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Andreas Hale, ESPN
LAS VEGAS — Serghei Spivac made short work of Marcin Tybura and secured a first-round submission Saturday in the main event of UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex.
The fight was a rematch of their 2020 meeting when Tybura won a unanimous decision. This time, the tables were turned in dramatic fashion.
As the superior grappler, Spivac (24-6-1 MMA, 7-4-1 UFC) wasted little time closing the distance and dragging Tybura (25-9 MMA, 12-8 UFC) to the canvas. However, he gave up his position as Tybura transitioned into his guard. Little did Tybura know, Spivac had him right where he wanted as he swiftly snatched an arm and locked in an armbar that elicited the tap out at the 1:44 mark.
The UFC’s No. 8 ranked heavyweight coming into the night, Tybura was coming off a submission win over Tai Tuivasa in 2024 and sought to gain momentum in the heavyweight division. But he quickly discovered that the man he beat four years ago had drastically improved since their last meeting.
“I trained for that,” Spivac said afterward about the first armbar finish in the heavyweight division since Fabricio Werdum submitted Alexander Gustafsson with the same technique in July 2020. “That was his time back then, and this is mine. I have gotten a lot better since our last fight.”
Spivac, 29, entered the fight as the UFC’s No. 9-ranked heavyweight and bounced back to the win column after he saw his three-fight winning streak halted by Ciryl Gane in September 2023. Fighting out of Chișinău, Moldova, Spivac has proven to be a high-level finisher with his last four victories coming by way of knockout or submission.