There are not many heavyweights from Russia in the UFC. For a long time, Alexander Volkov was considered the best. But “Drago” did not reach the title, and now Sergei Pavlovich has overtaken him in the ranking. The heavyweight heavyweight moved up one spot and became first in the division where Jon Jones, the best UFC fighter, holds the belt.
Why was Pavlovich raised in the rankings?
The 31-year-old Russian displaced Frenchman Cyril Gan, who lost to Jones in March 2023, from the first line. John is the best UFC fighter who leads the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings.
After several years of inactivity, Jones moved up to heavyweight and immediately took the title. Previously, he was the light heavyweight king, but gave up the belt due to loss of motivation. Gan was unable to compete and lost by choke in the first round.
The change in Pavlovich’s position is confirmed by the insider that the Russian will be the next opponent of Jones, who could not organize a fight with Stipe Miocic — it was scheduled for November.
How did Pavlovich conquer the UFC?
In November 2018, Pavlovich made an unsuccessful debut in the UFC, losing in the first round by technical knockout to MMA legend Alistair Overeem. After that, Pavlovich knocked out six opponents in a row — all in the first round.
The latest victim of the heavyweight was American Curtis Blaydes, who held out against Pavlovich for just over three minutes in April. Sergey deservedly topped the division rating, to which he responded in his Telegram channel:
“What are your thoughts on this, friends? What will the UFC come up with this time?
How did Pavlovich come to MMA?
Pavlovich was born on May 13, 1992 in the village of Orlovsky, Rostov region. The fighter believes that life in the provinces gave him good health — as a child he ate the right food and spent a lot of time on the street.
Pavlovich is a hero: with a height of 192 centimeters, he weighs 115 kilograms. As a child, the fighter was involved in Greco-Roman wrestling, handball, football, basketball and athletics. After school, Pavlovich joined the army, where he served in the Airborne Forces. There Pavlovich became interested in army hand-to-hand combat.
Despite his wrestling background, Pavlovich is a knockout in MMA: Sergei has an incredibly strong punch, and spends most of his fights standing up. He is a fan of Fedor Emelianenko, and in 2016 he even went to the training camp in Stary Oskol for his team.