With his back against the wall he just gutted out a nice decisive win against Rothwell. Not the first time this has happened with Arlovski, he has a knack for reigniting his career when it looks like the flame has finally gone out. What was interesting here was how many strikes he threw against a hard hitting guy with good countering ability(Andreis kryptonite) definitely a deliberate choice due the extremely close nature of some recent outings that didn't go his way where he probably would have taken clearly if he had a higher output. Anyways. At 40 years old, 20 years and 48 fights into his career(a whopping 30 in the UFC) he's probably a win or two away from cracking the top 10 yet again. Does anyone see him tracking onward again or does he hit a bump in road yet again? Also. What fights do you want to see him in? Personally would like to see him against Lewis or Dos Santos.
Arlovski looked the best he has looked for years against Rothwell but realistically he's been done as a fighter for a long long time now. The heavyweight division has been a ghost town for many years now and that is the reason why these old vets keep hanging around picking up a few wins. There is ZERO new blood coming through of a high level. When unskilled mma bums like Derrick Lewis can rake up the wins and get a shot at the title you know there is a problem. Bellator recently has an 8 man heavyweight grand prix and half the competitors were from a lower weight class LOL and the winner was also from a lower weight class LOL AGAIN.
No argument here. But I do think with the right kind of luck(a good performance or two) that he can crack the top 10 again. Obviously this says more about the HW division than it does Arlovski but it would be unfair to completely overlook his stubbornness and refusal to be completely knocked off. He very clearly loves to compete and has obviously worked hard to cling to relevancy. We may have not heard the last of The Pitbull, he has enough bite to make some noise if the stars align.
Maybe he could fight Blagoy Ivanov, since both guys have beaten Rothwell lately, although Rothwell got robbed against Ivanov. Olexei 'Boa Constrictor' would be a fun curiosity too. I heard Andrei was robbed in several of his recent fights. Can anyone corroborate this?
Yeah Arlovski has had a hell of a career overcoming plenty of setbacks along the way including early on before becoming a champion. His longevity has been what's been most impressive, fighting against top level opposition after only a couple of fights,then getting to the top and remaining there or there abouts for almost 20 years against the biggest hardest punchers despite having an ordinary chin.
I thought Arlovski's fight against Tuivasa could easily have gone the other way. It was the type of fight that maybe should be called a draw. That sort of thing happens all the time.
