Sergei Pavlovich

UFC books Tom Aspinall – Sergei Pavlovich

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The UFC has finalized a big time heavyweight fight for next month. The promotion announced today that surging heavyweight prospect Tom Aspinall (10-2) will be taking on Sergei Pavlovich (14-1).

The matchup will take place at the UFC‘s Fight Night on September 4th. Originally, this card was supposed to take place in London, however, the promotion has shifted gears and the fight will take place in Las Vegas.

For Pavlovich, he will be making his fourth appearance in the UFC. He made his debut back in 2018 and at the time he was undefeated. In his first fight he took on the legend, Alistair Overeem.

Overeem was able to stop Pavlovich in the first round to hand Pavlovich his first loss. Since then, Pavlovich has picked up two UFC wins over Marcelo Golm and Maurice Green. He was supposed to take on Ciryl Gane last August, but had to pull out of the fight.

This will be Pavlovich’s first fight in almost two years. His last UFC contest came back in October of 2019. When he makes the walk in a few weeks, Pavlovich will be holding the 15th ranking in the heavyweight division.

UFC’s Top Heavyweight Prospect?

You can make the argument that the top prospect in the UFC’s heavyweight division is Tom Aspinall. The British heavyweight is ranked 13th currently but he has all the skills to become a future world champion.

In July of last year, Aspinall finally made his UFC debut against Jake Collier. Aspinall was able to score a first round knockout in the opening minute. Since then, he’s scored back-to-back finishes.

Most recently, Aspinall fought former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski back in February. Aspinall was able to score a second round submission finish that came on the heels of him dropping the former champion.

This fight against Pavlovich is going to be a good test for Aspinall. The UFC has a lot of faith in this guy and originally they wanted him to fight in front of his home fans in England. However, he will be competing in Vegas, but this is still a massive opportunity.

What’s next for Augusto Sakai after UFC Vegas 28?

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This past Saturday in the main event of UFC Vegas 28, Jairzinho Rozenstruik (12-2) took on Augusto Sakai (15-3-1) in the main event. Sakai was looking to bounce back after he suffered his first UFC loss late in 2020.

Augusto Sakai started extremely well when he made his way over to the UFC. Sakai earned himself a shot with the world’s premier MMA organization after he appeared on the Brazilian version of Dana White’s Contender Series.

After getting to the UFC, Sakai started out 4-0 and that included a first round knockout over Marcin Tybura. On the heels of his perfect start, Sakai got a main spot against Alistair Overeem. The winner of that fight was supposed to inch their way closer to UFC title contention.

Sakai had some great moments in that fight and forced Overeem to use his grappling. Ultimately, Overeem got a TKO finish in that fight. Sakai was put right back into a UFC main event last Saturday against Rozenstruik and had the opportunity to bounce right back.

Unfortunately, the fight didn’t go his way. Normally, Sakai is the type of fighter who takes the center of the octagon and pushes the pace. However, it was Rozenstruik who did and at the end of the first round, Rozenstruik connected and put Sakai out at UFC Vegas 28.

What’s next after UFC Vegas 28?

After starting perfect in the UFC, Sakai has now dropped two fights in a row. That said, because of the level of the opponents, he hasn’t dropped much in the rankings. In fact, he stayed put at the ninth position after UFC Vegas 28.

With that, who should Sakai fight next? One fight I really like for Sakai next would be a matchup against Russian prospect Sergei Pavlovich (14-1). Pavlovich hasn’t competed since 2019, but he’s won back-to-back fights and he’s currently ranked 14th.

A matchup between the two would do a lot for the UFC. If Sakai wins, he’s right back on track and can fight another top ten guy. If Pavlovich gets a win over a guy like Sakai in his UFC return, he would instantly become a contender in the top ten.

UFC: Is Ciryl Gane the next great UFC heavyweight?

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Ciryl Gane UFC

The UFC‘s heavyweight division is in a very weird position. At the top of the division, you have two men (Stipe Miocic & Daniel Cormier) who are getting ready to fight for the third time for the heavyweight title. Neither man is guaranteed to fight again after their trilogy.

Behind them, you have the most terrifying heavyweight in the world, Francis Ngannou (15-3). After Ngannou, the water gets murky for the heavyweight division.

Sure you have a guy like Curtis Blaydes, but he’s already lost to Ngannou twice. After Blaydes, the rest of the division is not very strong. However, there is one contender who just broke into the UFC‘s top 15 that people should pay attention to. He’s also a teammate of Ngannou. That man is Ciryl Gane (6-0).

From Muay Thai to the UFC

Gane is a French heavyweight who got his combat sports start in Muay Thai. Gane went a perfect 7-0 in Muay Thai including winning a title before making a jump to MMA. One year after his professional MMA debut, Gane made his UFC debut in August of 2019.

Gane fought three times from August to December winning all three of his UFC appearances to vault him to the fifteenth ranking. Gane is a massive heavyweight standing 6’5 and weighing the maximum of 265 pounds. There’s no soft in his physique as he’s a solid 265 pounds.

“Bon Gamin” is extremely entertaining to watch. He’s such a high level striker, but he doesn’t throw with all his power a lot of the time. He fights in a traditional point fighting style where he mainly touches his opponents. However, when he sees the opening, he can uncork power shots that are capable of putting anyone to sleep in the UFC‘s heavyweight division.

Another contender is what the UFC needs

As mentioned early, Gane currently trains at the MMA Factory alongside Francis Ngannou. Gane believes that Ngannou is going to become the next UFC heavyweight champion. He acknowledged that this could create an interesting situation between the two men and the camp.

“It’s a sport… If we can avoid the situation it would be best, but if I had to fight Francis, I would do this,” Gane told Fox Sports last year.

Gane is someone who I think the UFC really needs for it’s heavyweight division. As mentioned, after Ngannou the division looks pretty weak. If Gane can develop into a star, there could be massive potential for a Gane/Ngannou fight one day. For now, Gane has a fight next month against top contender, Sergei Pavlovich (14-1). If Gane is able to get through Pavlovich, a top-ten opponent would be next for the Frenchman.