Athletes
The Swift And Explosive Sergei Pavlovich
Heavyweight Finish Specialist Brings Five Fight Win Streak To Showdown With Blaydes
Theodore Roosevelt’s famous referral to a West African proverb — “Speak softly and carry a big stick — you will go far” — is a perfect way of thinking about surging Russian Sergei Pavlovich, a man of few words who strolls into the Octagon with giant sticks of dynamite in his hands, ready to detonate on his next opponent.
Since dropping his promotional debut to Alistair Overeem in Beijing, China, towards the end of November 2018, the 30-year-old heavyweight has made five appearances inside the UFC cage. All of them have resulted in victories. None of them has gone to a second round.
“It's nice to finish the fight beautiful and swift, but I always prepare for a full fight,” Pavlovich said when asked about his personal brand of “Big Stick Ideology” ahead of his main event clash with Curtis Blaydes this weekend at the UFC APEX.
While his preparations are undoubtedly tailored to a lengthy battle, lately, Pavlovich has needed less than a minute to dispatch what should have been, in theory, his most challenging opponents to date.
After being unable to compete in 2020 and 2021 for various reasons, the domineering heavyweight returned to action against Shamil Abdurakhimov on last year’s March event in London, shaking off the rust and collecting the finish in just over four minutes. That win set up a clash with Derrick Lewis at UFC 277 in Dallas, which Pavlovich won in 55 seconds, much to the dismay of Lewis and many observers that felt the contest was stopped prematurely.
Four months later, the menacing big man closed out his 3-0 year by shaving a second off his UFC personal best finishing time against Tai Tuivasa, wading into the fray and crushing the charismatic Australian with precision thunderbolts along the fence.
When asked how the two years away contributed to his current form, Pavlovich explained, “I worked really hard and tried to pay attention to the things I spent less time on before and improved. During that time, I had developed a huge passion and desire to fight.”
As for vanquishing tenured contenders like Lewis and Tuivasa with incredible swiftness, the ascending contender sees it as nothing more than doing his job.
“It's my job and I like to do whatever it takes to get to my ultimate goal — finishing the fight.”
In case it wasn’t clear before, Pavlovich is extremely good at his job, but now he’s poised to face a different kind of monster in his showdown with Blaydes on Saturday.
Saturday's Fighters On The Rise
Where Lewis and Tuivasa are large, lumbering men with deceptive athleticism, the 32-year-old Blaydes has transformed into a specimen over the course of his 16-fight UFC career. Gone is the loose midsection and uncertain approach to striking from his early ventures into the Octagon, replaced by a tightened core and functional muscle spread across his six-foot-four frame, with crisp, powerful boxing serving as a dangerous accompaniment to his vaunted wrestling attack.
A Chicagoland native now based in Colorado, where he trains with the Elevation Fight Team, Blaydes has gone 12-3 with one no contest since touching down in the UFC, with the first two of those losses coming against former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou. Lewis accounted for the most recent setback, catching the wrestler with a crushing uppercut as he changed levels from too far out and paid a dire price.
Since then, however, the former junior college national champion has posted three victories, including a second-round finish of Chris Daukaus where his boxing was so clean and crisp that he didn’t even need to dip into his wrestling bag to get the victory.
“I knew we (were) going to meet in the cage soon,” Pavlovich said when asked about eyeing Blaydes as a potential opponent prior to the matchup being announced.
RELATED: What You Need To Know About Pavlovich vs Blaydes
“Me and my team did great work researching my opponent,” he continued, offering the “speak softly” part of the Roosevelt approach in beginning to explain what he needs to be prepared for when he steps in with Blaydes this weekend. “I have been training really hard, so I'm ready for anything.”
There is a “matter of fact” nature to Pavlovich and many of his Russian contemporaries when it comes to discussing their careers, their achievements, and the kinds of milestone moments that seem to be discussed far more and in greater detail with modern North American athletes.
It’s not that they’re unaffected by their accomplishments or trying to fit the Hollywood stereotype of stoic, emotionless marauders in the Ivan Drago vein, but rather that they’re much more focused on the task at hand and tackling the next challenge.
“I'd like to say that I haven't really gotten the time to reflect, but I know that I'm on the right path,” Pavlovich said when asked about his current run of success, adding that headlining for the first time is “great validation and proof that all the time I spend training in the gym is paying off.”
It’s more of the same when asked about Saturday’s main event, and the possibility of fighting for the heavyweight title in the not-too-distant future.
“The fight is the first thing on my mind right now; after that we will see,” he said how a victory this weekend would impact his current title trajectory before simply saying that his bout with Blaydes will be “a real battle.”
In many ways, it’s like his approach in the Octagon — economical and effective.
This concludes the “speaking softly” portion of things for Pavlovich; now comes the fun part with the stick.
UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs Blaydes took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas on April 22, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
