Tom Aspinall opens as the underdog against Sergei Pavlovich for interim heavyweight title at UFC 295

Tom Aspinall has opened as the betting underdog for his interim heavyweight title fight against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 295.

Originally, the main event of UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden was supposed to be Jon Jones defending his heavyweight title against Stipe Miocic. Yet, just over two weeks out from the event it was revealed that Jones suffered a torn pec and was forced out of the fight.

With Jones being out, the UFC opted to make an interim heavyweight title fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich which will now be the co-main event to Jiri Prochazka vs. Alex Pereira for the vacant light heavyweight title.

After the fight was announced, FightOdds.io released opening odds for the bout and Sergei Pavlovich is a slight betting favorite over Tom Aspinall at UFC 295.

UFC 295 Opening Odds:

Tom Aspinall +105

Sergei Pavlovich -125

At the opening odds, a $100 bet would net you $105 if you thought Tom Aspinall could pull off the upset. If you like Pavlovich, you will need to bet $125 to win $100 if the Russian pulls it off.

Tom Aspinall (13-3) is coming off a first-round TKO win over Marcin Tybura back in July. Prior to that, he tore his knee just 15 seconds into his main event against Curtis Blaydes, which is his lone defeat in the UFC. Before the setback, Aspinall was riding an eight-fight win streak and was 5-0 in the UFC. He holds notable wins over Alexander Volkov, Andrei Arlovski, and Serghei Spivac among others.

Sergei Pavlovich (18-1) is riding a six-fight win streak and coming off a first-round TKO over Curtis Blaydes back in April. His lone career loss was his UFC debut back in 2018 as he lost to Alistair Overeem by TKO. Also on the win streak, he has wins over Tai Tuivasa, Derrick Lewis, Shamil Abdurakhimov, Marcelo Golm, and Maurice Greene. All seven of Pavlovich’s UFC fights have ended in the first round, including his loss.