{"id":298552,"date":"2023-11-07T22:24:14","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T22:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=298552"},"modified":"2023-11-07T22:24:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T22:24:14","slug":"how-sergei-pavlovich-became-the-most-feared-man-in-the-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/mma\/how-sergei-pavlovich-became-the-most-feared-man-in-the-ufc\/","title":{"rendered":"How Sergei Pavlovich became the most feared man in the UFC:"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>How Sergei Pavlovich became the UFC&#8217;s most feared man: Russian heavyweight has SIX first-round KOs in a row and more knockdowns per fight than anyone in HISTORY, as he gears up for Tom Aspinall showdown at UFC 295<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sergei Pavlovich has won six fights in succession by first-round knockout\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Russian is on a rampage and has become the UFC&#8217;s most fearsome powerhouse\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to Mail Sport&#8217;s new boxing podcast THE HOOK &#8211; with exclusive interviews<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Over the last five years, Sergei Pavlovich has established himself as one of the UFC&#8217;s most fearsome heavy-hitters.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Now that Francis Ngannou has departed the promotion, the Russian can justifiably claim to be the scariest KO artist on the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Saturday night&#8217;s UFC 295 opponent Tom Aspinall has branded him as such, calling him the most dangerous fighter in the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>So how has Pavlovich, 31, established himself as this fearsome character?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The statistics behind his run of seven fights in the UFC are astonishing. Pavlovich averages the highest number of knockdowns per fifteen minutes in UFC history (6.31).\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501915-12720049-image-a-1_1699359093979.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Sergei Pavlovich has become the most fearsome fighter in the UFC&#8217;s heavyweight division<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501917-12720049-image-a-2_1699359115658.jpg\" height=\"430\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Russian has enormous power and likes to be incredibly aggressive from the start<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=JcxRENbkzR8%3Frel%3D0<\/p>\n<p>His monstrous 18 stone frame combined with front-foot aggression and dynamite hands has proven to be a potent cocktail.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But it was an inauspicious start to life in the UFC for him. Pavlovich was matched up against former heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem on debut.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He was undefeated at the time, while Overeem was coming off back-to-back defeats by Francis Ngannou and Curtis Blaydes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It started as many of Pavlovich&#8217;s fights do. With the Russian landing hard and wobbling his opponent.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But Overeem used his vast experience to close the distance back up his opponent and secure a takedown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He then poured on the ground-and-pound to force a stoppage and thrill the Beijing crowd. It was a learning experience for Pavlovich and he&#8217;s made quick work of everyone since.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In six fights, Pavlovich has only been in the octagon for a combined total of just over two full rounds &#8211; 11 minutes and 37 seconds to be precise.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A huge overhand right spelled the beginning of the end for Marcelo Grolm in his comeback from the Overeem defeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/14\/77506841-12720049-image-a-19_1699365996481.jpg\" height=\"634\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77461013-12720049-Tom_Aspinall_will_be_looking_to_become_only_the_third_Englishman-a-8_1699360122605.jpg\" height=\"450\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tom Aspinall will have his work cut out as he bids for interim heavyweight gold<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501913-12720049-image-a-4_1699359788176.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Pavlovich took out Tai Tuivasa, who admitted the Russian is more powerful than he thought<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtube.com\/watch?v=fI0yk6GTmVo%3Frel%3D0<\/p>\n<p>He then battered Maurice Greene with the same weapon before launching into a ferocious onslaught and forcing the referee to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pavlovich&#8217;s level of opponent then ratcheted up but the result remained the same. A rapid piston-like straight uppercut knocked down\u00a0Shamil Abdurakhimov and again the ground-and-pound proved fight-ending.<\/p>\n<p>The top brass at the UFC then realised they might have the real deal on their hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Derrick Lewis, the man with the most KO wins in UFC history, was matched up against Pavlovich in what looked like a passing of the torch style fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He put himself in the firing line and risked being another statistic on Lewis&#8217; record. In the fire fight, it was Pavlovich who landed the telling blows with his trademark flurry of shots.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501909-12720049-image-a-5_1699359820530.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>When Pavlovich knocked out Derrick Lewis, it put the rest of the division on notice\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lewis backed up and although he kept a solid poker face, was clearly struggling to stay upright.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The American then absorbed further punishment before referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in. It took only 55 seconds for victory and his following bout with Tai Tuivasa was a second quicker than that.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It was a merciless performance of absolute ferocity. Pavlovich, once he sniffed blood in the water, threw combination after combination while taking or avoiding the panicked replies swinging back from the Australian.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tuivasa&#8217;s chin held up to a point but once he&#8217;d been caught multiple times, it was game over.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Afterwards he paid homage to the Russian&#8217;s power, telling The Halfcast Podcast: &#8216;He hits hard.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You hear about his reach. He hits you from very far away where you think you&#8217;re in that zone, but you&#8217;re not, and he is.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Obviously, he&#8217;s got some heavy hands behind it, and once he smells it, he can smell the blood and he just goes for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I want him again. I didn&#8217;t get to hit him. That&#8217;s the heavyweight game. My eyes were like, &#8220;Where are you? Which one is it?&#8221;&#8216;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501907-12720049-image-a-6_1699359845886.jpg\" height=\"449\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Tuivasa&#8217;s face told the story after their 2022 meeting in Orlando, Florida<\/p>\n<p>Curtis Blaydes must have felt much the same. Pavlovich found him a tougher nut to crack but managed to break the American open towards the end of the first round.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Landing an uppercut among a number of other shots to drop his opponent, Blaydes clutched the referee&#8217;s leg as it was waved off.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Afterwards, Pavlovich said: &#8216;I&#8217;m not waiting to find somebody [who can test me]. What I want is I want to get my belt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I want to try and win this belt because this is a dream of mine from when I was a kid, and so I&#8217;m working really hard to get to that dream and get that belt.<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;I understood that if he was going to try and go for a shot, and it was basically just going to be met with a brick wall, he\u2019ll start to psychologically crumble \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly what we worked on, that\u2019s what we prepared.&#8217;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/77501905-12720049-image-a-7_1699359870333.jpg\" height=\"429\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Shamil Abdurakhimov was saved from further punishment by the referee&#8217;s intervention<\/p>\n<p>Blaydes is a tremendous wrestler and was unable to drag down Pavlovich, which is potentially a warning sign for Aspinall.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Brit may think his best route to success is on the mat but it will be no simple task to relocate the fight there against a man who has trained in wrestling in Russia since kindergarten.<\/p>\n<p>Blaydes admitted he&#8217;d underestimated Pavlovich, a mistake Aspinall appears unlikely to repeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;You can\u2019t start slow,&#8217; he said. &#8216;These guys, heavyweights &#8211; I\u2019ve conditioned myself to do these long five-round fights.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;Most heavyweights, they don\u2019t want to do five rounds. They\u2019re sprinting out of the gate. I didn\u2019t sprint out of the gate. I came out, I was feeling him out, and he\u2019s just coming hard. I underestimated him, and I paid the price for that.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/11\/07\/12\/76338647-12720049-The_British_UFC_fighter_returned_to_the_ring_in_July_following_a-a-9_1699360153848.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The British UFC fighter could become the third to be a champion from these shores<\/p>\n<p>It isn&#8217;t just Pavlovich&#8217;s power that stuns opponents, it is the volume that makes it almost impossible to escape.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If he misses with four, the fifth is likely to connect and in terms strikes landed per minute, he is second on the all-time list, averaging 8.72.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>While Jon Jones vs Stipe Miocic was a hugely exciting headliner before the champion&#8217;s injury forced a change, this interim battle is just as compelling in different ways.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pavlovich&#8217;s reputation as the UFC scariest fighter is well founded &#8211; whether he can find a home for his thunderous strikes on Aspinall is a matter for Saturday night.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/mma\/article-12720049\/How-Sergei-Pavlovich-UFCs-feared-man-Russian-heavyweight-SIX-round-KOs-row-knockdowns-fight-HISTORY-gears-Tom-Aspinall-showdown-UFC-295.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Sergei Pavlovich became the UFC&#8217;s most feared man: Russian heavyweight has SIX first-round KOs in a row and more <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298551,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - 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