Serghei Spivac opens 2026 in a familiar grind. The UFC heavyweight sits inside the top 10, has already rebuilt momentum after a rough patch in his last two fights, and now heads toward UFC Fight Night 267 on February 21. He’ll be taking on Ante Delija after their bout was moved from UFC 325.

But away from the cage, there’s another fighter in his corner who understands the cost of that climb better than most. Marina Mokhnatkina isn’t just the wife of a UFC heavyweight. She’s a decorated combat athlete with a résumé that stands on its own. So who is she, really? And how does two fighters under one roof actually work?

All we know about Serghei Spivac’s wife, Marina Mokhnatkina

After keeping their relationship under wraps, Marina Mokhnatkina made her relationship with Serghei Spivac public in the summer of 2023. While the Moldovan contender fights under the UFC banner, his better half, who’s also an MMA fighter, competes in a rival promotion, the PFL. Mokhnatkina also shares a penchant for fighting and, born on May 12, 1988, is a former Sambo competitor. Details about her ethnicity aren’t public.

She shifted bases to Miami and trained hard to uplift her MMA career. It was there, under the roof of an MMA gym, that she met UFC fighter Spivac. What started as training soon brewed into a romance. The couple officially tied the knot on July 6, 2023, in Las Vegas.

When it comes to Serghei Spivac’s children, he seems to have only one child with his MMA fighter wife, a daughter who was born before his fight against Carlos Felipe.

“My daughter was born right before the fight,” he told MMA Junkie at the time. “So I didn’t sleep well because of that. I want to dedicate the victory to my wife and daughter.”

That shared understanding shapes their household. Two fighters don’t need to explain training camps, weight cuts, or the quiet weeks after losses. They live the same rhythm. And that rhythm makes more sense once you look at Marina’s career on its own terms. 

Marina Mokhnatina’s MMA career and more

Marina Mokhnatkina, 37, is a six-time world champion in sambo and has also held the title of European champion twice. Her long combat sports career gave her everything she could have hoped for—both love and fame. Mokhnatkina started her MMA career with Fight Nights Global and soon collected a record of 4-0 before joining Bellator. There, she collected a mixed record of 1-1 and then made her PFL debut in 2021.

After defeating Claudia Zamora, Marina Mokhnatkina dropped the fight against Kayla Harrison. Since then, she has defeated Yoko Higashi, Evelyn Martins, and Amber Leibrock in a dominant fashion. But she lost her 2023 outing against Larissa Pacheco and hasn’t fought since.

While competing at the 2011 European Championship Marina Mokhnatkina crossed paths with men’s sambo player Mikhail Mokhnatkin and immediately fell in love. The couple got married in 2012 and, after a couple of years, got blessed with a son whom they named Alexander.

However, their eight-year marriage came to an abrupt end when they parted ways in 2020. Post-divorce, she then decided to focus on her MMA career in Bellator and signed a contract with PFL. But fate had something else in store for her. What followed was a clear pivot toward building her MMA career and, eventually, a new family with Serghei Spivac.