Sergei Pavlovich apologizes for posting racially offensive meme about himself, blames language barrier for confusion

Sergei Pavlovich has rapidly risen through the heavyweight rankings over the course of the last 12 months. The 30-year-old recently invited criticism on social media for posting a since-deleted meme about himself that many considered to be racially offensive.

Apart from the racial slurs, Pavlovich's meme also reeked of toxic masculinity, boasting about the size of his genitals. The post labeled the UFC heavyweight as a killer of black people due to the brutal TKO win over Derrick Lewis.

Check out some outrageous comments from the meme below:

"D**k bigger than the Titanic"

"Kills black people (Derrick Lewis)"

"260 lbs of white power"

"Scared Ngannou away"

Sergei Pavlovich soon posted an apology, claiming to have not fully understood the weight of the meme due to the language barrier. The 30-year-old wrote:

"Due to the language barrier, I did not understand the weight of the things written about me. Posted by mistake and do not subscribe to the things said about me. The meme was not made by me. Peace for everyone 👊 #ufc"

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Sergei Pavlovich gets called out by longtime heavyweight title aspirant

Sergei Pavlovich has been undefeated in the UFC, barring a first-round TKO loss to Alistair Overeem in his promotional debut in 2018. The Russian standout currently holds the record for the longest active finish streak (5) in the UFC, topped off by KOs over Derrick Lewis and Tai Tuivasa.

Currently ranked No.3 on the heavyweight ladder, Pavlovich was recently called out by Curtis Blaydes, who has been on the brink of a title shot for a long time. Blaydes was left out of the title picture as the UFC announced Jon Jones' return to the octagon against Ciryl Gane.

Rather than being bitter, Blaydes, who is ranked right below Pavlovich, offered to take on the surging Russian. 'Razor' wrote on Twitter:

"Obviously I’ve seen the news, Gane is getting another title shot vs Jones. Most likely I’ll be getting the Pavolich,that’s cool with me. Like I’ve been saying I just want my next opponent ranked above me so a win actually elevates my ranking #UFC"