Sergei
Pavlovich has opened up for the first time on his loss against
Alexander
Volkov at
UFC on ABC 6 last weekend.
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Pavlovich was a sizeable favorite going into the co-main event
against Volkov in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. While many were expecting
an early finish from Pavlovich, Volkov picked his opponent apart
throughout the course of three rounds to earn a dominant unanimous
decision win.
The otherwise soft-spoken Pavlovich was seen shoving his opponent,
also his former sparring partner, after the fight. Pavlovich
recently admitted that the loss was an emotional one for him.
Having scored 15 of his 18 career wins via knockout so far,
Pavlovich believes he made a mistake in desperately hunting for
another highlight-reel KO.
“It wasn’t my day; nothing went according to plan,” Pavlovich wrote
on social media. “I was ready for anything, but I was too focused
on getting a knockout and took too many unnecessary hits. The
result was a loss by points. This was very emotional and tough for
me, especially knowing that I didn’t meet your expectations. Thank
you all for your support! I promise to come back stronger and
wiser.”
Pavlovich’s reaction after the Volkov loss doesn’t come without
some
background. Pavlovich and Volkov were initially against
fighting each other on account of having trained together on
several prior occasions. But neither party was willing to back down
if the other accepted, which is likely what the UFC capitalized on
to make the booking. When the matchup was officially announced,
Volkov, who had no prior knowledge about it, believed that
Pavlovich accepted the fight first. Meanwhile, Pavlovich accused
Volkov of accepting the matchup first during their face off before
UFC Saudi Arabia.
The recent loss puts Pavlovich on a two-fight skid after a
first-round KO loss in an interim title fight against Tom
Aspinall at UFC 295 in November 2023, which snapped six-fight
first-round KO streak.