Athletes
SERGHEI SPIVAC IS ALL FOCUS
Streaking Heavyweight Is Locked In On The Task At Hand As He Readies To Face Ciryl Gane In This Weekend’s Main Event In Paris
Serghei Spivac is the heavyweight contender no one saw coming.
The 28-year-old “Polar Bear” from Moldova dropped two of his first three appearances inside the UFC Octagon and, as a result, fans and pundits seemingly became anchored to their initial opinions about Spivac as the young fighter that struggled to deal with Walt Harris and Marcin Tybura in two of his first three starts.
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The second-round submission win over Tai Tuivasa sandwiched between those setbacks was framed as more about the struggling Western Australia representative, not a reflection of the skills and upside Spivac brought to the table. After all, it was his first UFC victory and Tuivasa’s third straight defeat, and the continued slide of someone that burst on the scene just two years earlier became the focal point of that fight.
“These people never bother me, and what they think does not affect my performance or my life, because I don’t know these people,” Spivac said of those that overlooked him as he settled into life on the UFC roster. “I don’t think about stuff like this, I just know I need to keep working hard and winning.”
Over his last seven fights, that’s pretty much all Spivac has been doing.
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While he started with a single victory wedged between two defeats, Spivac’s current run shows three consecutive victories on either side of a lone setback to British standout Tom Aspinall, with the streaking young heavyweight having earned stoppages in each of his last three outings heading into his headlining clash with Ciryl Gane on Saturday at Accor Arena in Paris.
Although there were solid moments in the wins prior to his loss to Aspinall, which came on short notice in the fall of 2021, it’s the last three victories that highlight how folks may have been too quick to establish their opinions on Spivac as a fighter and potential contender.
In dispatching Greg Hardy, Augusto Sakai and, most recently Derrick Lewis, the focused ascending talent has done an impressive job playing to his strengths — working diligently to close the distance, initiate grappling entanglements, and work from there to finish each of the three contests.
“I never change anything in terms of my training, I always work very hard,” said Spivac when asked if there have been particular adjustments that have contributed to his tremendous form of late. “I never focus on one aspect of the game. Me and my coaches work hard and try to improve in all areas of mixed martial arts.
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“I am not a one dimensional fighter; I’m a universal fighter.”
He’s also a burgeoning contender in the somewhat unsettled heavyweight division.
Fighting in a weight class where just about everyone brandishes serious power and a single blow can stop a winning streak dead in its tracks, cobbling together a three-fight run of success is no easy feat.
When you factor in that each of those victories have come inside the distance and the last two were against ranked opposition, including a two-time title challenger in Lewis, and you have the makings of a quality run that highlights Spivac’s growth and development over these last couple years.
Watching the way he carries himself inside the Octagon, you see a more confident fighter — someone that not only believes in his own abilities, but also knows he’s done the work necessary in order to have success at the highest level.
“Two things: hard work and discipline,” answered Spivac when asked how much growing comfortable in the UFC cage has factored into his recent success.
It’s the kind of response that would feel canned if not for the fact that the ascending contender is always laser-focused and unemotional when it comes to his craft and the next assignment in front of him.
This weekend’s clash with Gane in Paris serves as a perfect example.
While France and Moldova aren’t exactly next door to one another, Saturday marks the first time since the summer of 2020 that Spivac hasn’t fought in Las Vegas, and the first time in his UFC career that he’s competed in Europe.
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He’s also headlining against a former interim champion, who most recently challenged for the vacant heavyweight title, all of which combines to make this a tremendous opportunity — not only professionally for Spivac, but potentially on a personal level, as well, as perhaps more family and friends will be in attendance this weekend than in his last half-dozen appearances.
“To be honest, this is nothing special,” he said of the opportunity to headline opposite Gane in Paris. “It’s just a fight to me.”
Again, it would feel forced and dismissive of the moment if not for the fact that Spivac really does see things from a mission-oriented perspective.
Facing off with a celebrated contender like Gane, in his adopted hometown and one of the great cities of the world is the type of opportunity that many competitors would speak fondly of, recognizing it as a milestone achievement and cool moment in their career they will remember and cherish, regardless of the outcome.
For Spivac, it’s simply the next assignment.
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“This fight to me is just a next fight in my career, against an opponent who is ranked higher than me in the world rankings,” he offered. “I just need to keep marching forward. I just need to win.”
Where the Moldovan arrives on a three-fight winning streak, Gane returns to compete in Paris after the most disappointing effort of his UFC career thus far — a first-round submission loss to Jon Jones earlier this year at UFC 285.
He was taken down almost immediately, and submitted just over two minutes into the contest —a fish out of water on the canvas, stuck dealing with an outstanding grappler bent on taking care of business in the quickest, most efficient manner possible.
In theory, Gane’s loss to Jones feels like a potential blueprint for how to topple the French striker, who claims a main event victory over Tuivasa last September when the UFC made it’s first trek to “The City of Light.”
But for the man that will face him this weekend, it’s nothing more than his opponent’s last fight and something that has no real impact on his preparations.
“Every fight is different,” Spivac said flatly. “His last performance does not mean this is an easy fight for me.
“I watched that fight and kept training the way I was training.”
Following his win over Lewis in February, analyst Michael Bisping joined Spivac in the Octagon for a post-fight interview, asking the victorious heavyweight what he was looking for next after registering a third consecutive stoppage victory.
Spivac laughed uncomfortably, trying hard to dismiss the question and get out of the awkward exchange as quickly as possible. He ultimately said he’s like to face someone on the Top 5, someone ranked above him.
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He’s gotten his wish, and if he’s successful this weekend, he’s going to be asked again what comes next and who he’d like to face, so I thought I would give him an opportunity to address it early and get it out of the way.
He opted to stay true to form.
“I’m not looking past my opponent right now; Gane has my full focus and attention,” he replied. “I can only answer this question after my fight when I win.”
UFC Fight Night: Gane vs Spivac took place live from the Accor Arena in Paris, France on September 2, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
