At one point, it looked like Sergei Pavlovich would be unstoppable in the UFC because of his supernatural knockout power.
After suffering a loss to Alistair Overeem in 2018, Sergei Pavlovich went on to score six brutal first round knockouts in a row, earning himself a shot at the vacant heavyweight title.
Unfortunately for the Russian, he came unstuck against Tom Aspinall, and the suffered another loss a few months later when he took on Alexander Volkov.
After returning to the win column with a win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik, he was then matched up with Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Shanghai this Saturday.
Sergei Pavlovich and Waldo Cortes-Acosta surprisingly go to a decision
‘Salsa Boy’ was coming in off the back of five wins in a row, gaining huge momentum in the heavyweight division, which currently lacks contenders.
And early on in the fight, he showcased his confidence, moving lightly on his feet. Two minutes into the fight, though, the two behemoths came into the pocket and clashed heads momentarily.
As he usually does, Pavlovich was looking for one big strike to detonate on the chin of Cortes-Acosta, and although he did land a few heavy shots, he was unable to wobble Dominican.
Although Cortes-Acosta is usually a relatively tentative fighter who utilises his jab well, he was clearly looking for the knockout strike in round one.
During the interval between rounds, Cortes-Acosta’s team asked for their fighter to use his jab more often to set up his big shot, instead of tunnel-visioning on the big knockout shot.
Despite that, ‘Salsa Boy’ continued to lunge in with one big shot, and every time he did so, he was caught with a counter by the big Russian.
In the second round, Pavlovich was more active than he was in the opening round, putting on more forward pressure and landing more significantly.
Cortes-Acosta has received some criticism in the past for his tentative fight style, especially as it is rare for heavyweight’s to be point fighters.
However, throughout this fight against one of the biggest hitters in the division, he showcased his iron chin, eating several big shots from Pavlovich who failed to put him out, but did pick up the decision win.
UFC fans react to ‘underwhelming’ heavyweight fight
It is fair to say, fans were disappointed that the fight didn’t end in a knockout, especially considering the sheer power that Pavlovich possesses.
“An underwhelming heavyweight fight yet again,” one fan reacted.
“Sergei Pavlovich has gone the distance in each of his last three fights. The heavyweight division is so f—— dead,” a third fan reacted.
“30-27 Pavlovich, I hate this reality we live in where Sergei is a decision merchant,” another fan said.
Despite his win, Pavlovich is unlikely to move up the rankings, already ranked third among contenders.
“That wasn’t the same Sergei Pavlovich I came to know… Good win regardless to defend his spot as one of the top HWs,” another fan reacted.