Serghei Spivac Record: 18-6-0

UFC run

Spivac's debut in May 2019 was a harsh introduction, a first-round TKO loss to Walt Harris. He rebounded emphatically that October, submitting the popular Tai Tuivasa with an arm-triangle choke at UFC 243 to prove he belonged. A 2020 decision loss to Marcin Tybura was followed by a measured decision win over the undefeated Carlos Felipe. In 2021 he kept building, stopping Jared Vanderaa and outpointing grappling legend Aleksei Oleinik, before running into rising star Tom Aspinall, who stopped him in the first round.

Spivac answered with the strongest stretch of his career. He blasted Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai in 2022, then delivered a statement in February 2023 by submitting former title challenger Derrick Lewis with a first-round arm-triangle, vaulting himself into the top of the division. A step up against Ciryl Gane in September 2023 ended in a second-round TKO loss. Spivac regrouped in 2024 with a first-round armbar in his rematch with Marcin Tybura, avenging the earlier defeat, but then hit a rough patch – a 2025 knockout loss to Jailton Almeida and a decision loss to Waldo Cortes-Acosta. He returned to form in February 2026 with a decision win over Ante Delija.

Fighting style

Spivac is one of heavyweight's most accomplished grapplers, a sambo-based finisher who marries his size with relentless top control and a polished submission game. Eight of his 18 wins are submissions and seven are knockouts – an 83% finish rate, exceptional for the division – with the arm-triangle choke serving as his signature weapon. His path to victory is usually the same: close the distance, get the takedown or clinch, and smother opponents before locking up a choke. His clearest weakness is on the feet against elite, rangy strikers; every one of his losses has come by knockout or decision rather than submission, underscoring that the danger to him comes standing, not on the mat.

Career highlights

• Submitted Derrick Lewis — a first-round arm-triangle finish of the former title challenger in 2023 was the biggest win of his career.
• Statement over Tai Tuivasa — an arm-triangle submission at UFC 243 established him as a legitimate UFC heavyweight.
• Elite finishing rate — an 83% career finish rate built on sambo-rooted submissions, rare for the heavyweight division.