Andrei Arlovski’s Future Is Up In The Air
Andrei Arlovski was minutes away from winning his second consecutive bout after dropping two tough losses to Tim “The Maniac” Sylvia. Although a boring performance, Arlovski was able to pull out a win over the Brazilian ju-jitsu specialist Fabricio Werdum. The coming months would be cast with doubt as to when Arlovski would fight next. The Belarussian went from being the in the contender position again to completely out of the picture in a six month span. What has happened to Andrei Arlovski?
Dana White and Arlovski’s management
During the media conference, Dana White was asked about whether Arlovski had “pissed off” the UFC President and if that was the reason why he was currently not fighting. We have learned in the past few months that Arlovski is actually on the last fight on his current UFC contract. White stated:
He hasn’t been forgotten, Andrei’s kind of sitting on the bench… I want to get him back in the mix if his guys want to talk. I’ll fly to Chicago and talk to them right now.“
The comment was in regards to a Chicago reporter commenting that he had the impression from Arlovski’s camp that the UFC Heavyweight was ready to fight and was awaiting an offer from the UFC for a new contract. White seemed surprised. Apparently there seems to be a gap between Dana White, Arlovski’s management, and Andrei himself. This could almost be compared to what people have typically thought about the entire Fedor Emelianenko situation. Many fans have been convinced that Fedor really did not have any idea as to what Vadim Finkelstein was demanding on top of Fedor’s demands during their negotiations. Is this a similar situation?
From the odd discrepancies in each party’s comments, there may be some merit to the argument that Arlovski’s management isn’t doing all they can to get Andrei back in the cage. White stated that he would drop everything and head to Chicago to speak with his management, so the assumption is that he has wanted to bring Arlovski back into the cage as soon as a new deal is struck. If a new deal is what is stopping the return of Andrei, Arlovski’s stance in the division is obviously fairly high. The UFC typically keeps guys in a position where they must sign if they are in the running for a title shot because the UFC does not want a fighter obtaining the title and then vacating the title for more money from a different promotion. Andrei must be looking for more money for a deal that Dana White may be seeing as ridiculous because of Andrei’s lackluster performance and overall record in the UFC. Should Andrei receive more money?
Is Arlovski worth more now?
Arlovski has been one of the top heavyweights in the division for a long time, but he has recently had some hard luck in the cage when running into the big man, Tim Sylvia. Along with his bouts against the Iowa native, he’s compiled a 2-2 record in his last 4 fights. Primarily known as a great striker with knockout power, Arlovski is now turning to his management team to convince White that he deserves a bigger piece of the pie. I have a feeling White’s comments about his last matchup have echoed into the boardroom when both parties begin talking about their next contract. White stated during the media conference that Andrei Arlovski’s performance against Fabricio Werdum was rather boring… and it was. One boring performance and White is throwing Arlovski out the window? I believe it goes deeper than that.
With all the recent acquisitions, re-signing, and surges of talent in the Heavyweight division, Arlovski’s value definitely plummeted without him even being in the cage. Cheick Kongo has become a force with his size, strength, and striking even though his ground game has yet to be exposed. Tim Sylvia is back injury-free and has always been a tough test for Andrei. Additionally, Frank Mir is on the comeback trail, PRIDE veteran Antonio Nogueira is at the top of the heap with all the talent and skill he possesses, and Brandon Vera is also back after a long contract dispute and managerial change. Add in Brock Lesnar as a huge load for anyone to take on and you have a division that may be very deep without Arlovski in it at the moment. With all of that talent, I still feel Arlovski’s striking is a huge asset in the division.
In a report from Steve Sievert, Joe Silva made some comments regarding the negotiations. To sum it all up in a sentence, Silva basically stated that Arlovski had nowhere to really go and that the UFC needed to make a contract that made sense for them. Translation: Arlovski’s worth has fallen and he doesn’t deserve the big money. Is reality, is this somewhat true at all? I agree with it to an extent. Arlovski’s worth has fallen a bit while sitting the sideline. His absence didn’t help him much as far as being in the spotlight as far as a shot at the title went. With Couture coming back out of retirement and obtaining the belt, the whole picture changed at the top of the division. The big signings of PRIDE veterans also changed the potential matchups and ways of obtaining a title shot. The UFC definitely made it obvious that the PRIDE fighters coming in would see a potential shot at the title in a much shorter timespan than usual. Add that up along with Arlovski’s absence and it equals a forgotten heavyweight striker that has always excited the crowd with the exception of his last fight.
Does he deserve the big money? His recent contract had him earning $90,000 to fight with a $55,000 dollar win bonus. We don’t know if he had any pay-per-view bonuses that were related to the buyrates of each event he was on. Fighters like Chuck Liddell are being paid $500,000 to fight and lose, Sylvia was paid $200,000 and Vera $100,000 in their recent matchup and Vera lost. What kind of money should Arlovski be getting? He should at least be getting a contract that is equivalent to that of Vera. Vera would have likely doubled his salary with the win. Arlovski’s UFC 66 salary didn’t seem to do so. The UFC should at least give him a decent guarantee on fights for the year and give him a base $100,000 salary for each fight. Make it up to his performance if he can double that, and he should already be aware of the “Knockout of the Night” bonus. Performance-based contracts are the way to go if he wants such a large increase in pay and the UFC isn’t willing to give it without results.
My inkling is that Andrei’s management is wanting more money that isn’t based on performance, a larger base salary. Anything over $100,000 seems a bit much considering he has dropped his status in the division that seems to have a lot of fighters that have opposite styles to his and are very good at those styles. Arlovski needs to sign a performance-based contract and prove to the world that he deserves more. Give him a smaller contract in terms of length and see what he can do. We all want to see him in the cage again, and I think a powerful striker is a nice prospect to have near the top for the fans to get excited about.
Tags: Andrei Arlovski, Dana White
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The pitbull is a great fighter. the UFC needs to do all it can to keep him happy. We need some good HWs right now. Don’t let him get away, too.
I agree. He is an asset to the HW division. He is also capable of headlining an event, which is something that the UFC needs now that “The Natural” is gone. Andrei is vital to the immediate future of the UFC.
arlovski is good enough to get the title back and is a match for anyone in the division.they need to get him a new contract and get him back in there with the top guys.
dana doesnt want him. arlovski said he wasnt happy with the ufc or the offer they made to extend his contract. dana will hold him till he extends his contract or till his current contract time runs out and then have him fight at the last minute. thats how the ufc works. i hope he doesnt sign again with the ufc. i want to see big tim get the belt back. they couldve had fedor but owell make way for the big slow boring fighter or the decade.
arlovski fought under M-1 back in the day so i could see him signing there. besides that he always has a security job on jerry springer.
I think if Arlovski waits for his contract to expire; he could jump over to M-1 and headline an event there against Fedor. The UFC needs Arlovski and he is a fan favorite and one of the more logical choices to replace Couture as Heavyweight Champion. A fight between him and Mintauro for the Heavyweight Title would be awesome.
I watched the fight against wedrum and the booes were deafening through boredom , the way i see it if andrei wants the big money contracts he needs to start kicking some ass in this ever growing heavyweight division, i would like to see maybe him and cro cop or nogueira get it on and a win against one of them 2and dana has no choice but to pay him what he wants!!.
I think he needs to go elsewhere.. It appears the UFC is all about the good ole boy system and it seems Andrei isn’t a good ole boy.. You talk about his last fight being boring well what about tim sylvia? the only exciting fight he’s really had in the last 2 years was his destruction at the hands of couture.. Ever since his knock out of Andrei Tim has been a soft run first fighter. Simply put if you are gonna hold Andrei back for one “boring” fight then do it for EVERYONE…
The only fight that I’ve seen of Sylvia’s that was exciting was the one where Frank Mir beat him, took his title, and broke his arm. That was Tim Sylvia at his best. Andrei is exciting and if the UFC won’t give him the money, go elsewhere. I would love to see him sign again, but he deserves better.
i disagree andrei is 2 soft not a killing machine couture would pull him apart saying that we also have not seen arlvskies vs liddel lol maybe then we see him destroy. weight advantage? liddell will be forced 2 get serious. there shuld not be weight classes tht recked it ths was a gladiator game
Holy_Dave; Frank Mir didn’t take Syliva’s title. When Sylvia fought Mir; he wasn’t the champion. Syliva was stripped of his title after his fight against Dan McGee since he got busted for Anabolic Steroids.
I think Arlovski is number three in line for the title. Let Minotauro and Syliva fight for the title; then let Arlovski get the winner. Hopefully the UFC extends Arlovski’s contract. If people don’t think Arlovski deserves a title shot for his next fight, then have him fight Vera or Cro Cop or Kongo.
Maybe his fight should dtermine whether he gets a contract extension or not? What I am thinking is if the UFC is trying to give Arlovski a contract extension, maybe it is because they want him to fight for the title in his next fight.
anabolics are a usefull tool when done right.all and i say again all athletes use them at some point why ban an aid? helps recovery.boosts immune/helps cardio.proove me wrong with facts. its not going away….romans used them…they ate rams testicles. i did a cycle once i smoked drank n did heavy drugs all while on them. i have prooved doctors and scientists wrong. i asked them questions and got no str8 answers…im healthy btw 100% never been better.it got me clean and i got into shape….a big upyours to the law…respectful upurs mindu /not…people dont like seeing others looking better than themselfs….all fighters do them wat ban fighting? lol
p/o sorri im brutally honest and fair.
im middle weight and i fight heavyweights.b4 using a recovery tool.
now i can go anyone. not upmyself..gladiators need them.
i agree with holy dave if you gonna criticise people for boring fights and being booed then arlovski cant be high on that list.at least he finishes the majority of his fights. sylvia is happy not to risk anything and stand behind his jab.does anyone think monson wouldve went 5 rounds with arlovski?? i dont i think he would of been taken out.
very true.someone wth a brain atlast! right on belly
[...] Where Is Arlovski Hiding? [...]
True that, Monson was asking to be put out of his misery in that fight. Tim was too scared to step in and risk being taken down and chance not getting up that time. So, he lost a **** ton of fans by allowing the fight to go to the judges. If Andrei had that fight to win the title, he would have had a greater chance to be submitted, though I don’t think it would’ve happened. Risks mean much more exciting fights. Just as a side note, I would pay 50 to watch Fedor and Andrei.(if M-1 is listening, I think most true MMA fans would)
i would pay to watch that fight to.whilst arlovski has great power and good stand up he also has an accomplished ground game but i think he just likes to stand and throw bombs!! the ufc would be poorer without him.
I think Arlovski now realizes that he messed up in his fight with Werdum. I think the next time out Arlovski fights; he will go back to his old school ways and just try to knock the head off his opponent. That is the Arlovski we have come to love and cheer for. Arlovski fans like me love his relentless attitude or at least when he used to be relentless.
[...] Werdum was defeated by Andrei Arlovski via unaninmous decision, a fight that caused Arlovski to be absent from any subsequent UFC cards to [...]
3 Words BRING ARLOVSKI BACK!!!!!!! why let him leave and go to m-1 when theres a wicked chance that he could become a threat in the HW division…dont let him fight tim again cuz he won 2 of there 3 fights boring mind u but he won….like everyone else says let him fight the likes of cro cop or vera not kongo cuz he needs to fight tim or big nog….as far as anyone fighting brock lesnar….he should fight lil names becuz his record is only 1-0 why should he be considered a top fighter in the world???? its beyond me…however i do agree wit the guy that said something about arlovski’s fight against werdum being boring….who doesnt have a boring fight in there career….arlovski is a fight finisher let him fight for f*** sakes…the UFC is ruining there own business by being stubborn pricks and they need to smarten up otherwise all the ufc is gonna be credited for is making the sport mainstream and helping all the lil guys make it to the top…i jus hope that they can realize that fact the way i have
Not to take anything away from Coture but it appears that Sylvia is tryin to pattern his boring style after coture’s.. Joe Rogan may call it “dirty boxing” but i call it boring. I think the UFC just needs to adapt the pride rule for penalties due to lack of action. Say what you want about Andrei’s last fight but i can’t recall him ever hugging someone for 3 or 5 rounds like everyone’s hero Randy Coture and Tim Sylvia.
u fool couture tires them down while delivering heavy shots….look wat he did to gonzaga u big giant muff….a 2 second fight is boring and if i came all the way from aust…to see a heavyweight fight i want to see action and we always love a brutal knock out but i prefer to see a true beat down ur not a fight fan go away.you stupid dot com.
yea look what it did.. hugged him.. accidentally broke his nose with his head/shoulder.. and hugged him some more until gonzaga finally gave up.. You wanna be fans who know nothing about MMA and jump on the bandwagon of any big name fighter that gets talked about are ridiculous. Randy Coture has probably the biggest heart in the sport but truth is truth he is in no way in the Top 5 when it comes to HW fighters.
u are right with tht comment half…..he rocked him early with a right he dominated u big great garbage sifting great bloke
I REALLY DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY ARLOVSKI IS BEING TREATED THIS WAY,, HE IS THE BEST STRIKER IN THE UFC EVEN OVER LIDDELL,, AND BECAUSE HE HAD ONE KINDA BORING FIGHT HE IS TREATED THIS WAY,, ITS SO OBVIOUS THAT THE UFC IS ALL ABOUT MONEY,, AND WHATS REALLY SAD IS LIDDELL IS GETTING LIKE 5 TIMES MORE MONEY THEN ARLOVSKI,, LETS PUT THEM TWO TOGETHER IN THE CAGE,, ARLOVSKI WOULD KILL HIM,,, I THINK DANA WHITE NEEDS TO GET OVER HIMSELF AND PAY THESE GUY MORE..ARLOVSKI “WILL” GET THE BELT BACK AND DANA WHITE WILL EAT HIS WORDS….