Heavyweight legend and former champ Andrel Arlovski continued to march onward in the face of father time at UFC Vegas 74, where he was paired up with the considerably younger Don’Tale Mayes.
Arlovski, 44 years young, was 4-1 in his last five fights, and looked solid early, keeping Mayes at range and timing his strikes well. When they came together, it was Arlovski closing the distance, while Mayes threw a lazy kick that sailed wide of the ex-champ. That wasn’t going to work on the veteran, who had evolved into a fighter capable of staying busy and going the distance against much younger foes.
Mayes did find some success with his left hand early on, but Arlovski was easily able to evade the bulk of Mayes’ offense, while landing enough of his own. Mayes would find a gift basket delivered at the end of the round, as Arlovski got sloppy on the attack, spinning out of position. Mayes got a body lock in place, briefly getting Arlovski to his knees, but couldn’t do anything with the position, though he would land a stiff superman punch shortly before the buzzer.
Kicking off round two, quite literally, was Don’Tale Mayes with a leg kick. Arlovski flashed a couple of kicks of his own, but as they came together, a clash of heads halted the action. While the ref offered Arlovski some recovery time, “The Pitbull” declined, saying he was good, and so the action resumed.
Back underway, Arlovski hit home with a smart leg kick. Mayes nearly caught a kick that name up higher, but Arlovski pulled free. Both men then landed single strikes, but for the most part, Andre Arlovski was the busier fighter, at least in terms of strikes landed. Mayes then fired a calf kick, which was followed by an exchange that saw Arlovski getting the better of things. Arlovski did not get the better of what happened next, as a haymaker from Mayes connected, dropping Arlovski! That was all she wrote, with a follow-up strike barely necessary after that right hand.
Official Result: Don’Tale Mayes def. Andrei Arlovski by TKO (punches), Round 2, 3:17
