Fresh off a brutal KO win over Tallison Teixeira at UFC Macau, Sergei Pavlovich has his sights set on fighting Josh Hokit next.
Pavlovich needed just 39 seconds to take out Teixeira on the UFC Macau main card last Saturday. He took no damage in the fight, so he wants to get back into the Octagon as soon as possible. If he has it his way, he’ll fight Hokit at UFC Shanghai, which is set for August 29 at Shanghai Indoor Stadium in Shanghai, China.
Sergei Pavlovich Calls Out Josh Hokit
Taking to his social media on Wednesday, the No. 3-ranked heavyweight contender Pavlovich officially called the No. 5-ranked heavyweight contender Hokit out.
“Handle your business on June 16. If you win, we’ll settle this in China in August,” Pavlovich wrote on his X.
Pavlovich meant to write June 14, which is the day that Hokit fights Derrick Lewis at the UFC Freedom 250 card at the White House in Washington, D.C. Should Hokit win that fight, Pavlovich wants to fight him next inside the Octagon.
After getting called out by the Russian Pavlovich on social media, the American Hokit was quick to respond to him.
“(Expletive) China & (expletive) you. USA MFER, Hokit wrote on his X.
Will the UFC Book Sergei Pavlovich vs. Josh Hokit?
On paper, a fight between Pavlovich and Hokit would be a very fun one between two heavyweights who prefer to stand and trade.
Pavlovich is coming off back-to-back-to-back wins over Teixeira, Waldo Cortes-Acosta, and Jarizinho Rozenstruik in his last three bouts, so he is one of the best heavyweights in the UFC. Since he joined the world’s leading MMA promotion in 2018, Pavlovich is 9-3 with seven knockout wins. He is one of the division’s best fighters, no doubt about it.
However, Pavlovich is in a weird spot at heavyweight. Right now, UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is on the sidelines with an eye injury, but he’s hopefully going to return later this year. When he does, he will take on the winner of the UFC White House co-main event between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, who compete for the UFC interim heavyweight title, to unify the belts.
That leaves Pavlovich without a dance partner, as the only other heavyweight ranked above him right now is Alexander Volkov, who beat Pavlovich just two years ago. While a rematch between the two Russians is possible, it doesn’t make much sense for Volkov to take a step back in the rankings, so that means Pavlovich will have to look elsewhere for an opponent.
Enter Hokit.
Since entering the UFC last year, Hokit has gone 3-0 inside the Octagon and just beat Curtis Blaydes at UFC 327 in a Fight of the Year candidate. If he gets past Lewis at UFC Freedom 250, Hokit will also be asking for a title shot.
But with Aspinall set to fight the winner of Pereira/Gane, it leaves Hokit without a dance partner, too, which makes this callout by Pavlovich not only a sensible one, but also a likely one, should Hokit take care of business against Lewis at the UFC House card.
Sergei Pavlovich Calls Out Josh Hokit