“We Did Have to Change Some Things” – Stipe Miocic and an Injured Jon Jones Forces Sergey Pavlovich Into an Entirely New Gameplan for UFC 295 Rival Tom Aspinall

Sergei Pavlovich is one of the scariest heavyweights in the UFC. He was initially meant to face either Jon Jones or Stipe Miocic if one of the two backed out of their fight. Now, he’s up against Tom Aspinall at the co-main event at UFC 295. After his match-up changed, he had to change things up with his camp too.

However, the Russian remains as determined as ever. Aspinall is an opponent that can blend styles just as well as perhaps Jones can. But does this mean Pavlovich’s training will still come in handy against a totally different opponent? Here’s what the fighter said about his preparations ahead of the fight.

Sergei Pavlovich had to make changes

Tom Aspinall and his standup is well known. He’s also someone who can take things to the ground and beat the opponent there. Understanding this, Pavlovich had to train incessantly on more or less the same grounds as he was when he was preparing for Jones and Miocic.

“Pretty much the preparation worked of course,” he told Michael Bisping. “But we know that Tom is really good at his standup, he’s really good on the ground, so the preparation worked but we did have to change some things for instance, speed work and stuff like that just to be prepared specifically for Tom.”

Aspinall has recently gotten a win over Marcin Tybura. That was after he returned from a devastating knee injury. The heavyweight was seen working out with the world’s strongest man, Eddie Hall. He was teaching Hall all sorts of takedown defenses and grappling.

So it’s obvious that the fighter has been training. Pavlovich was also preparing to back up either Jones or Miocic, but now, his opponent is of a different kind. Will the Russians be able to tear down the English MMA fighter? UFC 295 will reveal everything. Have the sudden changes affected the heavyweight?

Pavlovich has a mentally healthy approach

Pavlovich appeared in front of Michael Bisping with a translator. And during the entire conversation, he maintained a bright and sunny attitude. He was smiling and answering questions with relative ease and noticing that in the very start, Bisping asked him about his outlook.

“Why should I be sad?” said the fighter. “We have the fight, that’s when we get ready. For now, we have time.” 

Also Read: Jon Jones Finally Gets Toppled Off Top Spot by Islam Makhachev on UFC’s Latest P4P Rankings

It’s clear now where he gets his physical strength from. Last-minute changes and turning your camp to suit a specific fighter can be stressful. Nonetheless, Pavlovich maintains a mental strength and fortitude that helps him move forward with positivity.

Will this positivity help him inside of the cage? Let us know your thoughts.

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