Las Vegas, NV – Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski has been fighting in the octagon since 2000 when he made his debut. That night he defeated Aaron Brink via submission. On Saturday night he tied the all-time wins record in a split-decision win over Jake Collier.
The fight ended up being very close on the score cards with one judge giving three rounds to Collier, but the other score cards sided with Arlovski awarding him the decision. The win was the important part to him.
“It meant a lot, but I was scared, and my coaches were scared. I said in an interview before that I have to stick to this game plan. I didn’t stick to this game plan even like 99%. I’m sure upset, and I was really worried when the first judge gave Jake three rounds I was like F…bleep bleep bleep.” Arlovski told reporters in his post-fight media scrum.
Collier put a lot of pressure on Arlovski choosing to stay in the former champions face trying to land left hooks and over hand rights.
“I was kind of surprised because he gave me pressure all three rounds. I thought maybe he was going to give up in the middle of the second to third round, but he came back and I said ‘What the f*ck’. I kept my hands up, I just got one cut, he got more cuts. I saw that my right hand landed, I missed a couple of spinning back fists, but overall it was ok. I still have to work on my wrestling,” Arlosvski said.
During the bout there was plenty of head clashes as both men choose to duck and throw overhands constantly. Naturally the attacks caused enough head clashes that the referee had to warn both men.
“I was scared that I’m going to cut you know. It was what I was worried about. No cuts just except this one, but doctor did a great job,” said Arlovski.
Even with tying the record, and the win over Collier extending his current win streak to 4, Arlovski is thankful for one thing in particular.
“I’m 43 and I’m still fighting.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 53 post-fight media appearance from Andrei Arlovski above.
