Serghei Spivac

Overview

Six of Serghei Spivac's nine UFC wins ended inside the distance, and three of those were submissions. Heavyweight "Polar Bear" is 9-7 in the UFC and 18-7-0 as a pro across all promotions, with a style the data describes as one big strength and a lot of average.

The strength is takedowns. He attempts far more than the average UFC fighter. Everything else in his statistical profile sits around the UFC average, and the one other outlier cuts the opposite way: submission attempts per 15 minutes come in below it. That's a fair description of his results too: wins over Derrick Lewis and Marcin Tybura, losses to elite and strong opponents.

He enters his next fight on a one-fight losing streak.

UFC Career

He debuted in May 2019 against Walt Harris and lost by KO/TKO at 0:50 of round 1. The reset came fast: Tai Tuivasa fell to a second-round submission at UFC 243 that October. A unanimous decision loss to Tybura followed in February 2020, then a majority decision over Carlos Felipe that July.

The 2021-23 stretch was his best. He stopped Jared Vanderaa in round 2 in February 2021 and took a unanimous decision from Aleksei Oleinik that June. A first-round KO/TKO loss to Tom Aspinall in September 2021 interrupted it, but he rebounded with a round 1 stoppage of Greg Hardy and a round 2 stoppage of Augusto Sakai in 2022. Then came a main event against Lewis, and he submitted him in round 1 at 3:05. Hardy, Sakai and Lewis make up his longest win streak: three.

Next came the step up that went the other way. Ciryl Gane, one of the elite opponents of his career, stopped him in round 2 of another main event.

He avenged the Tybura loss in August 2024 with a first-round submission at 1:44, headlining again. Then the results turned. Jailton Almeida, another elite opponent, finished him at 4:53 of round 1 at UFC 311, and Waldo Cortes Acosta took a unanimous decision at UFC 316. A unanimous decision win over Ante Delija in February 2026 interrupted the slide, but Vitor Petrino beat him by unanimous decision that August.

Nine wins, seven losses. Both of his fights against elite opponents ended in KO/TKO losses.

Fighting Style

Takedowns are the clear stand-out in his game. He gets opponents to the mat far more often than most UFC fighters, and that's the one trait that really separates him from the pack.

Everything else sits around the UFC average: how often he lands, how accurate he is, how well he defends strikes, and how well he stops takedowns. He doesn't hunt for submissions much, yet three of his nine UFC wins came that way, so the finishes outpace what the attempt numbers suggest.

He isn't only a grappler. Three of his wins came by KO/TKO and three by decision, and all six of his finishes came in rounds 1 or 2, three in each. Of his seven losses, four were by KO/TKO and three went to the scorecards, with none by submission.

Notable Wins

• Derrick Lewis — submission, round 1 (3:05), UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs. Spivac (2023)
• Marcin Tybura — submission, round 1 (1:44), UFC Fight Night: Tybura vs Spivac 2 (2024)
• Tai Tuivasa — submission, round 2 (3:14), UFC 243 (2019)
• Greg Hardy — KO/TKO, round 1 (2:16), UFC 272 (2022)

Quick Facts

• Division: Heavyweight
• UFC record: 9-7 (3 KO/TKO, 3 submission, 3 decision)
• Professional record (all promotions): 18-7-0
• UFC debut: May 3, 2019
• Stance: Orthodox
• Height / reach: 6'3" / 78"
• Team: Polar Bear Team
• Born: Moldova