The upcoming UFC Fight Night 87 headliner is personal to Andrei Arlovski for a few different reasons.
For one, Arlovski (25-11 MMA, 14-5 UFC), who’s No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings, is facing a teammate and fellow contender in No. 7-ranked Alistair Overeem (40-14-1 MMA, 5-3 UFC).
But, when the meet in the FOX Sports 1-televised headliner at Ahoy Rotterdam in Overeem’s home country of the Netherlands on May 8, Arlovski is also experiencing some bad blood. And it’s largely because Overeem pushed for the teammate-vs.-teammate fight, forcing an awkward situation back at Jackson-Wink MMA in New Mexico, he said.
Arlovski, a former champ who hasn’t held a belt in a decade, told MMAjunkie Radio it’s now his primary motivation heading into the UFC’s debut event in the Netherlands.
“The most important thing right now is to face and beat Alistair Overeem … because from what I know, he asked this for this fight,” Arlovski said. “He kind of put on the spot Greg Jackson and Mike Winklejohn.”
But there’s also the matter of his standing as a contender, which took a hit with a 54-second TKO loss to Stipe Miocic in his previous bout. It snapped the 37-year-old Belarusian’s six-fight winning streak, and Arlovski has been anxious to erase the memory of the January defeat – his first stoppage loss since 2011.
“I did some stupid, dumb things and mistakes when I fought Stipe Miocic, and he knocked me out really quick,” Arlovski said. “I was one step away from a title shot, but now I have to start from the beginning, and I think it’s a good match for me.
“I had a great training camp, great sparring partners and great coaches.”
However, he knows he’ll have a few factors working against him next weekend, namely the crowd reaction during their fight. Might it sway the judges in Overeem’s home country?
“One hundred percent,” he said. ” … (It was the same thing) when I fought ‘Bigfoot’ (Antonio Silva) in Brazil.”
Check out the full video above.
And for more on UFC Fight Night 87, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.
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