What’s Next For Jiri And Pavlovich After UFC 295?

UFC 295 blew the roof off Madison Square Garden last Saturday (Nov. 11, 2023 ) in New York City, leaving plenty of fighters feeling the post-fight blues since every single fight on the main card ended via stoppage.

Among them was Mackenzie Dern, who was knocked out by Jessica Andrade (see it again here). And Pat Sabatini, who was iced by Diego Lopes in the very first round (highlights), as was Matt Frevola courtesy of Benoit Saint-Denis (see it here). But which fighters are suffering from the worst post-fight hangovers, now a few days removed from the event?

Jiri Prochazka and Sergei Pavlovich.

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A little over a year removed from having to vacate his title due to injury, Prochazka got the opportunity to win it back as he faced off against former UFC Middleweight champion, Alex Pereira, in the main event of the evening. Prochazka found some success early on, but he was eventually knocked down by a sneaky left hook from “Poatan.”

From there Pereira unleashed some vicious elbows to the side of the head, prompting the referee to put an end to the fight, giving Pereira his second world title in as many divisions. At first glance the stoppage seemed premature, but Prochazka put an end to the debate by admitting that it was the right call.

“Marc Goddard was right,” he said after the loss. “Maybe two, three more seconds and it would be on a different way. But what happened happened. I accept that.”

Now, “Denisa” will have to go back to the drawing board on his quest to another title fight. As for what could be next for the hard-hitting Czech, perhaps a showdown against the loser of the upcoming rematch between Jan Blachowicz and Aleksandar Rakic at UFC 297 is in order.

In the co-main event of UFC 295, another championship dream was fulfilled after Tom Aspinall won the interim Heavyweight title by obliterating Sergei Pavlovich in the very first round (see it here). Pavlovich was on quite a tear prior to the defeat, having won six straight fights via knockout/technical knockout (TKO).

Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images

Considered the scariest Heavyweight on the UFC roster, Pavlovich will now have to start another path to a title shot after suffering just the second loss of his UFC career, first in five years. Pavlovich has shown he can rack up wins in a hurry, so it won’t take him too long to get back into the mix. And by the sound of it, he doesn’t want to sit idle too long.

“I’ll be back in the cage soon, I want to be active and perform so I can have a chance to fight for the belt again,” he said a day after the fight. “This is my goal and we will get there! I see your support, thank you all!”

As far as what could realistically be next for the hard-hitting big man, a showdown against Ciryl Gane might be in order. “Bon Gamin” is currently ranked No. 1, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind trying to pick up a win over the No. 2 ranked fighter in the division to get him closer to another title shot. Jailton Almeida (No. 7) has been calling for a fight against Gane, but for my money Pavlovich should be the one to face the hulking Frenchman.

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For complete UFC 295 results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.