In the main event of UFC Vegas 71, a fight between the top five heavyweights went down as Sergei Pavlovich took on Curtis Blades.
Pavlovich was riding a five-win streak and was coming off a 54-second TKO victory over Tai Tuivasa. Prior to that, he achieved a 55-second TKO victory over Derrick Lewis and also knocked out Shamil Abdurahimov in the first round. Blaydes, meanwhile, was on a three-way winning streak as he had previously taken down Tom Aspinall after the Briton tore his knee just seconds into the fight.
In the end, Pavlovich won by TKO in the first round as Blaydes decided to stand him up early on and was rocked several times before finishing. Now, after UFC Vegas 71, here’s what I think should be next for each of the fighters involved in the main event.
Sergey Pavlovich
Sergei Pavlovich entered the UFC with a lot of hype but some of that was derailed as he was dominated by Alistair Overeem. He then followed that up with straight first-round knockout wins over Marcelo Golem and Maurice Greene. However, he did not fight after that for three years and returned with a first-round knockout victory over Shamil Abdurahimov, Derrick Lewis and Tai Toivasa.
In his first UFC main event, Pavlovich came out strong and landed power shots on Blaydes and didn’t allow ‘Razor’ to wrestle. After getting some heavy blows, he gets a TKO win which is the biggest win of his career. However, Pavlovic is now in an odd place as he says he will wait for a title shot but Jones-Miocic is targeted in November.
Pavlovich can act as a backup fighter and wait to see what happens in the title fight. But, if he’s going to put up a fight, the next logical opponent is Cyril Jean. The Frenchman hasn’t fought since his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 285.
Curtis Blades
Curtis Blades now appears to be the heavyweight gatekeeper as he lost to Sergey Pavlovich, Derrick Lewis and Francis Ngannou (x2). Losing Pavloisch and Lewis were really tough setbacks, because if either of them had won, a title fight would likely come next.
Now, after losing at UFC Vegas 71, Blaydes will need to take a step back and potentially win three or four in a row before entering a title eliminator. The most logical fight for Blades is Sergey Spivak which ranks eighth And success in defeating Lewis. It’s a step down and someone who is not known for his KO strength which is a good move in the competition for Spivac.
What do you think will be next for Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blades after UFC Vegas 71?