Despite the cancellation of Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic at UFC 295, Daniel Cormier believes that the replacement fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall may actually provide a more entertaining and competitive fight, especially since both fighters are in their prime and have been delivering impressive performances in previous fights.
UFC 295 underwent a major change when Jon Jones suffered an injury and had to cancel his matchup against Stipe Miocic. Former opponent Daniel Cormier believes that the fight that replaced them may actually provide a more entertaining affair. The UFC scrambled to make an interim heavyweight title fight that will pit Sergei Pavlovich against Tom Aspinall in the new co-main event on Saturday. While Pavlovich and Aspinall don’t have the same name value as Jones or Miocic, Cormier argues that it’s still a potentially better fight just because those two are at their peak right now.
Cormier experienced his own struggles at times fighting past 40, and he can’t help but wonder what Miocic will look like after a three year long layoff at 42. “I wish I saw those guys with Stipe in his mid 30s, Jones in his late 20s,” Cormier said.
Pavlovich enters his interim title fight off six straight wins and Cormier speaks highly of him, comparing him to Francis Ngannou, another knockout artist who held UFC heavyweight gold. His last outing against Blaydes was particularly telling and impressed Cormier as well because it was the first time Pavlovich faced a high level wrestler who could potentially nullify his power by taking the fight to the ground.
As for Aspinall, he has received high praise from another legend ahead of his fight on Saturday, with Cormier trusting his abilities to see something special. He believes that the praise from Michael Bisping speaks highly for Aspinall’s potential as a fighter.