Derrick Lewis-Sergey Spivak Rebooked to Headline Relocated UFC Card on Feb. 4

Seoul, South Korea, is no longer on the slate for the Ultimate Fighting Championship in early 2023.

Per MMA Fighting on Thursday, the promotion is moving on from a slated event in Seoul on Feb. 4. After Chan Sung Jung succumbed to a shoulder injury, the organization has decided to change this event’s location to the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Headlining this UFC Fight Night event will be a rescheduled heavyweight battle as Derrick Lewis (26-10, 1 NC) takes on Sergey Spivak (15-3). Spivak has since confirmed this news on his Instagram Stories. Lewis and Spivak were initially set to throw down in the main event of UFC Fight Night 215 on Nov. 19, but Lewis suffered a medical issue on fight day that ejected him from the billing.

Lewis will be looking to rebound from a pair of knockout losses to Tai Tuivasa and Sergei Pavlovich in 2022, putting him on the first multiple-fight skid since 2019. The UFC’s all-time leader in knockouts, “The Black Beast” set that record in December 2021 by pulverizing Chris Daukaus. Over the years, Lewis has topped names including Francis Ngannou, Curtis Blaydes, Alexander Volkov and many more as he has remained a perennial top contender for quite some time.

Since coming up short against then-surging contender Tom Aspinall in late 2021, Spivak has not looked back. In March, Spivak put a beating on Greg Hardy in just over two minutes to spell Hardy’s removal from the UFC roster. A subsequent outing against Augusto Sakai in August also went his way, as he overwhelmed the Brazilian en route to a second-round knockout. As a professional, “The Polar Bear” celebrates a finish rate of 87%, with a nearly equal number of knockouts and submissions to his credit.

On Feb. 4, the UFC Apex will now play host to this Fight Night event, with Las Vegas claiming the date that Seoul expected to hold. Several fights involving combatants from East Asia, including Doo Ho Choi vs. Kyle Nelson at featherweight and Da Un Jung-Devin Clark in the 205-pound division, are already booked for this date. It is unclear if these matches will remain on the lineup or if they will get pushed to another fight card. Jeka Asparido Saragih vs Anshul Jubli Zha Yi vs Jeong Yeong Lee Toshiomi Kazama vs Rinya Nakamura Seung Guk Choi vs Hyun Sung Park