The UFC has finalized a massive fight in their heavyweight division that has definite title implications. ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was the first to report earlier this afternoon that top heavyweight contenders Curtis “Razor” Blaydes (17-3) will be taking on surging contender Sergei Pavlovich (17-1).
The matchup will headline a UFC event on April 22nd. For Blaydes, he’s going to be looking for his fourth consecutive win, but I’m sure he’s hoping for a more decisive win than his last fight. The last time we saw Blaydes was at UFC London when he took on Tom Aspinall.
Aspinall injured his knee in the opening seconds causing the fight to end. Prior to that win, Blaydes scored a decision win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and a knockout win over Chris Daukaus. Blaydes has always been considered one of the best heavyweights in the world. However, having two knockout losses to Francis Ngannou gave him a ceiling. With Ngannou gone, Blaydes now has a route to the title.
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I don’t know if there’s been a heavyweight more impressive over the last year than Sergei Pavlovich. After losing his UFC debut, he’s gone on a serious run that has him labeled as arguably the most dangerous contenders in the heavyweight division.
His last two performances really put the world on notice. He had quick knockout finishes over fan favorites Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa. Now, he’s perhaps only one more impressive win away from getting a UFC title shot.
With Stipe Miocic’s future up in the air and Jon Jones fighting Ciryl Gane next month for the title, we could be looking at a title eliminator with Blaydes and Pavlovich.