This Saturday, the UFC is headed back to the Apex Center in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 22nd for a Heavyweight showdown. The main event will headline Sergei Pavlovich (#3) vs. Curtis Blaydes (#4) as well as some other interesting fights up and down the card. If the UFC focused less on the money side of things, the winner would most likely face Heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Although they are ranked numbers #3 and #4, Stipe Miocic holds the #2 spot in the Heavyweight division and hasn’t won a fight since 2020. Pavlovich and Blaydes are both on winning fight streaks right now, and have been fighting almost anyone and everyone that the UFC offers them to fight.
Sergei Pavlovich (17-1) is coming into this fight with a five-fight winning streak, with his last fight winning by TKO/KO in the first round against Tai Tuivasa. Pavlovich made his UFC debut in 2018 against former Heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem, but lost against the former champ by a TKO/KO stoppage. Since then Sergei hasn’t looked back, every fight he’s had it has ended in the first round with a TKO/KO finish. He has beaten top Heavyweight contenders like Marcelo Golm, Maurice Greene, Shamil Abdurakhimov, and Derrick Lewis. And now that Former Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou has departed from the UFC, there is no doubt that Pavlovich has the heaviest hands in the division. With only five fights in the UFC, Sergei has already broken records in the UFC. With the first one being the “Shortest Avg. Fight Time” with 2:15 being the average time, and his second record with “Knockdown Avg. Per 15 Min” standing at 6.67 knockdowns.
Curtis Blaydes (17-3) is coming into this fight with a three-fight winning streak, with his last fight winning by TKO/KO in the first round against Tom Aspinall, but Aspinall suffered from a torn MCL, torn meniscus, and ACL damage in the first 15 seconds of the fight. Blaydes made his UFC debut back in 2016 against former champion Francis Ngannou, but sadly he lost due to a TKO doctor's stoppage in the second round. Since then Blaydes has only lost twice in his UFC career and has won twelve fights in the UFC with seven of the fights winning by TKO/KO. He has beaten top Heavyweight contenders like Aleksei Oleinik, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Junior Dos Santos, Alexander Volkov, Jairzinho Rozenstruik, and Chris Daukaus. Blaydes wrestling is outstanding and probably has the best wrestling in the division, and is capable of taking anyone down. This has led him to get big wins over the likes of other Heavyweights. If Blaydes is able to get a takedown early, there’s a high chance that he will come out with a victory.
There are also some interesting bouts that are on the Main card and Prelims that you don’t wanna miss out on. For the Co-main bout we have Middleweights Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva. Originally for the card the co-main bout was top Bantamweight contenders Song Yadong (#8) facing off against Ricky Simon (#10). But due to Lightweight Renato Moicano (#13) having to withdrawal from the fight against Arman Tsarukyan (#8) due to injuries and the UFC was unable to find him an opponent for the main event next week, Yadong and Simon will take the headlining spot for UFC Fight Night on April 29, In Las Vegas. Lightweights Bobby Green and Jared Gordon will fight on the card this weekend as well as Welterweights Jeremiah Wells vs. Matthew Semelsberger, Women's Featherweights Karol Rosa (#9) vs. Norma Dumot (#13), and last but not least Heavyweights Mohammed Usman (“TUF” Season 30 Winner) vs. Junior Tafa.
Can’t wait to watch all this action Saturday night. Who do you guys have winning in the Main Event? Personally I think i’m gonna take Mr. Pavlovich to win this one, guy reminds me of a real life Ivan Drago.
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