Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes is this weekend’s UFC fight night main event. Both gentlemen have their unique strengths and weaknesses respectively and in this article, you’ll find all the different keys to victory for both men.
A Brief Overview of Pavlovich vs. Blaydes
Blaydes is currently coming off a win over Tom Aspinall last July. Whether you disagree with the win or not, a win is a win. In the opening seconds of his fight with Tom Aspinall, Aspinall blew his knee out after throwing a body kick. Leaving him screaming on the floor in agony leaving fans in attendance and watching at home distraught. Blaydes is renowned for his top-level wrestling and his newly found ability to knock fighters out unconscious. Chris Daukaus found out the hard way last March.
Pavlovich is currently on a 5 fight week streak all by either KO or TKO all of which happened in the first round. That’s a scary stat when you look at it from Blaydes’s point of view who’s been knocked out by Derrick Lewis who arguably has power on par with Pavlovich. Having knocked out Derrick Lewis himself, Pavlovich has also knocked out Tai Tuivasa with relative ease.
Blaydes’ Keys To Victory
For Blaydes to win this fight he needs to survive the first round. Plain and simple. Despite all of Pavlovich’s first-round knockouts, we don’t know how he’ll perform outside of the first round. Fighters that have need made it to the second round before typically start to depend on that one weapon that’s gotten them those first-round wins. It’ll be interesting to see how Pavlovich reacts when maybe his first strategy doesn’t go to plan. Will his confidence crumble, will he pass out and most importantly, how good is his takedown defence, all these questions will be answered Saturday night.
Blaydes has plenty of experience at this level of the sport, whether he’s won every fight or not doesn’t matter. He’s got the experience and the know-how to drag Pavlovich into deep waters and test his grappling skills. Despite Blaydes knocking out Chris Daukaus last year, he’s most likely to have the most success when grappling Pavlovich. Blaydes has trained for 5 separate main event bouts, one of which went the distance and he did come out on top. Pavlovich has certainly put his heart and soul into his training camp but any fighter’s first time going 5 rounds could either be incredibly rough or incredibly good for their confidence.
Pavlovich’s Keys To Victory
5 fight a winning streak. All KOs or TKOs. All in the first round, 4 of which are all in the first half of the round. Scary power, Pavlovich has in his hands. His hands will be his sole method of getting this fight in his win column. It may seem as though Pavlovich is the less well-rounded fighter when you look at his record. 14 knockouts, 0 submissions and 3 decisions. But never the less you should never underestimate someone regardless if they’re a one-trick pony or not.
Pavlovich has knocked out Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa both in the first round. Two men are more than capable of doing the same thing to him. But how did he come out on top? Well, he is that powerful. No fancy head movement or funky techniques. Pure, raw Russian power in his fists that are ready to set Blaydes on his back. One key factor to note in favour of Pavlovich is that he can catch Blaydes when he’s shooting for a takedown. The same way Derrick Lewis knocked out Blaydes a few years ago.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
