By the Numbers: Walt Harris vs. Sergey Spivak

You can sign up for a free seven-day trial of ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream UFC on ESPN+ live on your computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

Advertisement

Walt Harris was supposed to face Alexey Oleynik until the latter was moved to the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 7 opposite Alistair Overeem. He nonetheless gets an equally dangerous opponent in Sergey Spivak, a surging, young Moldovan who will be making his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut.

The bout takes place at UFC Fight Night 151 next week and will go ahead despite Harris recently accepting a four-month USADA retroactive suspension for a failed drug test.

Let the numbers below show why this heavyweight encounter is one to behold.

Height and size

At 6’5”, Harris is two inches taller than Spivak. He is also considerably bigger at 252 lbs. Spivak, on the other hand, walks around at 238 lbs.

Octagon experience

After seven fights in regional promotions, Harris made his UFC debut at The Ultimate Fighter 18 finale on Nov. 30, 2013. He was pitted against fellow debutant, Jared Rosholt, and lost by unanimous decision. It was followed by two more losses before he finally scored his first UFC victory by knocking out Cody East.

In all, Harris is 4-6 (1 NC) in UFC competition. That includes bouts with two former heavyweight champions in Fabricio Werdum and Andrei Arlovski. Spivak, meanwhile, is in the same position as Harris more than five years ago. “The Polar Bear” will be making his Octagon debut after phenomenal stints in various promotions in Ukraine, Kazakhstan and his home country of Moldova.

Wins by knockout

With 100 percent of his victories coming by way of KO or TKO, Harris owns some of the heaviest hands in the heavyweight division. That power extended from the regional promotions into the UFC. The long list of fighters he starched includes Justin Thornton, Wes Little, Cedric James, Josh Robertson, Tony Melton and DJ Linderman as well as former or current UFC standouts Anthony Hamilton, East, Chase Sherman, Cyril Asker and Daniel Spitz.

Spivak has forced knockouts of his own, tallying four out of nine victories. His victims include Andrey Serebrianikov, Artem Cherkov, Luke Morton and Ivo Cuk.

Wins by submission

Unlike Harris, Spivak has never gone the distance. The more well-rounded of the two fighters also boasts a 100 percent finishing rate, and holds five submission wins against Evgeniy Bova, Yuri Gorbenko, Dimitriy Mikutsa, Travis Fulton and Tony Lopez. Meanwhile, Harris is still looking, not necessarily chasing, for his first submission victory.

First-round stoppages

Spivak has never gone to the third round and only once in his professional career has reached the second round. That’s because he finished the rest of his opponents in the first stanza. His 0:40 KO of Morton remains the fastest in his career. Harris is also a fast starter, with nine victories decided in round one. His fastest was at 0:16, a TKO triumph over Thornton in Harris’ professional debut.

Career losses

Spivak has yet to experience defeat while Harris currently has seven, and these were to Chris Barnett, Rosholt, Nikita Krylov, Soa Palelei, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Werdum and Mark Godbeer. He has three losses by decision, two by KO or TKO, one by submission and one by disqualification.