As expected, the fight between Tom Aspinall and Sergei Pavlovich was a quick one. And it was Aspinall who came out on top with a highlight-reel finish.

Aspinall knocked out Pavlovich at the 1:09 mark of the first round to win the UFC interim heavyweight title in the UFC 295 co-main event Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Aspinall rocked Pavlovich with a right hand to the temple and crumpled him with another right. He followed up with a few hammerfists on the ground before the referee stepped in.

"He's a big, scary guy. I've never been this scared in my life, fighting this guy," Aspinall said. "But I got a lot of power, too, and I really believe in myself."

Aspinall is the third English - and the first English-born - titleholder in UFC history after Michael Bisping and Leon Edwards, the latter of whom currently holds the undisputed welterweight belt.

Pavlovich and Aspinall agreed to fight on less than three weeks' notice after the original UFC 295 main event between heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Stipe Miocic was canceled due to an injury to Jones. However, Pavlovich had been training as the backup fighter for Jones-Miocic. Aspinall, on the other hand, was not in training camp.

Though Aspinall is now the interim champion, he is not expected to challenge Jones for the undisputed title next. UFC CEO Dana White said last month that the promotion will reschedule Jones-Miocic in 2024 when Jones is healthy. It is also unclear whether Aspinall will fight the winner. Jones has hinted he may retire after the Miocic fight and has gone as far to say he has no interest in fighting someone like Aspinall, a new-breed heavyweight who doesn't yet have the largest following. Meanwhile, Miocic is 41 and seems to have one foot out the door; he hasn't stepped into the Octagon in nearly three years.

If Jones-Miocic ends in a double retirement, Aspinall - or whoever holds the interim title - would be promoted to undisputed champion.

With the victory, Aspinall moves to 7-1 in the UFC. The Salford, England, native was coming off a 73-second knockout win over Marcin Tybura in July. Aspinall's last four victories are all first-round finishes. His only loss in the promotion was an injury TKO defeat against Curtis Blaydes in July 2022. He suffered a severe knee injury in that fight, sidelining him for one year until the Tybura fight.

Pavlovich saw his six-fight winning streak come to an end. All of those wins were first-round knockouts, and came against the likes of Blaydes, Tai Tuivasa, and Derrick Lewis. This was the Russian's first loss since falling to Alistair Overeem in the first round of a 2018 bout and just the second defeat of his 20-fight pro career.

Heading into Saturday's co-headliner, Pavlovich was ranked No. 2 in the division and Aspinall No. 4. They have the two shortest fight averages among active UFC fighters, clocking in at under three minutes.