Midnight Mania! Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall decides ‘legit title’ according to Russian knockout artist | UFC 295

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

UFC 295’s co-main event pits Sergei Pavlovich versus Tom Aspinall, and it’s a pretty great fight.

Pavlovich is on a ridiculous tear. Six straight wins via first-round knockout? That only happens at Heavyweight and only on very special occasions. He just hits so hard, and it seems like nobody can stand up to his power. On the flip side, Aspinall is everything one could want in a Heavyweight prospect. Gifted athletically and remarkably well-rounded for his age, Aspinall really could be the future.

In other circumstances, either man could easily be competing for undisputed gold. However, Jon Jones’ sudden injury and UFC’s desire for a legacy fight opposite Stipe Miocic slows down the whole process. There’s no longer a clear path to undisputed gold, as Jones and Miocic could be retiring sooner than later with little interest in fighting anyone but each other.

As such, Pavlovich revealed at Wednesday’s media day that he considers the interim belt legitimate, which is always a matter of some debate amongst fans.

“You know, for me, this is the legit title,” Pavlovich said (via Cole Shelton).

“When it comes to the fight itself, there’s going to be two big dudes, strong dudes, fighting each other. We don’t know what is going to happen but it’s going to be a good fight. Then the fact that I’m tying a legend possibly on Saturday, that means I’m achieving some other goals, some other goals that I set for myself, putting myself in the ranks of the greatest,” Pavlovich concluded.

Do you consider Saturday night’s title fight to be legitimate or just another unnecessary interim belt?

Insomnia

Interesting insight into the Dagestani crew from coach Javier Mendez.

Fighting is art, and nobody can tell me otherwise. Put it in the Louvre!

An excellent new Flyweight booking between two highly talented and deserving combatants. Hopefully one leaves the cage in the title mix!

How many Apex events do you think we’ll see in 2024? Rumor is there will be far fewer.

Alex Pereira knows a thing or two about destroying calves.

I’ve seen it time and time again, I had to know what it felt like so I asked Poaton to give me a couple of the little leg kicks. They are as painful as they look. Unbelievable my check in with @alexpoatanpereira will be live today 6 PM Eastern/3 PM Pacific pic.twitter.com/AlaUnUTXld

— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) November 8, 2023

I could listen to Quinton Jackson tell sketchy PRIDE stories all day.

Slips, rips, and KO clips

What do you consider the most impressive performance of 2023 so far? I put Dricus over Whittaker and Strickland over Adesanya at the top of my list.

There has never been a fighter more entertaining than Jiri Prochazka.

I can only assume this clip is the secret origin and inspiration for Power Slap.

Random Land

Can anyone identify this instrument?

Midnight Music: Art pop, 1972

Sleep well Maniacs! More martial arts madness is always on the way.