Sergei Pavlovich secures his position in the heavyweight title conversation following a quick win over Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 71 and anticipates the outcome between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
Sergei Pavlovich solidified his position in the heavyweight title discussion with his swift victory over Curtis Blaydes at UFC Vegas 71 on Saturday. Pavlovich is now ready to wait for the outcome of the match between UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones and former titleholder Stipe Miocic. Speaking through a translator during the post-fight press conference, he said, “I’ll rest, I’ll eat, I’ll sleep, I’ll rest some more — I’ll wait.”
Jones and Miocic are expected to face off in 2023 for Jones’ first heavyweight title defense, which could occur as late as November. However, Pavlovich is prepared to sit out until then for his shot at the belt. Expressing no preference in opponent, he described Jones vs. Miocic as a “50-50 toss-up” and claimed he doesn’t care who wins. His goal is to obtain the belt, stating, “I want to try and win this belt because this is a dream of mine from when I was a kid, and so I’m working really hard to get to that dream and get that belt.”
At the age of 30, Pavlovich has become one of the breakout talents of the UFC heavyweight division. He took just three minutes to defeat Curtis Blaydes with a devastating sequence at UFC Vegas 71. Since losing his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem in 2018, Pavlovich has secured six consecutive first-round knockouts. Reflecting on the fight with Blaydes, he said, “When we started the fight, I think he understood that the only way for him to take me down was to go down deep for the double-leg…and the way he’s done that before, he’s actually been sent to a knockout before… So he understood there was a lot of danger in that, and that’s why the fight was the way that it was.”