Sergei Pavlovich earned the biggest win of his career at UFC Vegas 71 as he defeated the number fourth-ranked heavyweight contender Curtis Blaydes via knockout. The victory also marked Pavlovich’s sixth consecutive first-round finish in the UFC.
Sergei Pavlovich playing slots in a Vegas casino hours before the biggest fight of his life against Curtis Blaydes.😭😭😭
🎥 @AlanJouban #UFCVegas71 #UFC #MMA
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) April 22, 2023
Pavlovich, who has now jumped to the second spot at the UFC heavyweight rankings has also strengthened his case as a title challenger following the spectacular victory against Blaydes. Pavlovich was surprisingly spotted playing the slots in Las Vegas to kill time before his all-important fight. Even though it’s quite uncommon to see players doing much besides practicing before a big bout, one may assume playing slots helped Pavlovich to calm his nerves as he earned a pretty convincing victory that extended his professional record to 18-1.
Talking about the ‘gambling’ incident, Pavlovich said at the post-fight press conference “I mean, to be honest, I’ve never gambled,” the Russian said while giggling. “I’ve never played any of those things, and a buddy of mine was like, ‘here, here’s a hundred bucks…try it. See how you feel.’ And then somebody else shot the video, and now, there you go.”
What’s next for Sergei Pavlovich?
The UFC is adamant on making a mega heavyweight fight between Stipe Miocic and Jon Jones. Although there seems to be some delay in the scheduling of that fight as at one stage the fight looked booked for International fight week i.e. in the month of July. The dominance Pavlovich has showcased in his UFC career has certainly put him in a strong position to fight for the title. Now he has the opportunity to either wait for his turn or take an unnecessary risk and fight someone like Ciryl Gane.
Talking about his future Pavlovich said “I’ll rest, I’ll eat. I’ll sleep. I’ll rest some more. I’ll wait.” For Pavlovich a fight against former interim champion Ciryl Gane definitely makes sense but his past six performances have also given him the luxury to just wait for the opportunity to fight for the title.
