Aspinall gave Pavlovich a taste of his own medicine – and now he owns a piece of the UFC heavyweight championship.
Pavlovich entered the UFC 295 co-main event with six consecutive wins by first-round knockout, but Aspinall stole Pavlovich’s gimmick as the heavyweight division’s premier knockout artist and finished him in 69 seconds to claim the interim title at Madison Square Garden.
Aspinall absorbed one clean right hand from Pavlovich in the early going, getting caught as he closed distance. That might’ve woken up Aspinall, who responded moments later with not one, but two right hands to Pavlovich’s temple. The first one wobbled him, and the second dropped him. All Aspinall needed was a few more hammerfists to make referee Dan Miragliotta stop the fight.
“It’s been a crazy two-and-a-half weeks,” Aspinall said during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. “I just want to say to everyone at home: If you ever get a chance to do something, and you’re scared to do it, you should definitely f*cking do it, because there’s a chance it could pay off.”
Aspinall got the call to fight Pavlovich on two weeks’ notice after the original undisputed heavyweight title fight between champ Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic was canceled because of an injury to Jones.
Aspinall said prior to the fight that he didn’t love the circumstances for his first shot at UFC gold, but it was worth the risk.
“He’s a big, scary guy,” said Aspinall, who dedicated the win to his father in the cage. “I’ve never been this scared in my life as fighting this guy. But, you know what, I’ve got a lot of power, too, and I believe in myself.”
This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie