Rebuilding Pavlovich Ready To Show His Level

Following his UFC debut, Sergei Pavlovich rattled off six straight wins to ascend into contention in the heavyweight division. Each time he stepped into the Octagon, the Russian ran through his opponent, never venturing beyond the first round as went from dispatching fellow hopefuls to ranked standouts like Derrick Lewis and Curtis Blaydes.

The run of success landed him an opportunity to challenge for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 295, where he buzzed Tom Aspinall early, but fell soon after. When he returned seven months later against compatriot Alexander Volkov, Pavlovich was a little hesitant and got outworked, returning in a loss on the scorecards.

Earlier this year, the Top 5…