Tibau youngest fighter to reach 20 career UFC bouts
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva will tell you making it to the UFC is the easy part, it’s staying in the UFC that’s…
UFC matchmaker Joe Silva will tell you making it to the UFC is the easy part, it’s staying in the UFC that’s hard. Once you make the UFC every bout is against a world class competitor and longevitity is a feat in itself. Only a dozen other fighters have had twenty fights in the Octagon, but at Saturday’s UFC 164 Gleison Tibau will be the youngest, at 30 years old, to reach the milestone:
“I’m very excited about having my 20th fight in the UFC, which is the best MMA organization in the world,” Tibau told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “I’ve been working for them for seven years now. And I’m looking forward to facing Jamie Varner, who is a great fighter going back to the WEC. This will be a great fight.”
Tibau first joined the UFC roster in November 2006, and without ever being released, has competed in welterweight, lightweight and catchweight bouts against some of the world’s top competitors.
Others on the list of 20-plus UFC fights include former champions and UFC Hall of Fame inductees such as Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes and B.J. Penn.