UFC 243 finally had its venue confirmed earlier today, with the event set to take place in the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne Australia on October 6, 2019. And now more good news has hit the Land Down Under, as another one of its own will reportedly be competing on the card when Aussie Tai Tuivasa takes on fellow striker Sergey Spivak. News of the bout was originally reported by Nolan King of MMA Junkie.
Sergey Spivak is a noticeable step down to Tai Tuivasa in terms of current UFC status, seeing as though Tuivasa is still the #13-ranked heavyweight in the UFC and Spivak’s UFC record is currently registered as 0-1. Another way to look at it is that Spivak is continuing to be thrown to the wolves. In his UFC debut, he faced the current #11-ranked heavyweight Walt Harris, and he once again finds himself drawing a ranked opponent in his sophomore fight in Tai Tuivasa. Prior to his UFC debut, however, Spivak had an undefeated 9-0 record, with all nine victories being stoppages. Spivak will now look to get back to his finishing ways by becoming only the second man to KO Tai Tuivasa.
Tai Tuivasa is currently on a two-fight losing streak, first losing to heavyweight legend Junior dos Santos via second-round TKO, then dropping a unanimous decision to Blagoy Ivanov at UFC 238. But where better to look to rediscover oneself than back home? Tuivasa will look to do just that when he returns to Australia to try to right the wrong of his first UFC fight in Australia against dos Santos last December.
UFC 243 will be headlined by Robert Whittaker defending his middleweight championship against interim middleweight champion Israel Adesanya. No other bout aside from the main event and this heavyweight bout has been announced for the card, but Dan Hooker has already begun lobbying to be included on the event and has drawn the interest of Al Iaquinta.
Will Tai Tuivasa snap his losing skid by defeating decorated striker Sergey Spivak at UFC 243?
