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UFC Fight Night is set to get going this weekend from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, April 22 at 7 p.m. ET. There is a five-bout main card highlighted by a heavyweight fight between Sergei Pavlovich and Curtis Blaydes.
The fight between Blaydes (17-3) and Pavlovich (17-1) should be called a heavyweight title eliminator because it’s almost a guarantee that the winner of this fight will face the winner of the expected Jon Jones-Stipe Miocic heavyweight title fight scheduled to happen in the late summer or fall. Both fighters have been on decent win streaks with Blaydes winning three straight and Pavlovich on a five-fight win streak.
How to watch Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes
Date: Saturday, April 22
Fight time: Main card starts at 7 p.m. ET
Live stream: ESPN+
DraftKings Sportsbook Odds/Predictions
Pavlovich: +140
Blaydes: -165
Splits: 78% of handle, 72% of bets on Fighter
There are some concerns about Pavlovich’s endurance. He hasn’t went five rounds since 2017 and his UFC fights have never went longer than one round. Blaydes might go with a heavier wrestling approach here and see if he can get Pavlovich to the ground to drain some of his energy. Pavlovich is going to go for the kill and more times than not he gets it, but Blaydes can bang a little too and there will be some periods of stand up. Blaydes just has to do it on his terms and he’ll prove to be victorious by stoppage in the third round.