The first of two heavyweight Grand Prix showdowns on Saturday night will feature former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (15-8, 0-2 SF) as he hopes to produce a late career comeback in a battle with former PRIDE heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (17-4, 0-0 SF). Arlovski’s last three losses, two of which included knockout losses to Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, have put some doubt as to whether his chin can withstand the punishment of match-ups with some of the top heavyweights in the world. In an effort to curb his losing streak, he has instilled the knowledge of Greg Jackson to bring him back to form.
Whether Jackson is the key to rebuilding Arlovski’s career remains to be seen, but Arlovski’s demeanor in the pre-fight press conferences and media engagements has been much more upbeat than nervous. Jackson MMA coach striking coach Mike Winkeljohn pointed out some of the keys to Arlovski returning to form recently, and it may be the fine tuning that has Arlovski so thrilled to return to the cage
“Andre’s that guy that’s an incredible athlete that for some reason his last couple fights he has stopped using his athleticism,” Winkeljohn says. “And he was standing in front of his opponent. He’s got some great quickness, so we’re definitely working on a lot of footwork drills, working on his speed and getting him to attack the angles. If Andrei gets his head on straight, he can go with just about anybody out there.”
The rest of the article at ESPN.com talks about Arlovski’s propensity to “entertain” rather than pick a smart gameplan and run with it. He credits that deficiency in his thinking to his knockout loss to Fedor Emelianenko, but he states that we won’t be seeing that type of fighter in the cage on Saturday night.
It would be wise for Arlovski to stick with that line of thinking as Kharitonov won’t be an easy introduction into the Grand Prix tournament. Kharitonov’s last win at DynamiteII 2010 against Tatsuya Mizuno was a masterpiece of brutality as he landed heavy strikes and finished Mizuno off with a devastating knee to the kisser. While Kharitonov hasn’t fought under mixed martial arts rules frequently over the course of the last three years, he still brings a solid boxing background to the table with a fearless demeanor in the cage, something Arlovski has been susceptible to in recent bouts.
I normally wouldn’t buy into the notion that a fighter can reinvent himself after the struggles that Arlovski has had recently, but I am a sucker for a comeback story. While I do believe that Kharitonov’s heavy hands will be tough for Arlovski to avoid, a return of Arlovski’s solid footwork and speed should be enough to trounce the Russian juggernaut. I’ll go with Arlovski via TKO in this contest. Don’t blink though.