When it comes to main events involving Jon Jones, the
Ultimate Fighting Championship is leaving
nothing to chance.
Prior to UFC 285 this past March, the promotion
made certain it had a top contender available to make weight
and compete should Jones or Ciryl Gane
fall out of their main attraction. That fighter was Sergei
Pavlovich, and he hit his proper marks and ended up watching
from the stands the next day. First reported by Igor Lazorin, the
organization is doing this for Jones’ next title tilt atop UFC
295, and Pavlovich (18-1) is once again the man on standby.
This news has since been confirmed by
multiple
outlets.
Russia’s Pavlovich last competed in April, where he decimated
Curtis
Blaydes in just over three minutes to put himself in the top
echelon of the heavyweight division. Pavlovich’s lone career defeat
came in his UFC debut to Alistair
Overeem back in 2018. Since then, Pavlovich has crushed the
competition, stringing together six consecutive first-round
knockouts over growingly impressive competition. As a pro, the
Eagles MMA rep sports an 83% knockout rate, having secured 15 of
his 18 victories in the very first round.
UFC 295 goes down on Nov. 11 inside of Madison Square Garden in New
York. Heavyweight kingpin Jones will put his belt on the line in
his first defense against former champ Stipe
Miocic atop the billing. The co-main event has not yet been
made official, and only three other fights are currently listed on
the lineup: a middleweight rumble pitting Derek
Brunson against Roman
Dolidze, a strawweight clash of Jessica
Andrade vs. Mackenzie
Dern and a flyweight tilt when Joshua Van
faces Kevin
Borjas.