Andrei Arlovski’s return to the top ranks of the heavyweight division has been on the great stories in sport of MMA to start the year, highlighted by his most recent knockout win in a fight of the year contender against Travis Browne at UFC 187.
After losing four in a row and being finished by strikes in three of those fights in a 2009-early 2011 run, Arlovski looked past his prime as a fighter. Since then he’s won 9 times in his last 11 fights, with 3 consecutive UFC victories.
Now 36 years-old, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion is grateful of the opportunity to compete in promotion again.
“I would like to thank Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta,” Arlovski said on Inside MMA last week. “They took a chance back in 2009 after four losses in a row. Pretty much everyone thought ‘Arlovski’s done’, so it’s nice to prove everybody wrong, and I’m very excited to be in the UFC again and be a part of the UFC family.”
Arlovski credits the majority of his recent success to reframing his outlook as a fighter.
“I choose what’s more important for me right now, and I rebuilt my MMA career to be the fighter on the planet, it’s my goal,” Arlovski said. “That’s why I train with Greg Jackson and coaches from Chicago. In Albuquerque, I’m down, just have a great coach, great place and great teammates.”
The recent run that Arlovski finds himself close to a title shot, and while that is his ultimate goal, he’s just focused on winning any particular fight.
“I just want to fight, and I just want to win every single fight,” Arlovski said. “I thought at the beginning shows, I was very excited that I was again a part of the UFC. It doesn’t [matter] for me right now who I’m going to fight, [whether] it’s going to be a title fight or not.”
“The most important thing for me is right now [I have] the right trainers around me, great sparring partners, great place for camps,” Arlovski said. “Of course I want to be champion again, but I’m focused right now on every single fight. It doesn’t matter if it’s a title fight or not a title fight, I just move forward.”