Tom Aspinall gave Sergei Pavlovich a taste of his own medicine – and now he owns a piece of the UFC heavyweight championship.
Pavlovich entered Saturday night’s UFC 295 co-main event with six consecutive wins by first-round knockout, but Aspinall stole Pavlovich’s gimmick as the heavyweight division’s premier knockout artist and finished him in 69 seconds to claim the interim title at Madison Square Garden.
Aspinall (14-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC) absorbed one clean right hand from Pavlovich (18-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) in the early going, getting caught as he closed distance. That might’ve woken up Aspinall, who responded moments later with not one, but two right hands to Pavlovich’s temple. The first one wobbled him, and the second dropped him. All Aspinall needed was a few more hammerfists to make referee Dan Miragliotta stop the fight.
“It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks,” Aspinall said during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I just want to say to everyone at home: If you ever get a chance to do something, and you’re scared to do it, you should definitely f*cking do it, because there’s a chance it could pay off.”
Aspinall got the call to fight Pavlovich on two weeks’ notice after the original undisputed heavyweight title fight between champ Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic was canceled because of an injury to Jones.
Aspinall said prior to the fight that he didn’t love the circumstances for his first shot at UFC gold, but it was worth the risk.
“He’s a big, scary guy,” said Aspinall, who dedicated the win to his father in the cage. “I’ve never been this scared in my life as fighting this guy. But, you know what, I’ve got a lot of power, too, and I believe in myself.”
The victory was Aspinall’s second in a row since returning from a one-year layoff due to knee surgery. Aspinall’s other win this year was against Marcin Tybura this past July.
Tom Aspinall embraces with Michael Bisping after delivering on his promise to “pull a Bisping” and claim gold on short notice at #UFC295 ❤️
🎥 @MikeBohn pic.twitter.com/0K2AcuxRAv
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) November 12, 2023
Up-to-the-minute UFC 295 results include:
- Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich via KO (punches) – Round 1, 1:09 – to claim interim heavyweight title
- Jessica Andrade def. Mackenzie Dern via TKO (punches) – Round 2,
- Benoit Saint-Denis def. Matt Frevola via knockout (head kick) – Round 1, 1:31
- Diego Lopes def. Pat Sabatini knockout (punches) – Round 1, 1:30
- Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Loopy Godinez def. Tabatha Ricci via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts via verbal submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:08
- Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Nazim Sadykhov declared majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
- Jared Gordon def. Mark Madsen via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 4:42
- John Castaneda def. Kyung Ho Kang via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jamall Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:49
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 295.
