Longtime veteran and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski entered his 36th fight inside the octagon at UFC Vegas 40 on Saturday.
While the 42-year old had been calling for a bigger name in Alexander Volkov, he found himself matched up with Brazilian up-and-comer Carlos Felipe on Saturday. An old dog versus young lion match-up, but Arlovski had in the past proved that he still had a few things to teach the younger generation.
Arlovski mixed up his kicks to open up the UFC Vegas 40 co-main event, attacking the leg, then the body of Carlos Felipe. The Brazilian took a big swing but whiffed in the opening minute; he did connect with a punch to the body moments later.
From there, Felipe slowly, methodically pressed forward, with Arlovski keeping out of range and showing a lot of feints and hand movement. The ex-champ doubled up on the jab, tagging Felipe at least once. Moments later, Arlovski punctuated a combination with a head kick.
Round two saw Felipe going to the body early and looking to move into range. But as he had in round one, Arlovski was more active in terms of volume. Felipe began to goad the ex-champ, looking to draw Andrei Arlovski into a war. Arlovski proved too smart for that, escaping back to center and firing off another effective combo. He continued to attack Felipe’s lead leg as well. Felipe did land a few punches, but Arlovski kept his guard high. The Brazilian also realized checking the low kicks would be beneficial towards the end of the second. Felipe finished the second round landing a couple of big punches, but missed on a jump knee.
Living up to the Brawler tattoo 👊
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Carlos Felipe went after it in the third. He connected several times on a tiring Arlovski, though the ex-champ complained of an eye poke. The action continued while the commission reviewed the sequence, it was later ruled a punch. Arlovski battled back, putting Felipe on his heels. Then, Arlovski wound up tripped up on a leg kick. Felipe swarmed, Arlovski covered up, but made it back to his feet. He fired another combo, Felipe answered with haymakers, but didn’t land them. They would tie up by the fence, with ref Herb Dean opting to restart them at center. Arlovski landed a combo, both men were exhausted, and they went to the bell.
The fact that Andrei Arlovski remains competitive with fighters nearly twenty years his junior is nothing short of remarkable.
Official Result: Andrei Arlovski def. Carlos Felipe by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
