Footage of Sergei Pavlovich getting knocked out cold by Alistair Overeem reemerges ahead of UFC 295 fight with Tom Aspinall
Mia Phillips
Updated on April 07, 2026
Fans haven’t forgotten about Sergei Pavlovich’s disastrous debut.
The Russian heavyweight has earned himself an interim title fight with Tom Aspinall at UFC 295 by putting together a remarkable run of six consecutive first-round knockout wins.
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However, Pavlovich has not enjoyed a perfect run since joining the UFC in 2018.
The 31-year-old got the call to compete in MMA’s premier promotion after winning his first 12 fights and he was matched with a faded legend who was riding a two-fight losing streak – Alistair Overeem.
Pavlovich’s road to UFC stardom appeared to be laid out, but Overeem rolled back the years and showed there is still some fight in the old dog during the UFC’s inaugural event in China five years ago.
The UFC 295 star showed brief glimpses of his ability as he landed a few big shots and grappled well with Overeem before eating a right hand and being taken down.
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Once he was on his back, Pavlovich seemed to have no answer for his opponent’s ground attacks and he was quickly knocked out by a series of solid shots.
The 6ft 3in fighter Aspinall describes as the ‘scariest guy in the UFC’ took several unnecessary punches while out cold on the canvas after his first and only MMA loss.
A drop down in level allowed him to shine as he stopped Marcelo Golm in just over a minute a few months later before having similar results against Maurice Greene and Shamil Abdurakhimov.
Pavlovich was ready to face another title contender and this time he took out the UFC’s most prolific knockout artist of all time, Derrick Lewis, in just 55 seconds.
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Amazingly, he managed to outdo himself in his next fight as he knocked out another top contender, Tai Tuivasa, in just 54 seconds to continue his frightening run of stoppages.
Curtis Blaydes put up more of a fight but only survived three minutes before he was taken out by Pavlovich, who improved his record to 18-1 when they fought in April.
At this point, it was clear who the number one heavyweight contender was, but Jon Jones opted to defend his title against MMA legend Stipe Miocic instead.
After ‘Bones' suffered an unfortunate injury and his fight with Miocic was scrapped, Pavlovich was given a late-notice opportunity to become a world champion at Madison Square Garden in New York this Saturday.
Aspinall has been almost as impressive during in the UFC and his only defeat came courtesy of a devastating knee injury during an event in London last year.
He’ll be hoping to replicate Overeem by knocking out Pavlovich and becoming just the third British champion – after Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards - in UFC history this weekend.
