A massive heavyweight fight will be the co-headliner of UFC Saudi Arabia. The promotion makes it’s debut in The Kingdom on June 22nd and Dana White took to social media last night and announced a lot of fights on the card. Included in the announcement is the co-main event of Sergei Pavlovich (18-2) and Alexander Volkov (37-10).
There must have been a last minute change of plans with this fight coming together. Earlier this week, it was reported that Volkov would be taking on Jailton Almeida at UFC 302. However, just days after that report, we learn that Volkov is taking on former interim title challenger Pavlovich.
Volkov has won three fights in a row leading to the Saudi Arabia card. Most recently, Volkov took on Tai Tuivasa in Australia and won by second round submission. During this win streak, he’s finished all three of his opponents. If he’s able to defeat his fellow Russian at UFC Saudi Arabia, he might be in line for a title shot.
UFC Saudi Arabia
Sergei Pavlovich lost his UFC debut but then he turned things around in a huge way. Starting in 2019, he went on a six-fight winning streak but the thing that made it special is he knocked out every single opponent in the first round. That led him to an interim title shot against Tom Aspinall last fall.
In that fight, both men threw huge shots and it was just a matter of who would go down first. Aspinall’s speed and precision was a little too much for Pavlovich at UFC 295 and Pavlovich was stopped in the first round. Now, he’s back with a vengeance and he’s looking to make a statement against Volkov. If he’s able to stop Volkov’s winning streak, he’ll be on the shortlist for another title shot.