On November 12, in the main event of UFC 295 in New York, Russian heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich lost by first-round knockout to Englishman Tom Aspinall and failed to win the promotion's interim title. After the fight, the famous fighter took a break and returned to his homeland, but does not give up hopes of becoming a UFC champion in the future.
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In an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, Pavlovich talked about:
- what went wrong in the fight with Aspinall;
- how he reacts to advice from experts and haters;
- his next possible opponent;
- what he expects from the fight between Jon Jones and Tom Aspinall;
- how he envisions Petr Yan's return;
- why he doesn't want to live in America;
- his attitude towards betting and gambling.
"The main challenge in the fight with Aspinall was the short notice"
- Did you get some mental rest after returning to your homeland?
- I haven't rested yet, because now I'm constantly busy recovering, I'm on the move. Now it is important to rest, recover, examine all the old injuries and sores and fully deal with my health, and then come back as planned.
- The Athletic Commission has suspended you for 45 days. What are your restrictions during that time? Did they find any injuries?
- It always happens when somebody loses a fight by knockout. I didn't go into details about what I can and can't do during those 45 days. I think it's more of a formality, because the athletes train anyway.
- I guess the ban only applies to sparring?
- Yes.
- What were the conclusions made from the fight? What went wrong against Tom Aspinall?
- I think there were a lot of nuances. The most important one was the short notice. I always say that you need to prepare thoroughly for your opponent. A full camp is always preferable.
"Aspinall has taken his chance and for me the work starts all over again"
- There is a belief that Aspinall knew in advance that Jon Jones' fight with Stipe Miocic would not take place and prepared for you in advance, and practiced accordingly. What do you think about that?
- I think it's all hot air. There's no point in talking about it. The fight is over, we saw how it ended. Now we need to let everything that happened go, start fresh and get into it slowly. We need to turn the page and prepare to work hard. We had the same conditions. It was a chance, both for him and for me. He took that chance, that means that for me, the job starts all over again.
- Have you thought about which of the UFC's top heavyweights you may face in your next fight?
- I'm not thinking about it now, because the main thing is to recover properly. Now we want to focus more deeply on some aspects, so we aren't thinking about the fight, but about how we are going to start our training camp.
- Are you planning to change something tactically, because your opponents are already used to your style and know what to expect from you?
- I don't think we need to change tactics. We just need to add more specialized work and that's all.
"We took a step back, now we need to take two steps forward"
- What did you think of the post-fight comments from MMA experts and fans? Did the haters write to you a lot that you did everything wrong?
- I've been in this business for a long time, so I take it totally calmly. Let them talk. Of course, I want to thank those who have supported me. I feel your support and it always feels great, and as for those who are complaining... Opinions differ, we must do our own thing. No matter what they say, I have to keep going to my goal. We only took one step back, and now we need to take two steps forward.
- Recently you have been training with Artem Levin. How does his approach appeal to you and what would you improve in your work with him?
- I won't say that I trained with Artem. We asked him to hold the pads at a certain moment, but I didn't hold a full camp with him. Artem was brought in as a consultant, and we did more wrestling work than striking.
- You trained at AKA and now you work at ATT. What do the two biggest American camps have in common and what are the differences?
- I can say only good things about both. Both have a high level of training and sparring partners, but they are slightly different schools.
- Can you compare Ciryl Gane and Jailton Almeida? Which of them would be a more interesting and more dangerous opponent for you?
- Both of them are dangerous guys. I don't care who I fight. We are in the top 5 now, and in this situation you have to be ready to fight any opponent. It doesn't matter if his base is wrestling or punching. You have to be ready for anything.
"Jones is more versatile than Aspinall, but we haven't seen him against strong opposition"
- How would you react if the UFC offered you a fight with Alexander Volkov right now?
- Why do I need Alexander right now? I'm ready to fight him only for the belt. Now I only need the opponents who are higher ranked than me.
- What do you think about the situation in the UFC heavyweight division, where Jones is out for a long period of time, and Aspinall said that he doesn't want to make an interim title defense before the fight with him?
- To use my last fight as an example - everything is so fluid, it all can change at any moment. Who would have expected that Aspinall and I could fight for the interim belt? It was something surreal, so anything can happen.
- Who do you consider the favorite in the fight between Aspinall and Jones?
It will depend on Jones' form. He's certainly more versatile, but we haven't seen him against strong opposition yet. We saw his competent work against Ciryl Gane, but we haven't seen how he would work in the stand-up, so it's going to be a very interesting fight.
- All along Russia has had no more than one reigning UFC champion: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Petr Yan, Islam Makhachev. You, Magomed Ankalaev and other guys didn't make it. Maybe the company doesn't want to see a second Russian champion?
- I think that we do not need to ask whether they need it or not, but we need to go ahead and take it. I think we will take more belts soon.
"Nemkov has every chance in the fight with Ngannou"
- Petr Yan has a new opponent after the break - Chinese Song Yadong. Is a kung fu master a suitable opponent for him right now?
- Petr is a champion who knows the taste of victory. He's a high-level fighter, so I think he has reset and done the work that needed to be done. I hope that we will only see his bright victories, because all the fights involving him have been spectacular.
- Bellator and PFL will merge from the new year. Will the combined organization be able to compete with the UFC?
- Of course, they are both good and powerful organizations, but no one will argue with me that the UFC is number one in many aspects. However, the higher the competition, the faster the level of the organization will grow.
- They signed Francis Ngannou, but don't have opponents of his level to put against him. Can that become a major problem?
- I think it's a major advantage. The guys will work harder and grow to challenge such an accomplished champion. Beating him is a good motivation for any fighter.
- Should Vadim Nemkov challenge him and pursue this fight?
- Why not, if he feels ready. He has every chance.
"Covington's words about Edwards' father are too much"
- In Russia, pop-MMA fights are now more popular than the fights of the best professionals. Can you explain this trend and what is your attitude to it?
- I'm not an expert in tracking trends, but in terms of professional sports, I understand that some audiences are interested in shows with a lot of talking. For me, it's hard. I even have people helping me run social media because I'm mostly busy training and doing professional sports. If you want to be the best, you're going to devote all your time to sports. If you have the energy to talk a lot after that or do something else, no problem. The main thing is that it doesn't go overboard.
- It happens in America, too. Many condemned Colby Covington for bringing up the death of his rival Leon Edwards' father. Should there be some sort of penalties, like fines, for saying such things?
- Of course it was too much. There must be certain boundaries.
- Do you want to explore America in your free time from fights and training, to go to places where you have not been yet?
- I have been to America and realized that I will reach the belt. I had that dream after my second-to-last fight with Curtis Blaydes, when I won. I realized that there would be a fight for the belt, but I didn't understand when. I wanted to come back with the belt, but it didn't work out. It's not a bad experience, but home is home - my own air, my own land. The grass is always greener on the other side, but there is no place like home.
- So you don't consider the option of staying in America after your career is over?
- No, of course not.
- What did you miss most about Russia in America?
- When you are in a different territory, you always feel that something is missing.
- Did you get used to the language and everyday life there?
- A year ago, when I arrived, my English was very poor. Now I don't speak very well, but at least I can ask something. Every place has its advantages and disadvantages, but I was born and raised in Russia, I have absorbed the local culture and mentality. It's not a problem for me to go somewhere for a vacation or for training but Russia is where I want to live, it's my home.
- Is your English better than Russian of that interpreter who became famous after your fight?
- I think we are on the same level (laughs).
"I will go to my father's village for the New Year"
- How and where do you plan to celebrate the New Year? What does this holiday mean to you?
- It is a big holiday. Of course, I want to go to my father's village. This is a family holiday, and I'll spend it in a family circle.
- Does everyone in the village know you and watch your fights?
- It is a relatively small village, so, of course, everyone knows me there, they support me and worry about me, which is very nice.
- What were the main events for you in sport and in life in the passing year?
The year was well overall but it would have been even better if I had taken the belt. But this experience counts. God's will is behind everything. So we have to work three times as hard with more motivation and diligence. Everything has already been said, it remains only to prove it by deeds. Everything is basically fine, without serious injuries. I want to say a huge thank you to all my fans, to all the guys who supported me. Your support is very much felt and it's always nice when people are worried about you, even if something doesn't go according to plan.
"Casino is a tempting thing: first you win and then you lose"
- You are the ambassador of Olimpbet. What is your attitude to sports betting? Have you ever done it?
- I have never bet, but I have tried to gamble at a casino. We're all adults here. You can make a bet if you want to, or not, if you don't want to. It's a personal matter.
- Did you play in casinos in America?
- Yes, when I was in Vegas for the first time, I decided to play before the fight with Curtis Blaydes.
- Were you successful?
- It's a tempting thing. First I won, then I lost. But I had set a certain sum I was ready to lose for it, I wanted to get emotions.
- What would you like to achieve next year?
- Of course, now we will train. The main thing is to recover competently and to build the camp competently and to bring the whole preparation into a single mechanism and, of course, to return to the belt race.
- Will you start training in Russia?
- Yes, we will start training here, and we will go to the American Top Team for the training camp.
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