Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski really wanted to be part of the upcoming UFC Moscow event and expressed why he had such a strong desire for it during a recent interview.
He is slated to meet Shamil Abdurakhimov in a heavyweight bout at the show, which will not be an easy task. However, he feels that he is well prepared for his daunting challenge.
The Russian fighter (Abdurakhimov) has won three of his past four fights. By accepting this fight, he is slated to try to score the biggest win of his pro-MMA career against the former UFC heavyweight champion.
He stated in a recent interview that he has a certain strategy when it comes to the latter part of his pro-MMA career, which is to fight often and collect a string of wins that way he can get closer to a title shot, which he thought he was close to last year. Thus, the reason he wanted to fight at this event.
“Victory is victory, and I’m like other heavyweights in line for a title shot,” Arlovski said to MMAJunkie. “In 2017, I was one step away from a title shot. After a few losses, I believe I’m top 10 or top 15 right now. I have to keep fighting to show exciting fights and the other job will (be done by) my management team.”
UFC Moscow (also known as UFC Fight Night 136) is set to take place on Saturday, September 15, 2018 at Olimpiyskiy Arena in Moscow, Russia.
The main card will air on the promotion’s streaming service, UFC Fight Pass, at 2 p.m. ET while the preliminary card will also air on UFC Fight Pass, at 10:30 a.m. ET.
