Sergei Pavlovich defended his No. 3 ranking in the heavyweight division, defeating surging standout Waldo Cortes-Acosta at UFC Shanghai.
It didn’t take long for the fists to fly between two of the heavyweight division’s most decorated knockout artists. Cortes-Acosta was the more active fighter through the first half of the fight, though Pavlovich’s counterstriking proved to be the Russian’s most valuable weapon.
Finding some success in the second, Pavlovich started to push the pace, pressuring Cortes-Acosta toward the fence. Still, the Dominican showed no signs of backing down as we headed to the third round of a very close contest.
By the time we got to the third round, Pavlovich had his timing locked in, connecting with a looping right hook 90 seconds into the stanza.
