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.
