Curtis Blaydes vs. Sergei Pavlovich headlines UFC event on April 22

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC

A new No. 1 contender at heavyweight may be crowned when Curtis Blaydes and Sergei Pavlovich clash in the main event at the upcoming UFC card scheduled on April 22.

Multiple people with knowledge of the promotion’s plans confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday. UFC broadcast partner ESPN initially reported the matchup.

Blaydes and Pavlovich currently sit at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, which adds even more potential impact to the five-round matchup in April.

A winner of three in a row with a 7-1 résumé in his past eight fights, Blaydes has been knocking on the door of title contention for some time now as he continues to make a steady climb up the heavyweight rankings. His last win came against Tom Aspinall after the British heavyweight suffered a devastating knee injury. Prior to that, Blaydes dispatched Chris Daukaus and Jairzinho Rozenstruik in consecutive fights.

As for Pavlovich, the 30-year-old Russian has remained undefeated in the UFC since his lone loss to Alistair Overeem in his octagon debut. Pavlovich has rattled off five straight knockout victories since that initial setback, including back-to-back finishes over Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa.

With Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane facing off to determine a new heavyweight champion at UFC 285, Blaydes vs. Pavlovich could certainly put the winner in line for a future title shot.