As two Russian heavyweights, Sergei Pavlovich and Alexander Volkov have trained with each other on multiple occasions in the past but will face each other in the Octagon as the co-main event of UFC Saudi Arabia.
Pavlovich (18-2, 6-2 in UFC) was widely seen as the scariest heavyweight in the UFC before his loss to Tom Aspinall at UFC 295 with six straight first-round knockouts leading into his first promotional title shot. With none of his fights in the Octagon leaving the first round, Pavlovich is second all-time in the UFC in shortest average fight time at just 2:13.