On my third viewing, without the drama of Fedor possibly losing, Arlovski doesn't hit him that much. Arlovski’s stand up looks much slicker but Fedor dodges most of his shots. For all the talk, on certain MMA boards, of Fedor being exposed he didn’t look that bad at all. In retrospect, when you look at the fight clinically, Fedor is on the defensive stand-up wise but he isn’t exposed. In fact his ability to slips shots looks good. Arlovski has good boxing, and that’s what I noticed first time around, but for his working with Freddy Roach, if you watch the fight again without the drama, Fedor doesn’t look bad. Literally, Arlovski barely hits him. If you watch the fight, in retrospect, without sound Fedor looks good. He’s unorthodox but he defends well. Without the drama, with the sound down, Fedor shows another facet to his game. His defence is good, he has lots of head movement, and he slips punches well. Turn the volume down and watch... http://www.inquisitr.com/16389/fedor-vs-arlovski-ko-in-round-one-video/
I can see your point. Basically, anything that makes Fedor look somehow vulnerable amplifies tenfold because of his status. AA was winning the fight but he landed only couple of more punches than Fedor thanks to his newly acquired boxing skills.
It was what it was. AA was dominating the stand-up.... Fedor kept his composure.... Arlovski made a mistake... Fedor made him pay, and ended the fight. End of story.
