An important heavyweight bout between knockout king Derrick Lewis and the surging Sergei Pavlovich is targeted for a UFC card on July 30, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.
The UFC has yet to announce an event on that date, but the expectation is that it will be the UFC 277 pay-per-view event, sources said. No location has been decided for the card.
ESPN has Lewis ranked No. 7 in the world at heavyweight, while Pavlovich is unranked.
Lewis (26-9, 1 NC) owns the most knockouts in UFC history with 13. The Houston resident is coming off a second-round knockout loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 271 in February. Lewis, 37, has dropped two of three but has won five of seven overall. He has fought once for the UFC heavyweight title and once for the UFC interim heavyweight title.
Pavlovich (15-1) has won three in a row since dropping his UFC debut to Alistair Overeem in 2018. The Russia-born fighter has finished three straight and has knocked out 12 of his 16 career opponents. Pavlovich, 29, is a former Fight Nights Global heavyweight champion.