Serghei Spivac

Serghei Spivac
Born	(1995-01-24) January 24, 1995 (age 29) Chișinău, Moldova
Other names	Polar Bear
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	238 lb (108 kg; 17.0 st)
Division	Heavyweight
Reach	78 in (198 cm) [1]
Stance	Orthodox
Fighting out of	Chișinău, Moldova
Team	MIR Production
Years active	2014–present
Mixed martial arts record
Total	21
Wins	17
By knockout	7
By submission	8
By decision	2
Losses	4
By knockout	3
By decision	1
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Serghei Spivac (born January 24, 1995) is a Moldovan professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional competitor since 2014, he has also formerly competed for World Warriors Fighting Championships, Eagles Fighting Championship, N1 Pro Nomad MMA and Real Fight Promotion. As of August 13, 2024, he is #7 in the UFC heavyweight rankings. ^[2]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Serghei Spivac made his MMA debut in September 2014 with the Ukrainian promotion Real Fight Promotion, at 19 years old. He faced Andrey Serebrianikov as his first opponent. He won the fight in the last minute of the first round, by way of TKO. ^[3]

His second fight was with the Ukrainian-based World Warriors Fighting Championships, at WWFC Ukraine Selection 1, where he faced Evgeniy Bova in the main event. Spivac won the fight in the first round by way of a kimura. ^[4]

His second fight with World Warriors Fighting Championships was during WWFC: Ukraine Selection 4, in the main event. His opponent was Yuri Gorbenko, whom he defeated in the first round through an armbar. ^[5]

Spivac would than fight against Dimitriy Mikutsa, under the N1 Pro organization. Spivac submitted Mikutsa through an armbar during the last minute of the second round.

Under the banner of Eagles Fighting Championship, Spivac faced Artem Cherkov. Spivac would beat him in the first round, by way of a head kick. ^[6]

After a year-long layoff, Spivac would return to the World Warriors Fighting Championships. His first opponent was Luke Morton, whom he beat by KO. In his next fight Spivac fought against the MMA veteran Travis Fulton for the vacant WWFC Heavyweight Championship, a fight which he won in the first round by a rear naked choke. He would defend the title 10 months later against the Croatian fighter Ivo Cuk, winning the bout in the first round by TKO. His last fight with WWFC was his last title defense, five months after his fight with Cuk, against Tony Lopez. He defeated Lopez by a neck crank in the last minute of the first round. ^[7]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Spivac made his UFC debut during UFC Fight Night 151, at 23 years old, against Walt Harris, replacing Alexey Oleynik. ^[8] He suffered the first professional loss of his career. Harris pushed Serghei up to the cage, dazed him with a left straight and dropped him to the floor with a barrage of knees. After a series of grounded strikes, the referee awarded Harris a win, after 50 seconds, by way of TKO. ^[9]

Five months later, Spivac fought against Tai Tuivasa at UFC 243. ^[10] Spivac would begin the fight being cautious of Tuivasa's power. Spivac was dropped once in the first round by a leg kick. Spivac then began catching Tuivasa's leg kicks and would take the Australian down. Whenever the Australian would return to his feet, Spivac would pursue takedowns. The fight ended in the fourth minute of the second round, Spivac took Tuivasa down for the 7th time in the fight. He was able to obtain the mount and after several hard punches and elbows he was able to obtain an arm triangle choke, awarding him his first UFC win. ^[11]

Spivac faced Marcin Tybura on February 29, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 169. ^[12] He lost the fight via unanimous decision. ^[13]

Spivac was expected to face Carlos Felipe on May 9, 2020, at then UFC 250. ^[14] However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed to a future date ^[15] Eventually the bout was scheduled on July 19, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 172. ^[16] He won the fight via majority decision. ^[17]

Spivac was expected to face Tom Aspinall on October 11, 2020 at UFC Fight Night 179. ^[18] However Spivac withdrew from the bout for undisclosed reason and he was replaced by promotional newcomer Alan Baudot. ^[19]

Spivac was scheduled to face Jared Vanderaa on December 12, 2020, at UFC 256 ^[20] However, Vanderaa tested positive for COVID-19 during fight week and had to be pulled. ^[21] The pair eventually met on February 20, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 185. ^[22] Spivac won the fight via technical knockout in round two. ^[23]

Spivac faced Alexey Oleynik on June 19, 2021, at UFC on ESPN 25. ^[24] He won the bout via unanimous decision. ^[25]

Spivac faced Tom Aspinall, replacing Sergei Pavlovich, on September 4, 2021, at UFC Fight Night 191. ^[26] He lost the fight via technical knockout in round one. ^[27]

Spivac was scheduled to face Greg Hardy, replacing Aleksei Oleinik, on January 22, 2022, at UFC 270. ^[28] However, just a week before the event Hardy withdrew due to a finger injury and the bout was removed from the event. ^[29] The pair was moved to UFC 272. ^[30] Spivac won the fight via technical knockout in round one. ^[31]

Spivac faced Augusto Sakai on August 6, 2022, at UFC on ESPN 40. ^[32] He won the fight via technical knockout in round two. ^[33]

Spivac was expected to face Derrick Lewis in the main event of UFC Fight Night 215 on November 19, 2022. ^[34] However, Lewis was forced to pull out of the event due to non-COVID, non-weight cutting illness and the bout was cancelled. ^[35] The pair was rescheduled for UFC Fight Night 218 on February 4, 2023. ^[36] Spivac won the fight via an arm-triangle choke in round one. ^[37] This win earned Spivac his first Performance of the Night bonus award. ^[38]

Spivac faced Ciryl Gane on September 2, 2023, at UFC Fight Night 226. ^[39] He lost the fight via technical knockout in the second round. ^[40]

Spivac faced Marcin Tybura in a rematch on August 10, 2024 at UFC on ESPN 61. ^[41] He won the fight via an armbar submission in the first round. ^[42] This fight earned him another Performance of the Night award. ^[43]

Spivac is scheduled to face Jailton Almeida on January 18, 2025 at UFC 311. ^[44]

Personal life

Spivac and his wife Marina have a daughter who was born in 2020. ^[45]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (Two times) vs. Derrick Lewis and Marcin Tybura ^{[38] [43]}
  • Third most takedowns landed in UFC Heavyweight division history (28) ^[46]
  • Highest takedown accuracy percentage in UFC Heavyweight division history (65.1%) ^[46]
• World Warriors Fighting Championship
  • WWFC Heavyweight Championship (One time) ^[47]
    • Two successful title defenses

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

21 matches	17 wins	4 losses
By knockout	7	3
By submission	8	0
By decision	2	1

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Win	17–4	Marcin Tybura	Submission (armbar)	UFC on ESPN: Tybura vs. Spivac 2	August 10, 2024	1	1:44	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Performance of the Night.
Loss	16–4	Ciryl Gane	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Gane vs. Spivac	September 2, 2023	2	3:44	Paris, France
Win	16–3	Derrick Lewis	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac	February 4, 2023	1	3:05	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Performance of the Night.
Win	15–3	Augusto Sakai	TKO (punches)	UFC on ESPN: Santos vs. Hill	August 6, 2022	2	3:42	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	14–3	Greg Hardy	TKO (punches)	UFC 272	March 5, 2022	1	2:16	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Loss	13–3	Tom Aspinall	TKO (elbow and punches)	UFC Fight Night: Brunson vs. Till	September 4, 2021	1	2:30	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	13–2	Aleksei Oleinik	Decision (unanimous)	UFC on ESPN: The Korean Zombie vs. Ige	June 19, 2021	3	5:00	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	12–2	Jared Vanderaa	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs. Lewis	February 20, 2021	2	4:32	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win	11–2	Carlos Felipe	Decision (majority)	UFC Fight Night: Figueiredo vs. Benavidez 2	July 19, 2020	3	5:00	Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Loss	10–2	Marcin Tybura	Decision (unanimous)	UFC Fight Night: Benavidez vs. Figueiredo	February 29, 2020	3	5:00	Norfolk, Virginia, United States
Win	10–1	Tai Tuivasa	Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke)	UFC 243	October 5, 2019	2	3:14	Melbourne, Australia
Loss	9–1	Walt Harris	TKO (punches)	UFC Fight Night: Iaquinta vs. Cowboy	May 4, 2019	1	0:50	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Win	9–0	Tony Lopez	Submission (neck crank)	WWFC 12	September 29, 2018	1	4:12	Kyiv, Ukraine	Defended the WWFC Heavyweight Championship.
Win	8–0	Ivo Cuk	TKO (punches)	WWFC 10	March 24, 2018	1	2:21	Kyiv, Ukraine	Defended the WWFC Heavyweight Championship.
Win	7–0	Travis Fulton	Submission (rear-naked choke)	WWFC 7	June 14, 2017	1	2:50	Kyiv, Ukraine	Won the vacant WWFC Heavyweight Championship.
Win	6–0	Luke Morton	KO (punches)	WWFC 6	March 29, 2017	1	0:40	Kyiv, Ukraine
Win	5–0	Artem Cherkov	KO (head kick)	Eagles Fighting Championship 1	February 27, 2016	1	1:52	Chișinău, Moldova
Win	4–0	Dimitriy Mikutsa	Submission (armbar)	N1 Pro: MMA Nomad	October 4, 2015	2	4:34	Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Win	3–0	Yuri Gorbenko	Submission (armbar)	WWFC: Ukraine Selection 4	January 31, 2015	1	3:38	Kyiv, Ukraine
Win	2–0	Evgeniy Bova	Submission (kimura)	WWFC: Ukraine Selection 1	November 19, 2014	1	N/A	Lviv, Ukraine
Win	1–0	Andrey Serebrianikov	TKO (punches)	RFP: Galychyny Cup	September 28, 2014	1	4:31	Lviv, Ukraine

^[48]

See also

• List of current UFC fighters
• List of male mixed martial artists

References

1. "Serghei Spivac ("Polar Bear") | MMA Fighter Page". Tapology. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
2. "UFC Rankings | UFC.com". www.ufc.com. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
3. "Serghei Spivac vs Andrey Serebrianikov". MMA-Core.com. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
4. "Serghei Spivac vs. Evgeniy Bova". Tapology. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
5. "Yuri Gorbenko vs. Serghei Spivac". Tapology. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
6. "Artem Cherkov vs. Serghei Spivac". Tapology. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
7. Knapp, Brian. "5 Things You Might Not Know About Sergey Spivak". sherdog.com. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
8. Lee, Alexander K. (2019-04-09). "Unbeaten Sergey Spivak steps in to fight Walt Harris at UFC Ottawa". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
9. "UFC Ottawa Results: Walt Harris Runs Through Sergey Spivak". Cage Side Press. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
10. DNA, MMA. "Tuivasa vs. Spivak en Kassem vs. Kim toegevoegd aan UFC 243 in Melbourne" . Retrieved 2019-07-24.
11. "UFC 243 results: Sergey Spivak batters, bloodies and chokes out Tai Tuivasa". MMA Mania. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
12. Nolan King (2020-01-02). "Three bouts added to growing UFC on ESPN+ 27 lineup". www.mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2020-01-02.
13. Shillan, Keith (2020-02-29). "UFC Norfolk Results: Marcin Tybura beats Sergey Spivak by Decision". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-03-01.
14. Marcelo Barone (2020-03-05). "UFC sets fight between Carlos Boi and Sergey Spivak at UFC 250 in São Paulo". sportv.globo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-05.(in Portuguese)
15. Brett Okamoto (2020-04-09). "Dana White says UFC 249 will not happen April 18". espn.com. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
16. DNA, MMA. "Carlos Felipe vs. Sergey Spivak opnieuw ingepland, nu voor 18 juli op Yas Island" . Retrieved 2020-06-11.
17. Bitter, Shawn (2020-07-18). "UFC Fight Island 2 Results: Sergey Spivak Scrapes By Carlos Felipe". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2020-07-19.
18. Staff (2020-09-01). "Sergey Spivak vs. Tom Aspinall added to UFC event on October 10". mmadna.nl. Retrieved 2020-09-01.(in Dutch)
19. DNA, MMA (2020-10-01). "Alan Baudot tekent contract bij de UFC, treft Tom Aspinall op 10 oktober in Abu Dhabi". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2020-10-02.
20. DNA, MMA (2020-11-07). "Jared Vanderaa krijgt gewenste partij tegen Sergey Spivak op 12 december tijdens UFC 256". MMA DNA. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
21. Alexander K. Lee (2020-12-10). "Sergey Spivak vs. Jared Vanderaa removed from UFC 256 due to positive COVID-19 test". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
22. Heck, Mike (2021-01-04). "Sergey Spivak vs. Jared Vanderaa rebooked for UFC event on Feb. 20". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2021-01-05.
23. Harshman, Heath (2021-02-20). "UFC Vegas 19 Results: Sergey Spivak Dominates Debutant Jared Vanderaa in TKO Win". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2021-02-20.
24. Farah Hannoun (2021-05-13). "Aleksei Oleinik vs. Sergey Spivak added to UFC Fight Night on June 19". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
25. Anderson, Jay (2021-06-19). "UFC Vegas 29 Results: Sergey Spivak Fights Smart Fight, Avoids Aleksei Oleinik's Submissions". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2021-06-20.
26. McCarthy, Alex (2021-08-11). "British UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall will fight on Darren Till undercard against Sergei Pavlovich". TalkSport.com. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
27. Evanoff, Josh (2021-09-04). "UFC Vegas 36 Results: Tom Aspinall Smashes Sergey Spivak in First Round". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2021-09-04.
28. Heck, Mike (2022-01-13). "Aleksei Oleinik out of UFC 270, Sergey Spivak now faces Greg Hardy". MMA Fighting. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
29. Matthew Wells (2022-01-14). "Greg Hardy shows off gruesome finger injury, announces fight vs. Serghei Spivac is off UFC 270". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-01-14.
30. "Hardy vs. Spivac verplaatst naar UFC 272 in Las Vegas". Eurosport (in Dutch). 2022-01-19. Retrieved 2022-01-19.
31. "UFC 272: Sergey Spivak Pounds Out Greg Hardy Within a Round". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2022-03-07.
32. Morfin, Bjorn (2022-05-26). "Augusto Sakai vs. Sergey Spivak set for August". MyMMANews. Retrieved 2022-05-26.
33. Anderson, Jay (2022-08-06). "UFC Vegas 59: Sergey Spivak Wears Down, Pounds Out Augusto Sakai". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
34. Anderson, Jay (2022-09-24). "Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac Announced As UFC's Nov. 19 Main Event". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
35. "Derrick Lewis reportedly hospitalized, UFC Fight Night 215 headliner vs. Serghei Spivac canceled mid-event". MMA Junkie. 2022-11-19. Retrieved 2022-11-19.
36. Nolan King (2022-12-15). "UFC rebooks Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac to headline February card". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
37. Anderson, Jay (2023-02-05). "UFC Vegas 68: Serghei Spivac Submits Derrick Lewis in Dominant Showing, Calls for Top 5 Opponent". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
38. "UFC Fight Night 218 bonuses: Serghei Spivac's domination worthy of an extra $50,000". mmajunkie.usatoday.com. 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
39. "UFC's return to Paris headlined by Ciryl Gane - Sergei Spivak". empiresportsmedia.com. 2023-06-16. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
40. Morehouse, Cade (2023-09-02). "UFC Paris: Ciryl Gane Lights Up Serghei Spivac For Second-Round Stoppage". Cageside Press. Retrieved 2023-09-03.
41. Zubkiewicz, Bartłomiej (June 12, 2024). "Marcin Tybura will return to the octagon at UFC Vegas 95 in August". MMARocks.pl. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
42. Jay Anderson (2024-08-10). "UFC Vegas 95: Serghei Spivac Submits Marcin Tybura Early". cagesidepress.com. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
43. Chris Taylor (2024-08-10). "UFC Vegas 95 Bonus Report: Serghei Spivac one of three fighters to take home an extra $50k". bjpenn.com. Retrieved 2024-08-10.
44. Harvey Leonard (2024-10-05). "Jailton Almeida Set For Return At UFC 311 On January 18". mmanews.com. Retrieved 2024-10-05.
45. Matt Erickson (July 20, 2020). "New dad Serghei Spivac still wondering why Carlos Felipe was talking so much in the fight". mmajunkie.com.
46. UFC.com (August 11, 2024). "UFC Stats - Heavyweight Division". ufc.com.
47. "Sergey Spivak: "My time will come soon!"". WWFC. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
48. Sherdog.com. "Sergey". Sherdog. Retrieved 2021-09-04.

External links

• Serghei Spivac at UFC
• Professional MMA record for Serghei Spivac from Sherdog