Preview: UFC 316 Prelims

Heavyweights
Serghei Spivac (17-5) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (13-1)
Odds: Spivac (-148), Cortes-Acosta (+124)

The UFC's heavyweight division is always in need of new blood, and this marks a big opportunity for Cortes-Acosta to provide some. The Dominican has all the requisite physical attributes to succeed as a high-level heavyweight, possessing some high-level athleticism as a former baseball player and some knockout power, but most importantly also having heavyweight-level durability. That's helped "Salsa Boy" get away with an often aimless approach, which even includes him living up to his nickname and dancing at his opponents at times - but when things get down to brass tacks, Cortes-Acosta usually does just enough to outwork his opponents or land a knockout as the harder shot-for-shot hitter. If there's been one consistent issue in Cortes-Acosta's worst performances, it's been his suspect defensive wrestling; Marcos Rogerio de Lima was able to score some takedowns early to eventually hand Cortes-Acosta his lone career loss, and a pre-UFC win over Thomas Petersen saw Cortes-Acosta need to stage a third-round comeback to save what was a losing battle. That's where Serghei Spivac comes in, as the Moldovan has built his career on the back of being one of the heavyweight division's better wrestlers. Spivac's built out some decent enough striking, but "The Polar Bear" typically follows the same gameplan in each of his wins, quickly getting the fight to the mat and having enough finishing ability to make things an easy night more often than not. But when things go south, they tend to go south spectacularly; admittedly, Spivac's worst losses have all come against some of the UFC's best heavyweights, but watching him get stifled and knocked out serves as a stark reminder of the gap between Spivac and the heavyweight elite. Spivac should get off to a hot start, and from there it's a coin flip as to how the fight goes; Cortes-Acosta should remain dangerous for three rounds for as long as the fight is on its feet, but it's also unclear for how long he'll be able to keep the fight there. Cortes-Acosta waiting things out and scoring a late knockout would be far from a shock, but the call is that Spivac can make this a grind long enough to get a win over the finish line; the pick is Spivac via decision.

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