UFC 295: Pereira vs. Prochazka | Event Profile, Full Results & Legacy
- Dana Black
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
Introduction
UFC 295: Pereira vs. Prochazka took place on Saturday, November 11, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. It was a double-title fight card headlined by Alex Pereira's light heavyweight debut and anchored by Tom Aspinall's 20-second interim heavyweight title KO — one of the most historically significant MSG cards since UFC 205 in November 2016. The card produced an estimated 650,000 pay-per-view buys.
Alex Pereira had moved to light heavyweight after losing the middleweight title to Israel Adesanya at UFC 287. He won the vacant UFC light heavyweight title by TKO of Jiri Prochazka at 3:02 of round two after a dramatic back-and-forth exchange that had Pereira hurt in round one before he rallied in round two to finish the Czech striker. Prochazka had vacated the 205-lb title due to a shoulder injury before his first defense — the belt was vacant going into UFC 295.
The co-main produced an all-time UFC moment. Tom Aspinall knocked out Sergei Pavlovich at 0:20 of round one to win the interim UFC heavyweight title — the fastest interim title finish in UFC history. The 20-second KO with a single right hand confirmed Aspinall as the most dangerous heavyweight striker in the division alongside the absent Jon Jones.
Contents
Quick Stats
📅 Date: Saturday, November 11, 2023
📍 Venue: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, USA
👥 Attendance: 19,810 (full capacity)
💰 Gate: $10.3 million
📺 PPV Buys: ~650,000
🏆 Main Event: Alex Pereira vs. Jiri Prochazka — Vacant UFC Light Heavyweight Championship (205 lbs)
✅ Result: Pereira def. Prochazka via TKO (punches) — R2, 3:02
🥇 Co-Main: Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich via KO (punches) — R1, 0:20 — Interim Heavyweight Title
The Build-Up
Jiri Prochazka had won the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 275 in June 2022 by fifth-round submission of Glover Teixeira. He had subsequently suffered a serious shoulder injury in training camp and vacated the title in December 2022 before his first defense. The belt had been vacant since then. Alex Pereira was making his UFC light heavyweight debut — the first fight of his career above 185 lbs — after losing the middleweight title to Adesanya at UFC 287. The fight was framed as the world's most dangerous middleweight-turned-light heavyweight against the most unorthodox light heavyweight champion in divisional history.
The co-main was the interim heavyweight title fight. Jon Jones was injured and inactive as the UFC heavyweight champion; Tom Aspinall was the undefeated British heavyweight ranked #1 in the division; Sergei Pavlovich was 17-1 with eight consecutive UFC KO/TKO wins. The fight was expected to be a striker-vs-wrestler spectacle.
Main Event: Pereira vs. Prochazka
Round one was a chaos of elite striking. Prochazka pressed forward with his trademark wild, wide combinations; Pereira used his power boxing to counter. At 2:30 of round one, Prochazka landed a clean spinning elbow that dropped Pereira. The MSG crowd erupted. Prochazka pressed with ground strikes; Pereira scrambled to his feet. Pereira survived the round and landed clean counter punches in the final 90 seconds.
Round two ended it at 3:02. Pereira pressed forward and landed a clean left hook at 2:00 that wobbled Prochazka. He pressed with sustained body-head combinations; a right hand at 2:45 dropped Prochazka against the fence. Pereira unloaded with follow-up punches; referee Marc Goddard waved off the fight at 3:02. Alex Pereira was the UFC light heavyweight champion — two-division champion in his second UFC weight class.
Pereira went on to defend the title against Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 in April 2024 (KO R1), Prochazka in the rematch at UFC 303 in June 2024 (KO R2), and Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 in October 2024 (TKO R4), before losing the title to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313 in March 2025.
Co-Main Event: Aspinall vs. Pavlovich
The fight lasted 20 seconds. From the opening bell, Tom Aspinall pressed forward and landed a single clean right hand at 0:18 that dropped Pavlovich. Two follow-up strikes on the grounded Pavlovich brought referee Marc Goddard in at 0:20. Tom Aspinall was the interim UFC heavyweight champion.
The 20-second KO was the fastest interim title finish in UFC history, and one of the five fastest championship finishes of any kind in promotion history. Pavlovich had entered as the fighter with the most consecutive UFC KO/TKO wins (eight straight); he was stopped in less time than it takes to walk to the octagon from the corner. Aspinall's right hand had been identified as elite before the fight; the execution confirmed it.
Aspinall would not fight Jon Jones for unification until Jones's ACL injury prevented any 2024-2025 fight. Aspinall defended the interim title against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 in July 2024 (KO R1) and remains the interim heavyweight champion into 2025.
Full Results
Main Card (Pay-Per-View)
Alex Pereira def. Jiri Prochazka — TKO (punches) — R2, 3:02 — Vacant Light Heavyweight Title
Tom Aspinall def. Sergei Pavlovich — KO (punches) — R1, 0:20 — Interim Heavyweight Title
Matt Frevola def. Benoit Saint Denis — Submission (rear-naked choke) — R1, 4:38 — Lightweight
Eryk Anders def. Brendan Allen — Unanimous Decision (29-28 ×3) — Middleweight
Jailton Almeida def. Shamil Abdurakhimov — TKO (punches) — R1, 4:02 — Heavyweight
Preliminary Card (ESPN/ESPN+)
Fabian Edwards def. Dusko Todorovic — TKO (punches) — R2, 4:04 — Middleweight
Abus Magomedov def. Armen Petrosyan — KO (punches) — R1, 2:13 — Middleweight
Marc-Andre Barriault def. Dalcha Lungiambula — Split Decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28) — Middleweight
Manuel Torres def. Frank Camacho — TKO (punches) — R2, 3:36 — Lightweight
Bonuses & Awards
🥇 Performance of the Night: Alex Pereira — $50,000 for the second-round TKO of Jiri Prochazka to win the vacant light heavyweight title.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Tom Aspinall — $50,000 for the 20-second KO of Sergei Pavlovich to win the interim heavyweight title.
🥇 Performance of the Night: Abus Magomedov — $50,000 for the first-round KO of Armen Petrosyan.
Records & Milestones
• Aspinall's 20-second KO — the fastest interim title finish in UFC history.
• Pereira became a two-division UFC champion (185 lbs and 205 lbs) on his light heavyweight debut.
• Pereira's comeback from the first-round knockdown to finish Prochazka in round two — the most dramatic title-fight finish at MSG since Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205.
• Double title fight night at MSG — the first since UFC 205 in November 2016.
Legacy & Impact
UFC 295 is remembered as one of the great MSG UFC cards and the night Alex Pereira became the fastest two-division UFC champion of the modern era and Tom Aspinall established himself as the most feared heavyweight striker since peak Francis Ngannou. The 20-second Aspinall KO and the Pereira comeback finish — two rounds apart — made the first 35 minutes of the main card the most historically significant stretch of any 2023 UFC event.
Pereira's light heavyweight reign became the most active title-defense run of the mid-2020s: Hill (UFC 300), Prochazka 2 (UFC 303), Rountree (UFC 307), before losing to Ankalaev at UFC 313. Aspinall's interim reign was perpetuated by Jones's inactivity — he defended against Curtis Blaydes at UFC 304 and remained the interim champion into 2025 without a unification fight.
FAQ
How did Pereira survive the round one knockdown?
Survival instincts and elite chin. Prochazka's spinning elbow at 2:30 of round one landed clean and dropped Pereira against the cage. Pereira covered up on the ground, absorbed Prochazka's follow-up ground strikes, scrambled to his feet at 3:00, and fought back effectively in the final 90 seconds. His ability to absorb hard shots and reset — visible in his middleweight fights against Adesanya and Israel's corner stopping the fight at UFC 281 — was the defining physical attribute of the round one recovery.
Did Aspinall and Jones ever unify?
Not as of mid-2025. Jones suffered a torn ACL in training after the UFC 309 Miocic defense in November 2024. Aspinall has remained the interim heavyweight champion without a unification fight. The Jones-Aspinall matchup remains the most commercially anticipated unbooked UFC fight of the mid-2020s.
Is Pereira the fastest two-division champion in UFC history?
By number of UFC fights, yes. Pereira won his second UFC title in his 10th UFC fight — the fewest fights any fighter has needed to win two UFC championships. His path: 7 fights at middleweight (won and lost the title), then 3 fights at light heavyweight (debuted and won the title). No UFC fighter before him had won two titles across different divisions so quickly.
How does UFC 295 compare to UFC 294?
UFC 295 drew approximately 650,000 PPV buys versus UFC 294 (500,000) three weeks earlier — a 150,000-buy jump driven by the MSG venue, the double-title card, and the Aspinall-Pavlovich KO narrative. The $10.3 million gate was the highest UFC MSG gate since UFC 205's record $17.7 million in 2016.
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