UFC 295: Should Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall be fighting for the full heavyweight title?

They’re two of the best heavyweights on the planet, so why aren’t Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall fighting for the full heavyweight title?

Knockout artist Sergei Pavlovich (R) has been labelled the most dangerous man in MMA. Picture: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

When Jiri Prochazka seriously injured his shoulder late last year, he immediately vacated his light heavyweight title.

Eight months later, Jamahal Hill did the same when he ruptured his Achilles playing basketball.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and heavyweight champion Jon Jones pulled out of his title defence with Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 due to a torn pectoral muscle.

Unlike Prochazka and Hill, Jones, who faces an eight-month recovery, didn’t relinquish the heavyweight title.

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Instead, the UFC hastily booked Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall for an interim heavyweight title fight, which is the new co-main event on the PPV card at Madison Square Garden in New York this weekend.

As the number two and four-ranked heavyweights, shouldn’t they be throwing down for the legitimate belt?

UFC legend Chael Sonnen thinks so.

He said the winner of the fight this weekend should be the undisputed heavyweight champion and it was an “insult” to label it an interim title bout.

Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping agrees.

Tom Aspinall (R) is the fourth ranked heavyweight in the UFC and is a star on the rise. Picture: George Tewkesbury/PA Images/Getty Images

Pavlovich, who is riding a wave of six consecutive first-round knockout wins – including a stunning victory over Tai Tuivasa – is a man of few words but said: “This is the legit title.”

When Aspinall was asked if the victor this weekend should be considered the true heavyweight champion, he deferred to Sonnen.

“If Chael says it, I would agree,” he said. “I don’t want to argue with that guy.”

What Aspinall knows for sure is that Pavlovich is the scariest man he’s fought.

“This guy is straight up dangerous,” he said. “I’m not even going to beat around the bush or bullshit it: the guy is dangerous.

“I can’t find a weakness. I don’t think anyone can look at his fights and say this is where he’s good and this is where he’s bad, because he’s shown so much class to this point.”

Pavlovich doesn’t have any holes in his game, says Aspinall. Picture: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

While Pavlovich has made a habit of starting quickly, the 30-year-old Aspinall backs his own strengths.

“My biggest advantage is he’s fought no one who moves like me,” he said. “There’s not a guy in the heavyweight division who moves like me.

“You can’t prepare for me. It’s difficult even for my training partners who train with me every day to figure out what I’m doing.

“I just have to bring things he’s not seen.”

Fellow Manchester fighter Bisping, who won the middleweight title on barely two weeks’ notice in 2016, said Aspinall could go on to become the greatest heavyweight the UFC has seen.

To achieve that goal, Aspinall knows he will have to beat Jones one day and is already dreaming of that showdown.

“Jon Jones is one of the greatest to do it, so I’d love to share an Octagon with him one day,” he said.

“I have a lot of respect for him, so I would like to fight Jon Jones after this.”

Is Sergei Pavlovich vs. Tom Aspinall for the “legit title” in your opinion? #UFC295

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When asked the same question about fighting Jones one day, Pavlovich dropped the best line of fight week.

“We have a saying in Russia, we don’t divide the fur of a bear that hasn’t been killed yet,” he said. “First I’ve gotta get the title, then we’ll see.”

Despite the excitement around their fight, it’s clear Jones casts a long shadow over UFC 295.

The fact that the UFC allowed him to keep his title stems from his long list of achievements and the high regard Dana White has for him.

“Jon Jones is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world until he retires,” White said in October.

“Not only did he win the heavyweight world title, he made it look like the guy who was the No.1 heavyweight in the world (Cyril Gane) didn’t belong there.

“He’s a freak of nature in my opinion, the greatest combat sports fighter of all time.

“That goes with (Mike) Tyson, that goes with any of them – all the best of all-time guys.

“I love and respect all of them but Jon Jones has a toolbox second to none.”

Originally published as UFC 295: Should Sergei Pavlovich and Tom Aspinall be fighting for the full heavyweight title?