“It doesn’t mean much at all,” he says when I ask him about headlining for the first time. “This is just the next fight that I must win.”
His response isn’t surprising, but it doesn’t come off as convincing either.
So when I push back, asking if this weekend’s matchup really doesn’t carry any greater significance to him, Spivac relents.
VIEW THE CARD: UFC Fight Night: Lewis vs Spivac
“Of course, you have to be a fool not to pay attention to the fact that you are the man on the marquee,” he offers, acknowledging the magnitude of being half of the headlining attraction. “I understand this means I’m taking specific steps to get somewhere, and that I’ve kind of made it to a certain place, but it has to continue to be ‘the next fight’ and something that I have to continue to achieve, as opposed to blowing it out of proportion and making it something bigger than it is.”
But this isn’t just another fight: a win on Saturday would be three straight for Spivac, and beating the heavyweight stalwart is something only top-tier talents have managed over the last several years.
Going into that group would signal to the masses that the maturing fighter from Moldova is ready to hang with the best the division has to offer, and deserves to be counted amongst that group himself.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to show the world,” he says when I frame the fight in those terms.
So how does he get it done?
“I’m not an almighty to speak about what is going to happen on Saturday,” begins Spivac. “But what I do know is that I trained hard and I made sure to do 100-percent preparation to go out there and get my victory on Saturday night.”