UFC Fight Roundup: Derrick Lewis tries to snap skid against Serghei Spivac
Fights come together fast these days, and if you blink, you can easily miss them. In Fight Roundup, we bring you the latest reported matchups to keep you up to date with what’s on the horizon.
All bouts featured have been officially announced or confirmed with MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Mike Heck, and Damon Martin via sources with knowledge of the matchups.
Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac
At 1-3 in his past four outings, one-time UFC heavyweight title challenger Derrick Lewis (26-10) needs a rebound. Standing in the way of that is Serghei Spivac (15-3).
The UFC on Saturday confirmed Lewis will face off with Spivac in the five-round main event of a UFC Fight Night event scheduled for Nov. 19. Although not officially announced by the promotion, the event, UFC Vegas 65, will take place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
Lewis most recently appeared in the octagon at UFC 277, where he was stopped with a blitz of punches by Sergei Pavlovich just 55 seconds into the first round. That unfortunate result came after a knockout loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271. After a four-fight winning streak led to a bid for the interim heavyweight title, Lewis, who lost the title fight to Ciryl Gane, is in danger of falling out of the top-10 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings.
Spivac, who is unranked, is on a two-fight winning streak after stopping Greg Hardy and Augusto Sakai in his previous outings.
Jeff Molina vs. Jimmy Flick
Flyweights Molina (11-2) and Flick (16-5) will clash at a Jan. 14 UFC Fight Night event in Flick’s return to the octagon after a short-lived retirement.
Eurosport NL first reported the matchup, which does not yet have an official venue or location.
Flick, a Contender Series vet, took the highly unusual step of hanging up his gloves after his first octagon fight, a flying triangle choke of Cody Durden that earned him a $50,000 performance bonus. Flick cited the promotion’s lack of worker protections and looked forward to writing a novel. But after one year away and a shift in personal circumstances, Flick announced his return and put flyweights on notice.
Molina is just the kind of challenge that could put Flick over. The Glory MMA and Fitness product remains unbeaten in the octagon after three fights, most recently a split call over Zhalgas Zhumagulov at UFC Vegas 56.
Shayilan Nuerdanbieke vs. Darrick Minner
A featherweight bout between highly experienced vets Nuerdanbieke (37-10) and Minner (26-13) is on tap for a Nov. 5 UFC Fight Night card, Nuerdanbieke’s reps at Paradigm Sports recently announced.
The Nov. 5 event, UFC Vegas 64, takes place at UFC APEX in Las Vegas. Featherweights Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell are among those on tap for the card.
Chinese vet Nuerdanbieke hopes to earn his third straight UFC win after a stumble out of the gate. In his most recent appearance, which took place at UFC Vegas 57, he outpointed T.J. Brown to build on a decision over Sean Soriano in his previous appearance.
Minner is on the opposite of the win column, having lost back-to-back fights in appearances against Darren Elkins and Ryan Hall, respectively. With a win over Nuerdanbieke, he can climb to a .500 win rate.