UFC heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich put a damper on popular thought that he and opponent Alexander Volkov are good friends as they get set to fight at UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday.
“I think it’s just the misinformation that people have had. Everybody’s talking about how friendly we are, but we are acquaintances,” Pavlovich told reporters through a translator on Thursday.
“We’re people that worked together, we’ve helped each other prepare for fights, but I can’t call us friends.”
Pavlovich (18-2) may have said that he doesn’t consider Volkov a friend, but that may be because the fight came to fruition.
“The question is not even about how friendly we are. The fact is their side signed the contract first. Everything changed then,” he said.
The Russian comes into UFC Saudi Arabia off a loss to Tom Aspinall at UFC 295 on Saturday. Aspinall walked away with the interim heavyweight title, and Pavlovich was sent back to the drawing board.
“To be honest I’ve moved on. This is something that I’ve moved past at this point. I have a hard fight in front of me on Saturday. I have a new opponent. This is what I’m thinking about this is what I’m concentrated on,” he said.
Friends or not there is plenty at stake for both Pavlovich and Volkov in Saudi Arabia.
“You know I’m ready for all three rounds of a brawl. Whether it’s going to be a stand up, whether it’s going to be on the ground,” said Pavlovich.
“I’m ready for war and then we’ll see what happens.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Sergei Pavlovich above. He takes on Alexander Volkov on Saturday night.
