Serghei Spivak Provides Spark to UFC Fight Card With Submission Win

Serghei Spivak provided UFC fans with a little bit of action. During a night where only three fights failed to reach the scorecards, Spivac won the heavyweight main event by submitting Marcin Tybura during the first round. It was a nice moment for Spivac, who had lost the previous meeting between the two men in 2020.

Spivak has now won four of his last five fights and the MMAfighting latest news shows he should have more opportunities to improve his No. 8 ranking. Almost immediately following the fight, Spivac was called out by Jailton Almeida, who is ranked right above him.

While this card was good for Spivac, it called into question how the UFC assembles fight cards moving forward. 

No Knockouts Raises Cause for Alarm

As the rights deal with ESPN comes to a close, should the UFC seek to redo its schedule? This weekend’s fight card disappointed many fight fans when it didn’t produce a knockout.

There were three submissions, but the UFC made its name producing the spectacular. A card featuring no KO victories certainly doesn’t seem to honor that legacy. The question is, why have knockouts been down recently?

Some people think it’s the new gloves. Others think it is due to the frequency of the fight cards and shallow rosters. There also exists the possibility that so many fighters are more well rounded that it has never been harder to knock anyone out.

How things go moving forward will be interesting. UFC CEO Dana White encourages fighters to earn stoppages to get bonuses, but they may have to look at going another way. The best MMA news sites show the UFC wants to avoid accusations of declining quality.

Chepe Mariscal Dominates Damon Jackson

Chepe Mariscal picked up his most dominant win in the octagon. It’s a shame that he feels embarrassed about the whole affair. Mariscal didn’t come close to making weight for the fight, missing by 3.5 pounds.

While MMA news sites show that Mariscal had to give a portion of his purse to Damon Jackson, he was fortunate his opponent was still willing to go through with the fight. Jackson may not have felt the same way after the two men collided for 15 minutes. Jackson was battered by Mariscal’s superior striking.

He ended up winning a unanimous decision on all three scorecards, including a rare 30-25 on one judge’s card.

Barlow Survives Narrow Decision

Danny Barlow was another fighter who came in overweight for his battle with Nikolay Veretennikov. Barlow only missed by .25 pounds and his doctor told him to not try to cut the last quarter pound off. He fought like someone who was struggling to make weight.

Barlow seemed sluggish and disorganized. However, Barlow was able to get his stuff together and eke out a narrow split-decision win.

Gutierrez Wins in Step Down in Competition

Chris Gutierrez was supposed to have another strong test in front of him. But Javid Basharat pulled out of the fight due to injury. That left Gutierrez, who fought in the headliner of a Fight Night last time out, stuck battling with UFC debutant Quang Le.

Le, who came in as a late replacement, didn’t look like someone who was out of his depth in the organization. Gutierrez was able to do enough to grab a decision victory.

Santos Gets Back on Track

Yana Santos hasn’t been the most active fighter on the UFC roster. But any time someone hasn’t gotten their hand raised in more than three years, there have been some thoughts that creep in about how successful they can be in the future. Santos, whose previous three losses came against high-level competition, adjusted well to taking a step down and fighting Chelsea Chandler.

Chandler had only fought in the UFC three times and missed weight before this fight. Santos gave her a lesson on what it will take to climb the ladder. Santos picked Chandler apart on the feet.

She was able to take advantage of Chandler’s inexperience and grind her way to a unanimous decision win. This was Santos’ first win in the UFC since 2021.

Diniz Passes Important Test

Jhonata Diniz has shown during his time in the UFC that he is still working on his takedown defense. But Diniz didn’t have to worry about that too much during his fight with wrestling specialist Karl Williams. Diniz was able to draw Williams into a striking battle.

By using leg kicks to slow down Williams, Diniz was able to create openings to land his power shots. In the third round, Diniz rocked Williams with a nasty hook. However, Williams knew he was hurt and finally shot for a takedown.

Williams secured the takedown with ease and kept Diniz on his back for the rest of the fight. However, Williams was employed in wrestling and ended up losing a unanimous decision.

Zalal Enjoying Second Stay in UFC

Youssef Zalal spent nearly two years away from the UFC. His first tenure with the promotion was underwhelming, and he was released to get more seasoning. Zalal is now on a six-fight unbeaten streak.

During Zalal’s two fights since he returned, he has flashed his impressive grappling skills. Zalal submitted Jarno Errens in the first round last weekend. He also submitted Billy Quarantillo during his return fight in March.

Zalal is hoping to be on track for the top 15. If he continues to finish fights, Zalal will get plenty of opportunities to face off against other top fighters.

Here are the rest of the fights on the card not mentioned above:

• Bantamweight, Toshiomi Kazama win by submission (triangle choke) over Charalampos Grigoriou, Round 2 1:55
• Women’s bantamweight, Karol Rosa win by decision over Pannie Kianzad, 30-27 (x3)
• Women’s strawweight, Stephanie Luciano win by decision over Talita Alencar, 30-27 (x3)

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By Dean McHugh.