By the Numbers: Tai Tuivasa vs. Sergey Spivak

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Tai Tuivasa is looking to regain confidence after dropping his last two fights inside the Octagon. He’ll next face Sergey Spivak, who is coming off a loss that tainted his previously perfect record. These two prospects deserve attention, and they will prove that when they square off at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia. Read about some of their career-defining numbers below.

Octagon appearances

Spivak will be making only his second Octagon appearance at UFC 243. In his promotional debut, the native of Moldova was knocked out by Walt Harris in 50 seconds. Meanwhile, Tuivasa has appeared in the Octagon five times. He started his Ultimate Fighting Championship career with three consecutive victories, stopping Rashad Coulter and Cyril Asker and then decisioning Andrei Arlovski. In his last two fights, however, he was starched by Junior dos Santos and decisioned by Blagoy Ivanov.

Pre-UFC record

Both fighters entered the Ultimate Fighting Championship with a ton of promise, having gone undefeated in their respective careers. Tuivasa was 5-0, displaying his skills in various promotions in Australia. He took hold of the Australia Fighting Championship heavyweight belt and defended it once before getting the call from the UFC. Spivak, on the other hand, was 9-0 fighting in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova, and he was a heavyweight champion in World Warriors Fighting Championship.

Countries fought in

Spivak has one up on Tuivasa in terms of international exposure. Apart from the previously mentioned countries Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Moldova, Spivak has also fought in Canada. It was in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada that Spivak fell to Walt Harris at UFC Fight Night 151. Australia will be the fifth country he will have had the pleasure of fighting in, whereas Tuivasa has only fought in the United States and Down Under to this point in his career.

Wins by knockout

As previously mentioned, Tuivasa owns two knockout wins in the UFC and seven overall. Apart from Asker and Coulter, he also fought and knocked out The Ultimate Fighter Season 10 alumnus James McSweeney for his first defense of the AFC heavyweight title. As for Spivak, he’s had four victories by KO or TKO, all of which occurred outside the UFC.

Wins by submission

The more dynamic fighter of the two, Spivak owns five wins by submission whereas Tuivasa has yet to score one. Interestingly, neither has been tapped out in professional MMA competition.

First-round finishes

All of Spivak’s nine triumphs have come via stoppages, eight of which occurred in the first round. He started his career with three first-round finishes before facing Dimitriy Mikutsa, who survived the first round against him only to be submitted in the second. Tuivasa is likewise notorious for finishing fights early. Of his eight victories, seven have come in the first round. He started his career with seven first-round stoppages before going three full rounds with Arlovski.

Stoppage losses

Tuivasa and Spivak have been stopped only once in their respective careers. The former was knocked out by dos Santos and the latter was starched by Harris.