UFC Fight Night: Serghei Spivac vs Vitor Petrino Preview & Prediction

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In the co-main event, heavyweight gatekeeper Serghei Spivac faces the former light heavyweight Vitor Petrino.

Serghei Spivac vs Vitor Petrino facts

What time are Serghei Spivac and Vitor Petrino expected to walk out? 23 August 2026 at 2:15 am

Where is UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues? Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, USA

Where can I get tickets for UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues? Click here for the latest ticket information for UFC Fight Night 285

What TV channel is UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues on? UK – TNT Sports / USA – Paramount

Where can I stream UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues? UK – TNT Sports can stream the event online via the TNT Sports website and HBO Max / USA – Paramount+ & UFC Fight Pass

UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues main card

Anthony Hernandez vs Gregory Rodrigues (Middleweight)

Serghei Spivac vs Vitor Petrino (Heavyweight)

Reinier de Ridder vs Roman Dolidze (Light Heavyweight)

Mason Jones vs MarQuel Mederos (Lightweight)

Carli Judice vs Jeisla Chaves (Women's Flyweight)

Terrance Chatman vs Anthony Wint (Heavyweight)

UFC Fight Night: Hernandez vs Rodrigues prelims

Jamall Emmers vs Lerryan Douglas (Featherweight)

Kennedy Nzechukwu vs Shamil Gaziev (Heavyweight)

Nasrat Haqparast vs Chris Padilla (Lightweight)

Marcio Barbosa vs Ryan Kuse (Featherweight)

Gauge Young vs Stanley Dorsainvil (Lightweight)

Wesley Schultz vs Jackson McVey (Middleweight)

Shanelle Dyer vs Elise Reed (Women's Strawweight)

Serghei Spivac: “The Polar Bear” guards the door to the heavyweight top five

Serghei Spivac (18-6) is fifteen fights into his UFC run that has turned him into a checkpoint every contender has to clear. His resume includes first-round submissions over both Derrick Lewis and Marcin Tybura, as well as a recent decision over Ante Delija. Spivac’s defeats have almost exclusively come against the division’s best – Tom Aspinall, Jailton Almeida, Ciryl Gane and Waldo Cortes Acosta. At 31 he works behind a stiff and genuinely underrated jab, rarely strings more than three shots together, and does his real damage on the mat with quick submissions and heavy ground and pound.

Vitor Petrino: The athletic specimen who found a home at heavyweight

Vitor Petrino (14-2) is 3-0 since abandoning the light heavyweight cut, submitting Austen Lane, knocking out Thomas Petersen in the third, and edging Steven Asplund on the cards in a bloody three-round war in March. Both career losses came at 205, a first-round guillotine to Anthony Smith off a careless double leg entry and a third-round right hand from Dustin Jacoby. The Brazilian is a physical freak with heavy hands and an underrated submission game. His striking is basic at range and his head movement is a known liability.

Serghei Spivac vs Vitor Petrino prediction

Petrino does more damage on the feet. Big hooks, a hard straight, decent low kicks, and he steps into the pocket swinging with his whole body, which at heavyweight is far less punishable than it would be in other divisions. Opponents at heavyweight are generally worried about not getting hit rather than countering from those massive shots.

Spivac’s route runs the other way. He should own the early range behind that jab and tag Petrino, whose head doesn’t move much off centreline. However, the Moldovan is heavy on the front foot and that lead leg is there to be chopped, and his takedowns have historically landed on heavyweights with no grappling base. Petrino is not that.

Another read that matters in this match up is the guillotine. Petrino got caught by Anthony Smith off his own double leg, and Spivac latches submissions up fast when he’s fresh. Even if Spivac never completes a takedown of his own, one careless Petrino entry hands him the fight, and Petrino was shooting early against Asplund.

If there is a scramble on the floor, Spivac is the better jiu jitsu player and the better man on top. This comes down to whether Petrino lands the big shot inside the first two rounds, or Spivac jabs at range, closes the distance to grind it out on the fence. I see it as a fairly even fight, but at plus money on the veteran’s submission game, it’s tempting to pick that way.

Prediction: Serghei Spivac to win by submission