Arlovski: I don’t want to be an invalid, will retire if I keep losing
Andrei Arlovski: “If I’m going to be losing all the time and getting hit, of course, I’m going to finish this. I don’t want to be an invalid in a few years.”
UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski has been fighting since 1999 (it was a loss to Datsik, the craziest man in MMA history. In 2005 he won and successfully twice defended the UFC heavyweight championship.
Late in 2008, he left the UFC, and the next year started a four-fight losing streak. However, he turned thing around, going 6-1 with 1 NC, before returning to the UFC in 2014. He then went 4-0 in the big show, but has seen his fortunes turn in the last two years.
Fighters have been cut in the UFC after losing a single fight. Release after three losses is standard. The gamest, most exciting fighters might keep their contract after four losses. Arlovski has lost five in a row heading into his fight Saturday night with Junior Albini at UFC Fight Night 120 in Norfolk, Virginia.
I consider myself a smart person, and if I’m going to be losing all the time and getting hit, of course, I’m going to finish this, said Arlovski to Matt Erickson and Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. I don’t want to be an invalid in a few years, because I have family, and I still have a lot of things to do in my life.
His family lives in Florida, which in part fueled his move to American Top Team from Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, NM. Now 38, he looks to the long careers of Randy Couture and George Forman for inspiration, and declares that he’s up to it, still.
I think it’s primetime for heavyweights, said Arlovski. I think I still have a few more years.
Those few more years are dependent on fighting intelligently, not throwing down wildly.
I have to be patient, he said. I understand expectations are awesome, but for me, it’s more important to stick with my gameplan against Albini.
