Arlovski started off the fight by beating Fedor to the punch and looking a step too fast, countering the number one consensus overall heavyweight fighter every time he attempted to hit him. Arlovski even managed to avoid the deadly ground game of Fedor and seemed to have a big size advantage, but one flying knee attempt changed everything. Arlovski looked poised to finish off Fedor after throwing a teep kick that sent him into the ropes and only fueled his confidence as he once again looked like he was out-powering the smaller heavyweight.
He leaped forward looking to finish and made the one mistake Fedor needed to end his claim to the throne. A overhand right struck Arlovski on the chin and laidd him out cold, eyes still open, dreaming on the canvas.
Arlovski came back shortly after to fight Brett Rogers for StrikeForce, knowing he was one mistake away from beating the Last Emperor. A few wins could have propelled him back to a fight against Fedor, but only :22 seconds into the fight Arlovski made a mistake that has haunted him throughout his career. He back peddled with his hands down after an exchange and got laid out by the hungry Rogers.
Arlovski had dropped two fights in a row and the critics began to jump on a bandwagon, claiming his career was over. Arlovski took time off between his loss to Rogers and was faced with given a ultimatum by team: get serious about his career or move on. During several interviews during the week Arlovski spoke about how he needed to take his career more seriously and dropped a lot of the outside influences that have taken his focus off of his career.
Arlovski even claimed he had found a new girlfriend who was more of a homebody then a party girl. As we all know, the wrong women in a fighter’s career can cause havoc mentally. Especially if their focus is not on the task at hand. But it appeared that Arlovski’s biggest mental block may not be coming from the outside, but more of a lack of confidence after being knocked out twice by bigger heavyweight fighters.
Last night against Antonio ‘Big Foot’ Silva, Arlovski started off strong by landing leg kicks then letting his hands go loose. Arlovski abandoned the gameplan after being hit by big counters from Silva, who appeared to have a very good gameplan going into the fight. Silva ducked under Arlovski’s obvious over hand rights and lit his chin up with straight counters at the end of the combination. Arlovski was rocked with big punches and dropped his hands on several occasions after exchanges, but it appeared he was mentally broken after Silva put him on his back and began to grind him out against the cage. Silva used his 20 pound weight advantage to show Arlovski he was the better of the two fighters and broke his spirit. Silva used the size advantage against the cage and on the ground, but never feared Arlovski would retaliate and mix up his own gameplan.
In the end a dejected Arlovski walked out of the cage defeated mentally and physically, handing him his third straight loss. Leaving a question many hoped they would not to have to ask after watching this fight.
What’s next for Andrei Arlovski?
In the post-fight press conference, Scott Coker mentioned that a rematch against Brett Rogers (who also lost last night) was possible. But at this point would probably be a very different fight, considering Rogers also looked like he lost some confidence after a Fedor knockout.
Could StrikeForce release Arlovski?
Could we see Arlovski (against a easier opponent) on a preliminary card bout in one of the two upcoming StrikeForce cards that will take place in LA and San Jose, California in June?
What do you think, is Andrei Arlovski’s career over like many critics are speculating? Could we see him retire?
In my opinion, Arlovski is still a solid heavyweight fighter. He just has no confidence right now, I think he needs a “Get over” fight. I’m not a big fan of them to be honest, but I think StrikeForce needs to find a way to inject some confidence back into the heavyweight fighter. I believe if StrikeForce can get some wins under Arlovski’s belt they still have a quality contender and could get some more quality fights out of him.
Props: urdirt.com
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