Sergei Pavlovich On UFC 295: ‘People Won’t Forget Me After This’

“I have more than just my power. I’m carrying my home, my friends, and my family.”

With Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic off the UFC 295 card, there is a new heavyweight title bout this Saturday.

Sergei Pavlovich fights Tom Aspinall for the interim heavyweight title at Madison Square Garden. A word of advice: don’t blink. This one shouldn’t last long.

Courtesy Zuffa LLC

Fighting out of Moscow, Russia, Pavlovich (18-1) has 15 wins by knockout. He also possesses 15 first-round finishes, and he hasn’t even seen the second round since 2017.

Pavlovich works quickly, attacking as soon as the bell rings. Currently on a six-fight win streak, he has worked that strategy to perfection, earning this title shot after pummeling Curtis Blaydes, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis.

Courtesy Zuffa LLC

Aspinall (13-3), who is representing Atherton, Greater Manchester, England, enters this fight with a 100 percent finishing rate. He has 10 wins by knockout and three wins via submission, and 12 first-round finishes.

Neither Pavlovich nor Aspinall is getting paid by the hour. That will be certainly be evident at 295.

“This is my dream,” said Pavlovich, who spoke through an interpreter. “I have worked hard for this. I’m in a great place and a great position.

“I have more than just my power. I’m carrying my home, my friends, and my family.”

Courtesy Zuffa LLC

He also, of course, carries that blitzing power. But he played it cool when asked how long this fight would last.

“I never think that far ahead,” said Pavlovich. “The cage will tell us how long this will last.”

While he has yet to acquire a significant name value in the sport, especially when compared to Jones or Miocic, there are plenty of reasons to believe that Pavlovich can become the UFC’s next dominant heavyweight champion.

“People won’t forget me after this,” said Pavlovich. “I’m ready to fight.”