A backup plan has been put in place for the UFC 295 headliner between Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic.
Jones is scheduled to put his UFC Heavyweight Championship on the line against Miocic inside Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 11. This is set to be the first heavyweight title defense for “Bones.” Meanwhile, for Miocic, it’s his chance to become a three-time UFC heavyweight titleholder.
While the UFC has a solid main event in place for its November pay-per-view, things can go awry in MMA. That’s why a backup fighter has been called upon.
Oh, how I love these emotions! Are you ready to see it again? #ufc pic.twitter.com/tpM8QMCBE2
— Sergei Pavlovich (@SPavlovich13) August 31, 2023
Sergei Pavlovich To Serve As UFC 295 Backup Fighter
Igor Lazorin was the first to report that Sergei Pavlovich will be on standby for the UFC 295 main event in case he’s needed. Lazorin’s report has since been confirmed by Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com.
At one point, some were wondering if it would be Pavlovich who would be booked to face Jones instead of Miocic during fight negotiations. He is riding a six-fight winning streak and hasn’t lost a bout since November 2018. Pavlovich has beaten the likes of Curtis Blaydes, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis. None of Pavlovich’s fights have made it past the first round since 2017, which was before his UFC run began.
Pavlovich’s backup spot should be music to the ears of UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier. Back in April, Cormier encouraged Sergei Pavlovich to take the backup role. Here’s what he said four months ago during an episode of ESPN’s “DC & RC Show.”
“[If I’m Sergei Pavlovich] I weigh in, and I sit there as an alternate. I don’t know if I fight again because against Ciryl Gane, nobody knew, it but he was the alternate, so he sat there, made the weight, and then when Jon [Jones] and Ciryl fought, he was just out, but he got paid some money. You don’t wanna risk letting your money dry up, but you still get paid along the journey while you still may get an opportunity to fight the champion.”
