Fighter Spotlight: Sergei Pavlovich
Fighter Stats
Record: 17-1 (14 KO)
Age: 30 (05-13-1992)
Height: 6'3" (191cm)
Weight: 255lbs (115kg)
Reach: 84.0" inches (213cm)
Country: Russia
Next Fight: Curtis Blaydes (17-3) at UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes
Sergei Pavlovich was making his name known fighting professionally at AMC Fight Nights Global, where he was the two-time Heavyweight champion. Pavlovich has mentioned that he was constantly training for fights his entire life, but once he turned pro in 2014, he took it another step. Pavlovich was undefeated to start his professional career, winning 11 straight fights at Fight Nights Global. He won eight of those fights by knockout in the first round. After a tremendous start to his professional career, Pavlovich got the call from the UFC to debut in November of 2018 against Alistair Overeem.
To be making your UFC debut against Alistair Overeem tells you all you need to know about how Pavlovich was viewed coming into his debut. He was the co-main event against a fighter that is viewed as a legend by most fight fans worldwide. Unfortunately, Pavlovich suffered the first defeat of his professional career as he lost via TKO in the first round. However, after an unsuccessful debut, Pavlovich made the necessary adjustments and started to go on the recent run that he is on.
Pavlovich returned to the octagon in April of 2019 and got back into the win column over Marcelo Golm. It took him only 66 seconds to get the knockout win as fight fans got to see why Pavlovich is viewed as a highly touted prospect in the Heavyweight division. While getting his first win in the UFC, Pavlovich also earned his first Performance of the Night bonus.
A little over two minutes into the fight, Pavlovich found the chin of Maurice Greene and won via knockout. He landed 20 significant strikes while only absorbing eight in return. Pavlovich dominated the fight from start to finish as he made it back-to-back wins in the UFC. Indeed after a win like this, Pavlovich is looking at a potentially massive fight with a top contender in the Heavyweight division.
Nearly three years later, Pavlovich returns to the octagon after an unfortunate series of events. First, the pandemic shut everything down for a few months in 2020. Then, once the UFC got back into scheduling fights, Pavlovich had three canceled bouts between that time. He was scheduled to fight Cyril Gane in late 2020, Tom Aspinall, and Tanner Boser in late 2021.
Pavlovich returned in March of 2022 and defeated Shamil Abdurakhimov via first-round TKO. After earning the win, he received his second Performance of the Night bonus in his career. Pavlovich entered the Heavyweight rankings by defeating Abdurakhimov, who was ranked inside the top ten at the time.
Pavlovich had the most significant test of his early UFC career at UFC 277 when facing the knockout king, Derrick Lewis. Fight fans were eager to see how this fight would play out, and it ended quickly. Pavlovich defeated Lewis via TKO in a controversial ending. Lewis was frustrated that it was stopped early as Pavlovich was pouring it on him. Nonetheless, it took him only 55 seconds to get the finish and defeated one of the biggest names in the Heavyweight division.
Pavlovich left no room for controversy in his most recent fight as he defeated fan-favorite Tai Tuivasa in just 54 seconds in front of the Orlando, Florida, crowd. He landed 23 significant strikes while only absorbing two in the biggest win of his career. A dominating performance from Pavlovich landed him inside the top five in the Heavyweight rankings, and once again, he earned a Performance of the Night bonus.
It all leads to this. Sergei Pavlovich is now headlining a UFC Fight Night card at the UFC Apex against the No. 4 ranked contender, Curtis Blaydes. The winner of this should be next for the title at Heavyweight as Jon Jones is expected to defend the belt against Stipe Miocic later this year. Pavlovich enters the fight on a five-fight winning streak with seven wins in 1:15 or less. He has 14 first-round knockouts in his career and will look to add to that total this weekend. While having a background in Greco-Roman Wrestling, Pavlovich will look to utilize some of those skills to keep the wrestle-heavy Blaydes away. This has all the makings of a great fight with a great chance of ending in the first round.
