UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall believes his next fight against Sergei Pavlovich could come down to a single-discipline duel.
Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich will fight for the UFC interim heavyweight title this Saturday at UFC 295. One of the two heavyweights could hold a belt as early as the end of this week and face the winner between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic the following year. Both Aspinall and Pavlovich are elite fighters in the UFC heavyweight division. Although they possess heavyweight knockout power, both fighters have plenty of technique and finesse when it comes to boxing. So, according to Aspinall, the key will be the ground.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBCYrm3HMsc
Tom Aspinall questions Sergei Pavlovich’s grappling
In a recent interview with Michael Bisping, who is leaning towards a victory for the Englishman, Aspinall indicated that Pavlovich’s ground game was a glaring flaw that he could exploit.
“He has no idea what I can really bring to the table,” Aspinall said. “We saw him spend minimal time on his back. From what I saw he didn’t look very good, I’ll be honest. He was finished off, he was knocked out from the start. But at the same time, it’s heavyweight MMA…a big guy like [Alistair Overeem] punching and elbowing you, it’s hard to get up. But if I blame someone, they’re finished.”
Tom Aspinall’s last submission victory was against Alexander Volkov in London last year. He returned to winning ways, after an injury-interrupted fight against Curtis Blaydes, by beating Marcin Tybura earlier this year.
A loss to Alistair Overeem in November 2018 ultimately sparked Pavlovich’s meteoric rise in the UFC heavyweight division. After seeing his grappling poorly exposed against Overeem, he won six straight fights and demonstrated better defense against takedowns.
