Athletes
SERGHEI SPIVAC POISED TO TEACH A FAMILIAR LESSON
Moldovan Heavyweight Eager To Show Waldo Cortes Acosta That Life Is Different In The Top 10
For the last four or five years, Serghei Spivac has hovered on the edge of contention in the UFC heavyweight division, amassing a 7-3 record over his last 10 appearances heading into this weekend’s preliminary card clash with Waldo Cortes Acosta at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey.
Arriving on the biggest stage in the sport as a green, but promising, talent, the 30-year-old from Moldova has shown steady growth over the course of his career, not only becoming stronger physically to contend with the behemoths that line the way to the top of the heavyweight division, but adding to his arsenal and leaning into his greatest strengths, as well. Along the way, Spivac has posted quality wins over divisional staples Aleksei Oleinik, Augusto Sakai, Derrick Lewis, and Marcin Tybura to establish himself as a fixture in the Top 10.
But each time he’s had the opportunity to garner the kind of marquee win that would really propel him forward, Spivac has faltered.
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“It’s frustrating, but I don’t dwell on the past; I move forward,” he said in regards to his January loss to Jailton Almeida, though the statement could apply to each of his critical setbacks.
The UFC 311 clash with Almeida was similar to his other two miscues over the last several years, the first which came to current interim champ Tom Aspinall, with the middle loss in the trio coming against former interim titleholder Ciryl Gane.
Despite a great start where he took the Brazilian down and landed solid ground-and-pound, as well as reversing into top position midway through the contest after getting swept, Spivac was unable to sustain his success, with Almeida eventually working to his feet, stinging him late in the frame, and pounding out the finish just seconds before the opening round expired. It was a more competitive outing than his bout with Aspinall, which ended in a flash, and shorter than his battle with Gane in Paris, but ultimately, the outcome was the same.
“Every fight is a lesson,” he said when asked about the takeaways from a competitive, but disappointing, loss. “I took the necessary insights and came back stronger. I went back to the gym, studied the mistakes, and trained twice as hard.”
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This weekend, Spivac has the opportunity to play the more established half of a heavyweight duo when he steps in with Cortes Acosta, the Dominican banger who is a couple years old than his adversary, but carries significant less experience with him into Saturday’s contest.
A member of the Dana White’s Contender Series class of ’22, the 33-year-old Cortes Acosta has gone 6-1 to begin his UFC tenure, entering on a four-fight winning streak capped by a second-round knockout win over Ryan Spann. But, as is often the case with heavyweight hopefuls, his one setback to date inside the Octagon came when he was hustled into a pairing with Brazilian veteran Marcos Rogerio de Lima a little sooner than he was ready for, resulting in “Pezao” picking up the win and bouncing “Salsa Boy” from the ranks of the unbeaten.
Streaking once again and coming off his biggest win to date, Cortes Acosta gets the chance to potentially punch his ticket into the Top 10, but Spivac has every intention of doing to him what the triumvirate of talented standouts that have bested him over the last handful of years have done to him.
“It’s a crucial fight; I’m taking it seriously,” he said in regards to the bout with Cortes Acosta. “He’s dangerous, but I’ve got more experience and a deeper skill set.
UFC 316 FREE FIGHTS: Pena vs Nunes | Dvalishvili vs Nurmagomdeov | Harrison vs Holm | O'Malley vs Sterling
“Very much,” Spivac offered when questioned about how badly he wants to show the ascending DWCS alum that he’s not ready to face this level of competition. “I plan to show him that Top 10 is a different world.”
While some will chalk such a statement up to fighter-speak, the reality is that what Frankie Edgar said all those years ago in Dallas after beating Yair Rodriguez is 100 percent correct: “There’s levels to this game.”
Week-in and week-out inside the Octagon, we see tenured veterans and more seasoned foes lean on their experience and savvy to out-work, out-smart, and ultimately defeat promising young competitors, with Polish lightweight Mateusz Gamrot being the most recent example last week. As good as Ľudovit Klein had looked during his seven-fight unbeaten streak, he didn’t have the answers early for Gamrot’s wrestling, allowing the veteran to get out ahead of him on the scorecards and drain his energy reserves en route to securing a unanimous decision win.
There is simply no substitute for experience when you start climbing into the upper reaches of any division in the UFC, and heading into their fight on Saturday night, Cortes Acosta is short on those critical rounds, and Spivac intends to exploit that shortfall.
“Focus, discipline, and a cold mind — that’s the formula for victory,” he said when asked what he needs to do in order to secure a victory this weekend in New Jersey and get himself moving in the right direction again, adding that doing so will “validate all the hard work.”
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For Spivac, that hard work never stops, and while the critical results have not yet gone his way, at no point has the “Polar Bear” gotten discouraged. Instead, he’s taken the setbacks in stride, recognized them as growth opportunities, and worked to start another push towards the top of the division.
And he plans to do that again this weekend.
“One solid win and I’m back in the race,” he said in regards to his ongoing quest to break into the Top 5 and eventually challenge for championship gold. “(So this weekend, I need to) get the win, and then keep climbing towards the title.”
UFC 316: Dvalishvili vs O'Malley 2 took place live from Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on June 7, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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