybura must be wary of come fight night. With the card taking place in Manila, the former M-1 champion is aware he must make sure he is ready for the different climate conditions and he says he is going to adapt his training accordingly.



"I've never fought in the Philippines before, but I have fought in Beijing about two years ago," Tybura said."I know it's going to be a really high humidity and that it's going to be raining season there. I know this is going to will affect our cardio but it will be hard for both of us.



"We are going to go earlier and ahead of the UFC schedule so we can get used to this and get rid of the jetlag."





Going for the knockout

With twenty knockout wins between them, fans will be expecting a finish come fight night and Tybura thinks they won't be disappointed.



"I think for sure there is going to be a knockout," Tybura said. "The fans will have seen in my last fight that I have been working on my striking and Derrick is knocking people out all the time. I think people are going to be excited to see us go at it because we can both knock people out.



"When I got my last knockout I was really excited by it. As a fighter, I always dreamt of being in the UFC and I never thought I would realize it. To win like that, with a head kick, I was super excited and I'm going to be looking to repeat that again against Lewis."





Aiming to be the best

Having now achieved his dream of fighting in the UFC, Tybura has now set himself the new target of becoming the best in his division and continuing to grow the profile of Polish MMA both



"To be honest, I think I have to believe I have what it takes to do it," he said. "If I came to the UFC and my target was just fighting the bottom of the ranks I wouldn't achieve anything. My goal is to be a champion and we will see.



"MMA is becoming very popular in Poland lately. A few years ago we didn't have one fighter in the UFC and now I think we have close ten. MMA is rising in Poland and I think it's now the most popular martial art in Poland right now and I want to help it continue to grow."