Tom Aspinall eyes title decider fight with UFC knockout king Sergei Pavlovich: ‘I want what he’s got’
Returning triumphantly from a catastrophic knee injury in July of last year, surging English heavyweight contender, Tom Aspinall has sights set on fighting for contender supremacy against current number one ranked challenger, Sergei Pavlovich.
Aspinall, the current number four ranked heavyweight contender, managed to return from his above-mentioned sidelining back in July against Polish veteran, Marcin Tybura, defeating the former M-1 Global champion with a first round knockout win.
As for Pavlovich, the streaking knockout artist most recently landed a first round TKO win of his own over common-foe, perennial contender, Curtis Blaydes back in April – earning the number one rank in the division and a post-fight Performance of the Night bonus to boot.
Tom Aspinall eyes title eliminator with Sergei Pavlovich after UFC Paris
And staking his claim for a stunning heavyweight title fight against incumbent division best, Jon Jones after the Endicott native’s title defense return against former gold holder, Stipe Miocic in November at UFC 295 – Aspinall admitted he wants to land the number one rank in the weight class in a decider against Pavlovich.
“Sergei Pavlovich – very easy question – very, very easy question,” Tom Aspinall told Eurosport when asked who he would like to fight next after UFC Paris. “I want what he’s got. I want to be the number one contender.”
As for other contenders atop the heavyweight pile, former interim heavyweight champion, Ciryl Gane turned in another impressive victory in the main event of UFC Fight Night Paris last night – stopping a common-foe to Aspinall; Sergei Spivak with a dominant second round TKO win at the Octagon fence.
For Pavlovich, while Atherton native, Aspinall wants to fight the streaking Russian, the former has been earmarked to serve as the official backup fighter to Jones’ return against Miocic at UFC 295 in November to boot.
