All Eyes on Andrei
By Josh Stein on Jan 12, 2009
It’s obvious why people care about Andrei Arlovski. He’s the most famous and most popular underdog in MMA right now, and his opponent is the longest reigning divisional king the sport has to offer.
Andrei is the guy you want to cheer for. He’s explosive, versatile, charismatic and likable, and his opponent is a cyborg. The more I read about Andrei’s training, the more I can see that many top MMA critics are holding their collective breath to see if working with boxing legend Freddie Roach will turn Andrei into a Mike Tyson-esque knockout machine again, and if that enhancement will give him the edge he needs to beat Fedor.
It’s not that people don’t like Fedor, it’s that they like rooting for the underdog, and that’s understandable. I have no problem with people cheering for Andrei, and I have no problem with people talking about the impact that working with Roach will have on Andrei’s standup.
I do think it’s wierd, though, that there is far more discussion of Andrei then there is of the matchup. Perhaps everyone is afraid of that undertone, acknowledging the reasons why Andrei is an underdog. Perhaps they just don’t think that a matchup is that interesting, because we know how Fedor fights.
It just seems strange to me. Hopefully, as it draws a little closer people will start to talk about the matchup, but until then, it seems like there are going to be mounds of articles on the outcome of Andrei’s training camp.
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Personally I am excited to see Fedor against a legitimate heavyweight contender. The only problem is, I think we all know Fedor and that this fight isn’t the toughest he has faced. We’re talking about a guy who outstruck one of the greatest standup fighters ever (CroCop), against a guy who has been decisioned and KO’d by Tim Sylvia.
I asked my BJJ instructer (and a former MMA fighter) who he thought was going to win, he said “Fedor TKO Round 1, but if Arlovski slips, Fedor will submit him.”
I just don’t see how Andrei is going to win this fight, in every aspect of the game Fedor is better. Striking, grappling, submissions, experience, defense, game planning. Andrei is an underdog, not as much as Sylvia was, but certainly an underdog.
In a perfect world, Fedor would fight Couture or possible the winner of Mir/Lesnar. But we have to settle for Arlovski, hence why the buildup to this fight is stagnant at best.
i think there is more discussion about andrei mainly b/c he seems to be the only 1 of the2 who is actually trying to promote this fight.
Arvloski can win. How? Standing up, anything can happen. They’re both professionals. This fight may be an interesting 5-round war, 1st or 2nd round submission win for Fedor or possible KO for Arvloski.
I’m just wondering how Arvloski will deal with Fedor’s all around game. If I was in Emelianenko’s camp I would take Arvloski out easily on the floor. Everybody would probably be talking about Barnett-Emelianenko if the ref didn’t suddenly stand up Roy Nelson for his very active inaction.
This fight would be a huge let down if it ends in the 1st round.
I agree that anything can happen, but Arlovski is going to have to catch a wild one on Fedor, and I just don’t see Fedor putting himself in a bad position in this fight. I also agree that in terms of the ground game, Fedor is head and shoulders about Andrei.
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Andrei has a chance in this situation. But his arrogance can spoil all.