It would seem that Russian heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich is a big Kierkegaard guy, as the returning finisher is all about moving forward as he heads into his clash with JairzinhoRozenstruik this weekend at anb Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“This is part of life; you’ve got ups, and you’ve got downs,” Pavlovich said, speaking with the assistance of translator Sergey Nagorny, when asked about his previous fight against compatriot Alexander Volkov, a loss that he described as being difficult emotionally given that nothing went as planned in the contest. “The most important thing is to come back to the gym, work on your mistakes, get better, train, and get back into it.
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“For me, it’s like this all the time; whether it’s a win or a loss, the next day is the next day,” he added in a manner that was more pragmatic than nihilistic. “It’s a new day, a new leaf — you turn the page, you keep moving forward.
“You can’t dwell on what happened back then. Whether it’s a win or a loss, you have to keep moving forward and not look back.”
That’s not to suggest that Pavlovich hasn’t gone back to review his performance against Volkov, and his rapid loss to Tom Aspinall before it, eager to identify the miscues and shortcomings that have led to consecutive losses and being forced out of the UFC heavyweight title conversation for the time being.
Remember, Kierkegaard advises looking backwards to understand things; that is how we learn and turn previous experiences into a means of changing our future.
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But where some people live in the past, tethered to their glory days, unable to let go of what could have been, Pavlovich, as Kierkegaard suggests, is focused on the future, and constantly moving forward.
“You start working on your mistakes, you start looking at what went wrong, and you start bettering those ends,” began the 32-year-old Russian, who looks to get back to the form that produced six consecutive first-round stoppage wins prior to his interim title loss to Aspinall in November 2023. “Development is a way of layering things up; you layer, layer, layer and keep going up. You’re working on something new, but you’re also working on things that are weaker or older things that you still need to sharpen.
“That’s all part of development; you need to keep moving forward.
“If you do have psychological issues of that sort, this is something you really have to take care of before you can get back into it,” he said in regard to feeling any added pressure heading into this weekend’s contest after consecutive losses and disappointing efforts. “There is a lot of work that gets to be done. You work on those mistakes, figure out a way to better yourself, develop yourself further. You have to delve into work.
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“You fix it with work: work harder, worker more, work more intensely so you can keep moving forward and not dwell on what happened in the past.”
What’s in the past has happened and cannot be changed. What matters is the present and future, and for Pavlovich, the present challenge is a dangerous kickboxer from Suriname entering Saturday’s main card clash off a successful 2024 campaign that saw him climb back into the Top 10 in the heavyweight ranks.
Where the former interim title challenger arrives eager to learn from the past and put it behind him, Rozenstruik touches down in Riyadh hoping to continue leaning on the positives from last year, where he defeated Shamil Gaziev and Tai Tuivasa to move to 15-5 overall and open the year with a ton of momentum. A dangerous opponent for anyone in the division, Rozenstruik has scored eight of his nine UFC wins inside the distance, and will be looking to add to Pavlovich’s recent run of negative results.
So what does the Russian standout need to do in order to combat that and get things moving in the right direction again?
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“I just need to come out and do my work, do my job.”
Although he’s matter of fact and minimalistic when it comes to what is required of him this weekend, Pavlovich was much more demonstrative and moved when asked how it would feel to stand triumphant in the center of the Octagon on Saturday.
“It’s going to feel great because that’s the justification of all that work you put in, that it’s not for nothing,” he said, a smile lighting his face. “That’s probably the biggest reward in our sport: at the end of the fight, whichever way it finishes, your hand gets raised, and then you know, ‘This is what I did all that work for.’”
If that should happen, the fourth-ranked heavyweight would put himself right back into the thick of things at the top of the division, where the outlook for how things will shape up later this year is as clear as mud. But Pavlovich isn’t worried about that part, specifically. Instead, he’s focused on getting this hand raised this weekend and then competing as often as he can the rest of the year.
Who he faces isn’t a concern, as long as he’s moving forward.
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“When it comes to what’s gonna happen in the future, let’s first win on Saturday and then we’ll see about that,” he said with a smile. “When it comes to how often do I wanna fight, of course I wanna fight as much as possible. I don’t like having to only have one fight per year — that’s not what I’m satisfied with; I want to fight more often.
„Who am I going to fight with? If you look at the list of the people I have fought against, I have never chosen them: I was given the opponent, I went out and I fought against them. It doesn’t matter who they put in front of me, as long as I’m healthy and can keep moving forward, I would like to fight often.”
