5 Defining Moments: Sergei Pavlovich

Sergei Pavlovich now has his moment in the sun.

The 6-foot-3, 260-pound Russian will lock horns with Tom Aspinall for the interim Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight crown in the UFC 295 co-main event on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Pavlovich, 31, steps back into view with the wind of a six-fight winning streak in his sails, his overall record having been buoyed to 18-1. The Eagles MMA export has delivered 15 of his 18 professional victories by knockout or technical knockout, five of them in less than a minute.

As Pavlovich moves ever closer to his high-stakes confrontation with Aspinall, a look at five of the many moments that have come to define him:

1. Golden Nugget

Pavlovich laid claim to the inaugural Fight Nights Global heavyweight championship when he took a five-round unanimous decision from Mikhail Mokhnatkin in the FNG 68 headliner on June 2, 2017 at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Scores were 49-47, 48-47 and 48-47. Neither man truly distanced himself from the other in a 25-minute clash that was filled with inactivity. Pavlovich moved forward behind sporadic right hands and leg kicks, then punctuated his efforts by completing the only takedown of the match in the waning seconds of Round 5. He made one successful title defense—Kirill Sidelnikov proved to be little more than an annoyance some five months later—before he vacated the throne to sign with the UFC.

2. A Not-So-Warm Welcome

Former Dream and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem smashed through the previously unbeaten Pavlovich with devastating ground-and-pound in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 141 co-main event on Nov. 24, 2018 at Cadillac Arena in Beijing. Pavlovich packed his bags 4:21 into Round 1. Overeem lured the Russian into the clinch, softened him with a series of knees to the body and then executed a takedown from the collar tie. He successfully navigated the Pavlovich guard, lulled him into a false sense of security and slowly increased the intensity of his strikes. Powerful punches and hammerfists forced the Octagon newcomer to cover up, and he did not answer repeated calls from the referee to return fire.

3. Foot in the Door

The hulking Pavlovich secured a foothold in the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight division and did so in overwhelming fashion when he needed a little more than a minute to dispatch Marcelo Golm with punches in their UFC Fight Night 149 showcase on April 20, 2019 at Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. Golm succumbed to blows 66 seconds into Round 1. Pavlovich pinned the Brazilian to the fence with power punches, had him ducking for cover and unleashed a hellacious right uppercut that brought it to a close.

4. Remember Me?

Something of a forgotten man at the time, Pavlovich made his first appearance in more than two years a memorable one when he cut down Shamil Abdurakhimov with first-round punches as part of the UFC Fight Night 204 undercard on March 19, 2022 at the O2 Arena in London. Abdurakhimov met his end 4:03 into Round 1. Pavlovich flexed his might behind a seven-foot wingspan. He decked Abdurakhimov with a straight-line uppercut, trailed him to the canvas and cut loose with a volley of unanswered hammerfists and punches until referee Daniel Movahedi had seen enough.

5. No More Rungs to Climb

Pavlovich established himself as a true title contender when he wrecked Curtis Blaydes with punches in the first round of their UFC Fight Night 222 headliner on April 22, 2023 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The stoppage was called 3:08 into Round 1. Blaydes, a decorated amateur wrestler operating out of the esteemed Elevation Fight Team camp, saw his only takedown attempt denied by the Russian. Pavlovich had his way with the Naperville, Illinois, native in their standup exchanges, where the difference in punching power proved glaring. He staggered Blaydes with a right uppercut, decked him with a clean right that followed and then swarmed with punches until referee Marc Goddard had seen enough.