Two title fights headlined UFC 187 on May 23rd, and both of them saw the winners overcome serious adversity before stopping their opponents. And yet, the fight that will stick out in most fans’ minds is the round-of-the-year brawl between Travis Browne and Andrei Arlosvki.
Arlovski is just one of the many veterans in the past five years to have enjoyed an unexpected late career resurgence in the UFC. Like Matt Brown, Mark Hunt, Fabricio Werdum, and Robbie Lawler, Arlovski was until very recently an also-ran who is now very much back in the running. One of the most astounding things about Arlovski is that, unlike his resurgent counterparts, he is still very much the same fighter that he was in his youth, with one notable exception: the backfist with which Andrei twice hurt Travis Browne Saturday night is certainly a new addition to his game, and an unexpectedly clever one at that.
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Before breaking down this old dog’s new trick, let’s talk about left hooks–and why Andrei Arlovski has never had one.
PUSH & PULL
Arlovski has always been something of a one-handed fighter. You can count on one hand the number of knockouts and knockdowns the noted puncher has produced with anything besides his right hand. Some of Andrei’s reliance on the right is habit at this point, but there’s a very simple physiological explanation for it as well.
There are two basic ways in which the human body can generate force: pushing, and pulling. Weight can either be transferred forward into the target object, or transferred backward away from it. Arlovski’s beloved right hand–as well as the jab with which he pairs it–is a product of tremendous forward weight transfer.
The hook that might follow it–but rarely ever does–would require Arlovski to move his weight violently in the opposite direction.
Take a look at Bob Foster left hooking Dick Tiger’s lights out for a very clear picture of this pulling force in action. Looking at the ferocious impact generated by these two punchers, we might replace the words “push” and “pull” with “throw” and “rip.”
For whatever reason, Arlovski never learned to put weight on a hook. Contrast Foster’s armed retreat with the less threatening backward movement of Arlovski, who only pulls his weight back to reset for the next forward rush. On the rare occasions that Arlovski does throw hooks, their impact pales in comparison to that of his usual straight rights, overhands, and right uppercuts. As nice as it would be for Arlovski to suddenly develop a left hook, he just doesn’t have the mechanics necessary. His weight is always being thrown forward, and that’s just the way he fights.
THE RIGHT-HANDED LEFT HOOK
So we have a fighter pathologically incapable of throwing a powerful left hook who, as a result, has learned to rely almost entirely on his naturally powerful right hand. Of course, the left hook plays a very significant role in the game of boxing–there are angles for which the various iterations of the right hand simply aren’t suited. So how does a one-handed heavyweight keep himself from losing out on opportunities in an increasingly striking-savvy sport?
The backfist is the answer, and I have one theory as to how Arlovski’s backfist might’ve come about.
The backfist is considered something of an exotic technique, but it’s not actually all that foreign to boxing. In addition to the “pivot blow” of the bareknuckle era (a spinning backfist or elbow that was considered particularly dangerous–and dirty), boxers have long used a sort of slapping backfist to follow an overextended cross, a useful measuring stick for the follow-up left hook. You can see the legendary Fighting Harada doing just that here.
Arlovski’s version is much the same, only thrown with more ill intent. In fact, he used the measuring-stick variety in the Browne fight.
1. Arlovski leads with a right hand, forcing Browne to retreat.
2. A left shift follows . . .
3. . . . and then another right from a square position.
4. Arlovski’s feet are now completely out of position.
5. He comes back with the right hand as a backfist.
6. And while Browne resumes his retreat Arlovski steps forward . . .
7. . . . falls back into his preferred orthodox stance . . .
8. . . . and unleashes another straight right hand.
This is a very instinctive response for a fighter who finds himself out of position after overcommitting to the right hand. Not only does it measure the range between the two combatants, it acts as a sort of “stay busy” movement, a sleight of hand trick to keep the opponent from seizing the initiative and attacking his vulnerable aggressor. In this form, the backfist is essentially a right-handed jab, and Arlovski uses it much the same as his normal jab: to blind, to distract, and to measure for his next punch.
But since Arlovski doesn’t possess the hard left hook that other fighters like to put behind this backwards jab, he seems to have weaponized it, turning a measuring stick into a billy club.
1. Browne and Arlovski face off in center cage.
2. Arlovski steps forward behind a jab feint . . .
3. . . . and wings a right hand right over the head of Travis Browne, who slips and throws his own right hand in response.
4. Now both fighters are out of position, but Arlovski has thrown himself so violently into his overhand that he has wound up in a southpaw stance.
5. As Browne stands up to throw a hook, Arlovski simply whips his right hand back around, slamming the hammerfist into Browne’s jaw.
6. By the time Browne’s hook comes about, he’s already started to go down.
7. And Arlovski clips him with yet another right hand as he falls.
While Arlovski shows an almost absurd degree of right hand dependence in this sequence, he also succeeds in beating the more ambidextrous fighter to the punch. Instead of trading left hooks with a hooker, something any boxing commentator would gladly tell you to avoid, Arlovski uses his backfist as a replacement punch, clipping Browne as he stands up from a leftward slip just as one would normally do with the hook.
In fact, you might even say that the backfist has some advantages over the traditional hook. Check this out:
1. Browne stalks Arlovski towards the fence.
2. Andrei blocks Browne’s left hook.
3. And turns to block the right hand as well.
4. Arlovski counters with the right (surprise), but Browne anticipates it, slipping out of the way.
5. Now Browne prepares to come back with the left hook, but Arlovski has the backfist cocked and loaded.
6. Arlovski’s backfist connects before Browne’s punch can get near his chin, and sends Browne reeling.
Again, Arlovski finds himself in a hook-trading scenario, and opts out by using the backfist instead. The thing is, his backfist is actually a much shorter punch than Browne’s wide attempt at a hook, and gets to its target first.
Objectively speaking, the hook is a more versatile companion to the right hand. Properly thrown (watch that Bob Foster GIF a few more hundred times, if you must), the left hook not only carries more power than a backfist could ever hope to muster, it also comes with built-in defense. By pulling the body weight back to the rear foot, the fighter gets his head out of range even as his hook approaches the opponent’s jaw.
Of course, Travis Browne’s hook was not thrown this way, and that’s why I can appreciate the pragmatism of Arlovski’s backfist. Because let’s be honest: Andrei is not likely to suddenly learn a punch that has eluded him for every bit of his 16-year career. But if he and his opponent are both going to put themselves out of position with the right hand, at least he can follow up with a quick, chopping backfist rather than testing whose hook is less mediocre. And even if Arlovski doesn’t have the tight defense of a proper hook, at the very least the backfist brings his arm up high to cover his chin. It’s a compromise, but it keeps him from losing the battle of angles to more traditional combination punchers, as he once did to Sergei Kharitonov (GIF).
For those hoping for a miraculous run at the title from Arlovski, keep this in mind: a new trick doesn’t make an old dog a different animal altogether, and it’s tough to pick Arlovski against Cain Velasquez or the vastly improved Fabricio Werdum. But it’s certainly better to learn new tricks than to stagnate, and I for one am excited to see how far Arlovski can go.
Onward to victory.
For more analysis, check out Heavy Hands, the only podcast dedicated to the finer points of face-punching. On the latest episode, we examine pressure fighters as a type, looking at Chris Weidman, Rumble Johnson, Roman Gonzalez, and Gennady Golovkin for clues.