Sergey “Polar Bear” Spivak (Сергій Співак), 25, earned his second victory in Ultimate Fighting Championship on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Fighting out of Ukraine by way of Chișinău, Moldova, the Ukrainian-Moldovan mixed martial artist was one of the “UFC Fight Night 172” winners.
Also called “UFC on ESPN+ 30,” “UFC Fight Night 172” featured 12 MMA matches on the UFC Fight Island on Yas Island on July 19, 2020 in the UAE or July 18, 2020 in the United States. Spivak fought Carlos “Boi” Felipe, 25, of Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil in the heavyweight division in the first bout, which was refereed by Rich Mitchell.
After three five-minute bouts, the heavyweight contest was left in the hands of the three judges. Two judges saw it 29-27 in favor of the fighter in the blue corner while one judge scored it 28-28.
In the end, Mitchell raised the hand of Spivak. The Chișinău native was declared the winner via majority decision.
“My daughter was born right before the fight so I didn’t sleep well because of that,” Spivak said. “And I want to dedicate the victory to my wife and daughter.”
Winning at “UFC Fight Night 172” improved Spivak’s professional MMA record to 11 wins and 2 losses. He is the first fighter to defeat Felipe in a professional MMA bout.
Fighting professionally since 2014, Spivak joined the UFC in 2019. The first opponent he defeated in the promotion was Tai Tuivasa.
On the other hand, Felipe made his UFC debut at “UFC Fight Night 172” and he now has 8 wins and 1 loss. The Brazilian MMA fighter previously competed in Velame Fight Combat, Full House, MNA MMA Circuit, Fight on MMA, O Rei da Arena Fight, Shooto Brazil and Qualify Combat.
“UFC Fight Night 172” was the third UFC event to take place on the UFC Fight Island during the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. A total of 17 countries were represented namely Armenia, Brazil, Canada, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, England, Georgia, Iraq, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the U.S. and Wales.
Spivak solely represented both Moldova and Ukraine. Felipe was one of the six representatives of Brazil.
In the main event, Deiveson “Deus da Guerra” Figueiredo, 32, of Pelem, Para, Brazil and Joseph “The Beefcake” Benavidez, 35, of Sacramento, California, USA competed for the vacant UFC Flyweight Championship title.
The co-main event was a middleweight bout between Jack “The Joker” Hermansson, 32, of Norway and Sweden and Kelvin Gastelum, 28, of Yuma, Arizona, USA.
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CONAN Daily 