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UFC Vegas 71: Pavlovich vs. Blaydes is heading for Las Vegas, Nevada this Saturday (April 22nd), with an earlier than usual start time. Atop the main card sits a battle of top-5 heavyweights, as the promotion’s #3 rated, Sergei Pavlovich, tangles with the #4 rated, Curtis Blaydes. Both of these men are riding strong winning waves, so a victory here could put them at the cusp of a shot at the belt.
The co-main event for UFC Vegas 71 was supposed to see top-10 bantamweights Yadong Song and Ricky Simón go at it, but this incredible matchup has been moved to the main event of next week’s card. The original UFC Vegas 72 main event, Renato Moicano vs. Arman Tsarukyan, fell through following a Moicano injury, leaving this weekend with Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva in the co-main slot.
UFC Vegas 71 full fight card
Main card (7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes: Heavyweight
Song Yadong vs. Ricky Simón: Bantamweight
Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva: Middleweight
Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon: Lightweight
Iasmin Lucindo vs. Brogan Walker: Strawweight
Jeremiah Wells vs. Matt Semelsberger: Welterweight
Prelims (4:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+)
Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos: Lightweight
Rani Yahya vs. Montel Jackson: Bantamweight
Karol Rosa vs. Norma Dumont: (W) Featherweight
Mohammed Usman vs. Junior Tafa: Heavyweight
Francis Marshall vs. William Gomis: Featherweight
Priscila Cachoeira vs. Karine Silva: (W) Flyweight
Batgerel Danaa vs. Brady Hiestand: Bantamweight
Pavlovich vs Blaydes predictions:
Without a loss since his promotional debut, surging Russian heavyweight knockout artist, Sergei Pavlovich remains a decent betting underdog on online casino reviews to continue his roughshod run through the ranks against perennial contender, Curtis Bladyes in the main event of UFC Vegas 71 this weekend.
Pavlovich, who boasts a 17-1 professional record, and clinched gold under the banner of Fight Nights Global prior to his UFC landing back in November 2018, the Russian has suffered just a sole professional mixed martial arts defeat.
Himself riding an impressive run of three consecutive victories to rebound back to the top-5 of the division, Blaydes, a perennial contender at the heavyweight limit, most recently landed a first round TKO win over Tom Aspinall in July of last year after the latter suffered a 15-second knee injury.
Landing a stunning 14 knockout victories in 17 total triumphs throughout his professional career, Pavlovich landed quickfire wins over both the aforenoted, Tuivasa, and Lewis recently – stopping the duo in just 54 seconds and 55 seconds, respectively in the last year.
Prior to that summer victory in the UK, Blaydes landed a knockout victory over Chris Daukaus, as well as a unanimous decision triumph against Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
And in the wake of his impressive victory – paired with his dominant wrestling game, Blaydes, a national Juco champion is priced as a betting favorite to defeat Pavlovich in ‘SIn City’ – currently placed as a -150 suitor.
