Sergey Spivak secured the biggest win of his MMA career to date when he submitted Derrick Lewis in the first round of their heavyweight main event at a UFC Fight Night at the APEX Facility in Las Vegas on Sunday morning.
Spivak, who has now racked up three straight wins and moved to a career record of 16-3, dominated from the opening exchanges, taking Lewis (who drops to 26-11, 1 NC with a third straight loss) off his feet early on with a perfectly executed takedown.
The ‘Polar Bear’ then controlled his opponent, working through several different scenarios in which he allowed the ‘Black Beast’ back to his feet, only to drag him back down, finally sinking in an arm triangle choke which forced a tap just over three minutes into the first round.
“Derrick Lewis is great, he fight two time to the title,” said Spivak in his post-fight interview in the Octagon. “He’s a great, he’s a legend for me, I love him. Today, this is my time. [The] ‘Polar Bear’ is here, ‘Polar Bear’ is coming... give me someone from the top five [of the heavyweight rankings].”
Spivak went on to pick out MMA legend Jon Jones – who will be in action against Ciryl Gane for the vacant heavyweight title at UFC 285 in March – as his preferred next opponent: “Jon Jones, I respect you so much, sorry bro, but I’m coming.”
The rest of the main card saw Adam Fugitt stop Yusaku Kinoshita in the first round of their welterweight clash; Choi Doo-ho and Kyle Nelson fought to a majority draw in their featherweight match; Marcin Tybura outpointed Blagoy Ivanov in a grinding heavyweight battle; and the co-main light heavyweight match ended in a unanimous decision triumph for Devin Clark over Jung Da-un.
Next weekend brings UFC 284 from the RAC Arena in Perth, Australia on the morning of Sunday 23 February, headlined by a lightweight championship match between Islam Makhachev and Alexander Volkanovski.
UFC Fight Night: Lewis v Spivak – Main card results
- Main event: Heavyweight: Sergey Spivak def. Derrcik Lewis via submission (arm triangle choke), R1, 3:04
- Light heavyweight: Devin Clark def. Jung Da-un via unanimous decision (30-27 30-27 30-27), R3, 5:00
- Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura def. Blagoy Ivanov via unanimous decision (30-27 29-28 29-28), R3, 5:00
- Featherweight: Choi Doo-ho v Kyle Nelson ends in majority draw (29-27 28-28 28-28), R3, 5:00
- Welterweight: Adam Fugitt def. Yusaku Kinoshita via TKO (elbows), R1, 4:36