Sergei Pavlovich is just six fights old in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) circuit and interestingly, all of his five wins– or his solitary loss for that matter– have been first-round knockouts, and the Russian is considered to be one of the best in the business.
But Pavlovich had a modest UFC debut back in 2018, kickstarting his career with a humbling loss against veteran Alistair Overeem. Ever since, the Russian-born fighter has ticked all the boxes and surged drastically to end up third in the heavyweight rankings.
The 30-year-old will be seen in action against USA’s Curtis Blaydes in a heavyweight bout of the UFC Fight Night at the UFC Apex in Nevada. Albeit not being a title fight, this could very well catapult Pavlovich near the proximity of the heavyweight belt against the reigning champion Jon Jones.
His biggest win so far though would be the one against Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis, where he knocked one of the most feared heavyweights via technical knockout in under one minute with a flurry of punches.
Meanwhile, Blaydes is on a three-match winning streak. His latest was a 15-second knockout win against England’s Tom Aspinall.
Sportstar caught up with Pavlovich ahead of this Sunday’s fight and here are the excerpts from the interaction:
Q: Two back-to-back knockout wins, including one against “the Black Beast Derrick Lewis”. How’s your mindset ahead of the fight?
A: I’m ready. We’re fully prepared. You see, it’s really hard to plan in advance. You don’t plan such things, these just happen. I’m prepared to go a full five rounds. Let’s see how the fight pans out.
Q: There are no titles on the line this weekend, but considering you’re ranked third in the heavyweight division, when do you think your shot at the title will come?
A: I usually focus on one fight at a time. We have very important fights coming up, once those get over, we’ll wait and watch what happens next.
Q: You have one of the highest reaches among UFC fighters. Do you think that has provided you with an edge over others?
A: Yes, of course, I understand it’s an advantage. When I prepare for fights this is one of the things that I concentrate on the most. I wouldn’t say it provides an edge over others but it’s nice to have such a thing.
Q: The fight against Shamil in 2022 was your first in three years, but you didn’t show any signs of slack and got to work right away with a first-round win. How did you manage to pull that off?
A: My motto is always staying busy, and always staying active no matter what. Yes, I had a serious injury that hampered my training and forced me to train while sitting. But that didn’t stop me from training. I just believe if you do something or if you’re on to something, you have to give your 100 per cent towards it.
Q: You have experience serving the army, hand-to-hand combat to be specific, has that in any way improve your technique?
A: The army stealth fighting helped me big time when I entered professional fighting as MMA is all about that. I learned some interesting techniques there, including the ever-reliable kick to the head. There were certain things that helped me get on track in MMA. Even today, I advise aspiring fighters to get trained in the army if they have a chance.
Q: You have 14 knockout wins under your name, is it safe to say that is your favourite type of win?
A: Well in general, I’m a wrestler. That’s where I started originally and got into kick-boxing. But MMA is different, people want to see blood, they want to watch knockouts. So I like to give them what they want. My favourite type of win would be knocking out the opponent via a string of punches. By the way, I’m very pleased to hear that I have fans in India. Unfortunately, I’ve not been to the country yet but I know a lot about India through the book Shantaram.
*Watch the LIVE coverage of UFC Fight Night – Pavlovich vs Blaydes on Sony Sports Ten 2 (English), Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi) & Sony Sports Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels at 4:30 am IST on 23rd April 2023*
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