It didn’t take long for Sergei Spivac to get revenge on Marcin Tybura. Spivac tied their series one apiece, submitting Tybura less than two minutes into their UFC Fight Night headliner on Saturday.
Tybura vs. Spivac weren’t thinking about the rematch before they were offered the fight. Spivac made the most of the opportunity to avenge his February 2020 unanimous decision loss.
Spivac ended up on his back early in the fight but caught Tybura in transition and grabbed ahold of his arm and didn’t let go. A panicked Tybura verbally submitted as Spivac extended the arm. Spivac’s armbar was the first in the UFC heavyweight division since Fabricio Werdum tapped out Alexander Gustafsson four years ago.
“I trained this a lot. To be honest, I was quite nervous because I couldn’t train for the last few weeks due to injury,” Spivac told UFC commentator Michael Bisping through an interpreter.
“That was his time and this is my time.”
Spivac’s stoppage was his 15th in 17 professional wins, plus his 11th first-round finish. Spivac improved to 17-5 and bounced back from a loss to Ciryl Gane in September. His only losses in the last three years are to former interim champ Gane and current interim champ Tom Aspinall. Spivac will likely take Tybura’s No. 8 spot in the official UFC heavyweight rankings. He called for a fight against someone up the division.
Tybura (25-9) entered the fight in great form. His 2020 win over Spivac kickstarted an 8-2 run, including a first-round submission win over Tai Tuivasa in his last outing.
