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The storms that shook up UFC 294 gave off some aftershocks that have hit UFC 295. Jon Jones was forced to pull out of his heavyweight championship defense versus Stipe Miocic due to a torn pectoral muscle suffered in a training session for the fight. The tear required surgery. The twister once again made Dana White have to make changes to a PPV main-card in consecutive UFC installments. The changes rang off major noise... again.
The original co-main event, vacant light heavyweight title bout between Jiří Procházka and Alex Pereira now becomes the main-event. The new co-main sees Tom Aspinall & Sergei Pavlovich step up to battle it out in a loud matchup for the newly announced interim heavyweight title. Aspinall. Pavlovich. Pure violence!
It's crazy that just one match replacement in the same division gives a main-card an entirely different mood. Simply replacing Jones/Miocic with Aspinall/Pavlovich and realigning the proper order of the card is all it took for us to go from a steady noise potential bar to an off the charts violence bar. That's not a drag towards Jones and Miocic to the level that everyone is going to take it to be. Many people, including myself, saw that matchup as a strong possibility to be a snooze fest as each are on their final fight days. Sorry to cut it to die hard fans of those two but, it just wasn't that appealing of a matchup in this moment. Inserting Aspinall versus Pavlovich intensifies the noise meter in a big way. More importantly, moving Pereira/Procházka to the main slot to follow the heavyweights is the best route to assure a strong dose of violence. Assures the card to have the opportunity to end on a high note. That's a banger of a 1-2 punch, I mean lets be real.
The two most dominant and dangerous heavyweight risers are set to go at it. We have Pavlovich who has the longest first-round knockout streak in Modern UFC history (6) and Aspinall who has the shortest average fight time in UFC history (2:19). All six of Pavlovich's UFC wins are by knockout in the first round; all six of Aspinall's UFC wins are by finish with five of them being done in the first round. This thing is going to be wild. Jim Ross's epic slobber-knocker term has it's definition example in the Octagon with this bout.
This is a monster jump in comp for Aspinall, lets be straight up on that. Pavlovich is coming off a knockout trifecta of Curtis Blaydes; Tai Tuivasa; and Derrick Lewis- Aspinall's two most difficult fights are Alexander Volkov and Marcin Tybura (hard to include Blaydes). Pavlovich is a whole notha animal in comparison to Tybura and Volkov. Aspinall has never seen the forwardness; power; and aggression of a Pavlovich. I am filled with excitement and intrigue to see how Aspinall performs. This is big time for Aspinall... and the same can be said for Pavlovich.
Sergei's knockouts over Lewis; Blaydes; and Tuivasa were earth-shattering. One thing is certain however: those three are not Tom Aspinall. Those are some big boys that like to plant and throw nuclears. Aspinall is perhaps the most athletic heavyweight the Octagon has ever seen (the Jones highlights you are thinking of were not at heavyweight). His athleticism; versatility; and movement will be a major challenge for Pavlo, especially in trying to target and execute a nuclear knockout. Straight money of a matchup at heavyweight.
Gotta love marquee heavyweight slobber-knockers with high stakes. The winner gets the interim belt and will know they have the next shot at the undisputed champion Bones Jones. Biggest fight of their careers to this point. Something will have to give. A damn beautiful co-entree for fight fans, with an even more tasteful main-entree.
I love Pereira versus Procházka being pushed to the main spot. This showdown is going to be fireworks and a sure-fire bet to not go the distance. The battle of the two quickest champions. A battle of a quick noticer versus a long in-betweener. Procházka has three UFC fights on his resume- one in the summer of '20; second in the spring of '21; and the third in the summer of '22 before he had shoulder surgery, delyain' his first title defense. Now after more than a year off, he returns to challenge Poatan; a man who has fought twice already this year and four times since Procházka's last fight. A factor that could be raised considering the extensive injury and rehab that is already a played factor for Jiří. Should be a banger of a main-event.
Just like the results from the twisters that reshaped UFC 294; the results after the reshape of 295 are intriguing and louder than the OG card. The heavyweight war got enhanced. Dana and team got pitched another curveball and still made contact on the dirtiness. I have the same intrigue for UFC 295 that I did for 294. Time to find out how the noise pans out. Madison Square Garden is about to be electrified by violence; competition; and entertainment. Get hype with the below video and get ready for UFC 295 this Saturday:
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