Pavlovich showed no signs of rust in returning to action last year after two years on the sidelines. He got back in gear with a first-round stoppage win over Shamil Abdurakhimov in March, and then cranked it up a notch with first-minute finishes of Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa in July and December, respectively.
FREE FIGHTS: Pavlovich vs Tuivasa | Blaydes vs Daukaus
Not to be outdone, Blaydes followed up his “get right” win over Jairzinho Rozenstruik in September ’21 with a second-round finish of Chris Daukaus in Columbus, and a round one win over Tom Aspinall in July when the British heavyweight suffered a knee injury seconds into their main event tilt in London.
Pavlovich enters on a five-fight winning streak overall, while Blaydes has won three straight and eight of his last nine. They’re positioned next to one another in the rankings, at Nos. 3 and 4, and the winner could conceivably be next in line to challenge for the heavyweight title once Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic cross paths.
Stylistically, this is a fascinating pairing between two big men with legit power, and it will be interesting to see how Blaydes’ wrestling factors into things once they get a feel for one another on Saturday night.
Other Main Card Fights
Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva
It’s a main card clash between veteran middleweights when Brad Tavares returns against Bruno Silva.
One of the longest tenured middleweights on the roster, Tavares has been out of action since his loss to Dricus Du Plessis last July and looks to get back to the form that saw him win six of eight prior to that setback. Things started well for the 33-year-old Silva, who posted victories in his first three UFC appearances, but losses to Alex Pereira and Gerald Meerschaert send him into this one on a two-fight slide.
