Sergei Pavlovich meets Curtis Blaydes in a top-five heavyweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday in Las Vegas.
The fights at UFC Apex main are on ESPN+, with the main card at 7 p.m. ET, preceded by prelims at 4 p.m.
Pavlovich (17-1) has won five fights in a row after suffering his only career loss in his UFC debut. All five wins have come by first-round knockout, most recently a finish of Tai Tuivasa in less than a minute in December. Pavlovich is No. 3 in the ESPN heavyweight rankings.
The fourth-ranked Blaydes (17-3, 1 NC) is coming off a 15-second TKO of an injured Tom Aspinall last July, his third win in a row.
How to watch the fights
Watch on ESPN+. Download the ESPN App | WatchESPN | TV schedule
Don't have ESPN+? Get it here.
There's also FightCenter, which offers live updates for every UFC card.
UFC Fight Night card
ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET
Heavyweight: Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes
Middleweight: Brad Tavares vs. Bruno Silva
Lightweight: Bobby Green vs. Jared Gordon
Strawweight: Iasmin Lucindo vs. Brogan Walker
Welterweight: Jeremiah Wells vs. Matthew Semelsberger
ESPN+, 4 p.m. ET
Lightweight: Ricky Glenn vs. Christos Giagos
Men's bantamweight: Rani Yahya vs. Montel Jackson
Women's featherweight: Karol Rosa vs. Norma Dumont
Heavyweight: Mohammed Usman vs. Junior Tafa
Men's featherweight: Francis Marshall vs. William Gomis
Women's flyweight: Priscila Cachoeira vs. Karine Silva
Men's bantamweight: Brady Hiestand vs. Batgerel Danaa
Reed Kuhn's betting tip
Blaydes is no stranger to facing hazardous oppositions and has the opposite career profile of Pavlovich, complete with a long history of fight time and plenty of fights that went the distance. This will be a stylistic mismatch, with Blaydes wasting no time trying to get the fight to the ground. Pavlovich has faced only three takedown attempts so far, but he lost in his debut when he was taken down by Alistair Overeem and finished by strikes. Blaydes will hope to slip the first few exchanges and exploit the same game plan.
For Kuhn's suggested bets on the main event and other fights on Saturday's card, check out the ESPN+ expert picks and best bets article (link below). It also features analysis by New England Cartel head coach Tyson Chartier as well as ESPN's other betting expert, Ian Parker.
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Expert picks and best bets: Where is the value in Sergei Pavlovich vs. Curtis Blaydes?