Walt Harris has a new opponent for UFC Ottawa, as undefeated Ukranian Sergey Spivak has stepped up to replace Aleksei Oleinik.
Walt Harris is remaining on the UFC Ottawa card. Just a week ago, it was announced that Harris’ original opponent for the Canadian Fight Night card, Aleksei Oleinik, had been moved to UFC St. Petersburg to replace Alexander Volkov against Alistair Overeem. That left heavyweight Harris, a.k.a. ‘The Big Ticket,’ without a dance partner. However, the UFC announced Tuesday that Sergey Spivak, freshly signed with the promotion, would step in to take Oleinik’s place.
The Ukranian Spivak enters the UFC a perfect 9-0, coming off a September win over Tony Lopez. Embarking on his pro career in 2014, Spivak has finished all nine of his fights, with five submissions and four KO/TKO victories.
UFC Ottawa will mark the first time Spivak competes in an MMA fight on North American soil.
Walt Harris (11–7, 1NC) will look to get back on track after having the biggest win of his career overturned to a no contest. That came against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 232 in December. Harris won the fight via split decision, only to test positive for a banned substance (LGB4033). While it was determined that a tainted supplement was behind the doping violation, it still meant the win was overturned.
Prior to the Arlovski fight, Harris had defeated Daniel Spitz in June.
UFC Ottawa, a.k.a. UFC Fight Night 150, takes place May 4 at the Canadian Tire Centre in the Canadian capital of Ottawa, Ontario.
Update, 4/19/2019 — Due to a change in UFC broadcast plans, UFC Ottawa is now UFC Fight Night 151/UFC on ESPN+ 9
