Sergei Pavlovich

Overview

Seven UFC wins, seven knockouts, every one of them finished in the first round. Sergei Pavlovich is a Russian southpaw heavyweight, 9-3 in the UFC, and the knockouts are not a sample of his work. They are all of it.

The other two wins went the distance, both by unanimous decision, so the picture is a little less one-note than the opening line suggests. Still, the finishing pattern is the story: when he finishes a fight, it's with strikes, and he does it early.

He carries a three-fight win streak into his next fight.

UFC Career

Pavlovich debuted in November 2018 with a first-round TKO loss to Alistair Overeem at 4:21. Then came the run that put him on the map. He stopped Marcelo Golm in 1:06 and Maurice Greene in 2:11, both in the first round, in 2019.

Those two wins were the start of his longest streak, six straight. After them came Shamil Abdurakhimov, stopped in the first round at 4:03 in March 2022. Then Derrick Lewis in 0:55 and Tai Tuivasa in 0:54, back to back. Our model rates Lewis as an elite opponent and Tuivasa as a strong one.

The sixth win was the biggest. He headlined against Curtis Blaydes in April 2023 and finished him in the first round at 3:08, a second win over an elite opponent.

The streak ended at UFC 295, where Tom Aspinall stopped him in the first round at 1:09. Another elite opponent, and a short night. Next came a unanimous decision loss to Alexander Volkov in June 2024, the first of his UFC fights to go the full three rounds.

He answered with back-to-back unanimous decision wins over Jairzinho Rozenstruik and Waldo Cortes Acosta, both strong opponents by our tiers. Then he returned to the first-round finish with a TKO of Tallison Teixeira in 39 seconds.

Three fights, three wins, and the fastest finish of his UFC career.

Fighting Style

Pavlovich is a busy striker who is hard to hit. He lands more than most fighters at this level and defends well, while his accuracy and the damage he absorbs sit around the UFC average.

Grappling is not part of his game. He rarely shoots for takedowns, almost never hunts for submissions, and is very difficult to take down.

His finishing pattern is lopsided. Seven of his nine UFC wins ended by knockout in the first round, and the other two went to the scorecards.

Notable Wins

• Curtis Blaydes — KO/TKO, round 1 (3:08), UFC Fight Night: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes (2023)
• Derrick Lewis — KO/TKO, round 1 (0:55), UFC 277 (2022)
• Tai Tuivasa — KO/TKO, round 1 (0:54), UFC Fight Night: Thompson vs. Holland (2022)
• Waldo Cortes Acosta — Unanimous decision, round 3, UFC Fight Night: Walker vs Zhang (2025)

Quick Facts

• Division: Heavyweight
• UFC record: 9-3 (7 KO/TKO wins, 2 decision wins)
• Professional record (all promotions): 21-3-0
• UFC debut: 2018
• Stance: Southpaw
• Height / reach: 6'3" / 84"
• Born: Russia