It was a short buildup for a short-notice title bout and main event, but they sure did deliver.
Tom Aspinall needed only 69 seconds to finish Sergei Pavlovich in dramatic fashion for the UFC interim heavyweight title. Then, Alex Pereira knocked out Jiri Prochazka to win a belt in a second weight class in the main event.
After UFC 295 lost its historic main event between heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who many consider the greatest MMA fighter of all time, and former champion Stipe Miocic, the UFC was quick to ensure the heavyweight division would not be held up.
Jones severely injured his chest during training for the Miocic bout, which would have been his first title defense at heavyweight, so in its stead the UFC elevated the light heavyweight title bout between ex-light heavyweight champion Prochazka and ex-middleweight champion Pereira from the co-main to the main event. With the second-round finish of Prochazka, Pereira became the eighth fighter to win championships in two weight classes in the UFC.
The UFC also added the bout between Aspinall and Pavlovich for the interim heavyweight title as Saturday’s new co-main event. Aspinall and Pavlovich, who are both in the top four of the UFC’s heavyweight rankings, had been on a collision course and that ended Saturday night with Aspinall holding a title belt. He’s now next in line to face the winner of Jones versus Miocic (if that fight ever happens).
Here’s how the entire card unfolded:
UFC 295 live results, highlights, analysis
UFC 295 main card results, highlights
• Light heavyweight championship: Alex Pereira def. Jiří Procházka by (punches) at 4:08 of R2:
• Interim heavyweight championship: Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich by TKO at 1:09 of R1:
• Women’s strawweight: Jessica Andrade def. Mackenzie Dern by TKO (punches) at 3:15 of R2
• Lightweight: Benoit Saint Denis def. Matt Frevola by KO (head kick/punches) at 1:31 of R1:
• Featherweight: Diego Lopes def. Pat Sabatini by TKO (punches) at 1:30 of R1:
UFC 295 prelims results, highlights
• Flyweight: Steve Erceg def. Alessandro Costa by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Women’s strawweight: Loopy Godinez def. Tabatha Ricci by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Lightweight: Mateusz Rebecki def. Roosevelt Roberts by submission (armbar) at 3:08 of R1:
• Lightweight: Nazim Sadykhov vs. Viacheslav Borshchev ends in majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
UFC 295 early prelims results, highlights
• Lightweight: Jared Gordon def. Mark O. Madsen by TKO (punches) at 4:42 of R1:
• Bantamweight: John Castaneda def. Kyung Ho Kang by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Flyweight: Joshua Van def. Kevin Borjas by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
• Featherweight: Jamall Emmers def. Dennis Buzukja by TKO (punches) at 0:49 of R1:
