If Tai Tuivasa hits you with his heavy hands, your night can end in a flash. The problem for the affable Australian heavyweight is that when he doesn’t land the bullseye, he tends to run into trouble.
That was the case Saturday night at UFC 243 as Moldova’s Serghei Spivac had a big night at his expense.
Spivac (10-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) outwrestled Tuivasa (10-3 MMA, 3-3 UFC) for the better half of a round-and-a-half before finishing him with a ruthlessly efficient arm-triangle choke. Tuivasa went out rather than tap, which put this in the books as a technical submission at the 3:14 mark of the second round at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Tuivasa tested Spivac early with a smattering of solid shots. But Spivac, who had lost his UFC debut via TKO to Walt Harris in 50 seconds in May, showed he had a chin and also a Plan B.
Spivac outwrestled Tuivasa over the bulk of the round, and while he didn’t come close to a finish during the opening stanza, it was clear he was down the right path.
Things turned really one-sided in the second. This time, Spivac got Tuivasa to the mat, improved his position, rendered Tuivasa a bloody mess with his ground-and-pound, and got things done with the choke.
All 10 of Spivac’s career victories have come by way of finish. Tuivasa, who won his first three bouts in the UFC, has now lost three straight.
The heavyweight bout was part of the UFC 243 main card. It aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 243 results include:
- Serghei Spivac def. Tai Tuivasa via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 3:14
- Dhiego Lima def. Luke Jumeau via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Yorgan De Castro def. Justin Tafa via knockout (punch) – Round 1, 2:10
- Jake Matthews def. Rostem Akman via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Callan Potter def. Maki Pitolo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Brad Riddell def. Jamie Mullarkey via unanimous decision (29-27, 30-26, 30-26)
- Megan Anderson def. Zarah Fairn via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:57
- Ji Yeon Kim def. Nadia Kassem via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 4:59
- Khalid Taha def. Bruno Silva via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 3, 3:00
