Shanghai Tiger: Russian Sergey Pavlovich strengthens his position in the UFC

Russian fighter Sergey Pavlovich defeated Dominican Valdo Cortez-Acosta by unanimous decision at the UFC Fight Night 257 tournament in Shanghai. The fight lasted three rounds. (30:27, 29:28, 29:28 according to the arbitrators' estimates). After the end of the fight, Pavlovich turned to the head of the UFC, Dana White, asking him to arrange another fight for him and recommended a new fighter for the promotion. For more information about how the Shanghai tournament was remembered, see the Izvestia article.

The second in a row

Pavlovich and Cortez-Acosta fought in Shanghai. It was in China that Sergey made his UFC debut, and he made his debut unsuccessfully — then he lost to Alistair Overeem by technical knockout. After the fight, Pavlovich said that he arrived in Beijing too late, which is why he did not have time to acclimatize. Given the sad experience, this time he arrived in China more than two weeks before the fight.

After losing to Overeem, Pavlovic scored a series of six knockouts in the first round. Then there were defeats from Tom Aspinall and Alexander Volkov. In February, Sergey won by a referee's decision for the first time in the UFC — he calmly overworked Jairzinho Rozenstruik in the stand. It was far from the most boring fight. Yes, Pavlovich often fought, but still hit hard and even scored a knockdown, but Dana White was very unhappy that the two knockouts reached the decision. "A terrible fight," stated the head of the UFC at a press conference. Rosenstroik was eventually fired from the UFC.

Despite the beating from White, Pavlovich was not in a hurry to make a knockout in the fight with Acosta (7-1 in the UFC before the fight), where he reappeared with the Russian flag (earlier, on August 22, on the Day of the National Flag of the Russian Federation, the fighter went on stage with the tricolor on his shoulders before the battle of looks). For the first minute and a half, the opponents didn't hit at all. During this time, Sergey felt the distance with his long arms, without exaggeration - their span is 213 cm - and began to attack. He did, but not so much that Acosta was shaking. And if he missed it, it was only slightly. The first round was left rather to Pavlovich, although two judges decided otherwise.

In the second round, Sergey's advantage was beyond doubt. There were a lot more hits, and these were accentuated, dense blows. Finally, he managed to shake Acosta, but he stayed on his feet and sometimes even teased his opponent, saying he didn't care. Interestingly, Pavlovich began to connect low-kicks, although he usually doesn't work much with his feet. The low kicks were strong, so much so that Acosta's front leg often buckled.

The third round went in the same vein — Pavlovich almost did not miss, he hit well, but he did not rush to develop attacks, fearing a counter blow. In December 2022, Sergey was mauled by Ty Tuivasa in the first round. At the same time, in one of the episodes, Pavlovich then missed a side kick that could break through the wall. Sergey "ate" him, continued the attack, but if Tuivasa had been hit in the temple, it would have been a knockout. So the Russian has become more prudent, more careful, and it is difficult to blame him for this.

What I didn't like was how Pavlovich tried to fight. There were three attempts, and all three did not lead to anything at all, the second one looked clumsy at all. Given Sergey's physical strength, he should have a clinch that is extremely difficult to break out of. But Acosta pulled away very easily.

The result is a unanimous decision victory. Pavlovich "interrupted" Acosta: the statistics on punctuated strokes amounted to 59:43 in favor of the Russian. This is Sergey's second consecutive victory and the 20th in his entire career with three defeats.

"Pavlovich remains at his level," former UFC champion Oleg Taktarov said in a conversation with Izvestia. — I just know that he won't be able to progress. All technical things are laid out in childhood: boxing, wrestling. As it is, it's all useless. Let's congratulate him - he earned money, which is also not bad.

Recommendation and revenge

Sergey is not one of those who gives vivid interviews before fights. He is generally one of the most taciturn fighters. But in the octagon interview, that is, immediately after the end of the fights, Pavlovich reveals himself. That's how it happened this time. Sergey even turned to Dana White to sign Evgeny Goncharov to the UFC, who seconded his countryman in the fight with Acosta.

— We studied Waldo, I was seriously preparing for this opponent in the octagon. I understood that waiting in one situation or another helped me win a lot. Who's next? Dana (White, UFC President — approx. Izvestia), give me a new opponent - I want a war. By the way, there's a heavyweight guy next to me," the 33-year—old fighter said, pointing to Goncharov. - Dana, can you give him a chance to fight in the UFC? I think you won't regret it!

Former champion ASA Goncharov really would have graced the UFC heavyweight division. According to his potential, he is a fighter of the top-10 division level. Pavlovich can have a rematch with his compatriot Alexander Volkov.

"Pavlovich carefully, but most importantly, won against Cortez-Acosta," former Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov told Match TV. — The opponent has a very strong head, there were serious blows that hit the target, but he withstood everything and was not bad himself. A rematch with Volkov? I don't think this story will be interesting to either of them. Especially for Alexander, who, if he defeats Hamilton Almeida, will be the main contender for the belt, so it makes no sense for him to fight with Sergey, because he has to wait for the belt.

Let's add that in the main match of UFC Fight Night 257, Brazilian Johnny Walker knocked out Chinese representative Minyan Zhang in the second round. This victory may allow Walker to get a rematch with Magomed Ankalaev. In January last year, the Brazilian lost to the Russian by knockout in the second round.