It wasn’t always pretty but Andrei Arlovski kept his winning streak alive with a gritty performance to beat Jake Collier in the UFC Vegas 53 co-main event.
The seemingly old-looking heavyweight fought through bloody cuts and possibly broken noses to win a split decision victory in three rounds. Two judges gave Arlovski the fight with the same 29-28 scores while the third official actually saw Collier winning every round with a 30-27 scorecard.
Arlovski won the final round, but he still managed to win the title. This is his fourth consecutive win.
“It’s a hell of a fight,” Arlovski said. In fact, Jake was the one who cut me in my last four to five fights. Good luck in the future. I’m sorry if I disappointed you. After tonight’s performance, I need to do a lot of homework with my coaches.”
Throwing heavy leather from the jump, Collier was putting his weight behind almost every punch as he looked to take off Arlovski’s head. As Collier continued to press forward, Arlovski responded with timely straight punches.
After the end of the first round, Arlovski was seen leaving the area with blood streaming down his face from a brief elbow by Collier. The heavyweights then continued their battle on the feet.
Collier kept looking out for big, overhand strikes from left and right. Arlovski focused on combinations of punches. Although Arlovski would be willing to trade and stand in the pocket, Collier seemed to land the most powerful strikes. However, the ex-heavyweight champion did not give up.
Arlovski’s ability to connect with the more technical strikes kept him in every exchange as he traded bombs with Collier in every round.
With close exchanges throughout, Arlovski and Collier were trying to do enough to inch ahead on the scorecard or put the fight away with a knockout to keep the judges on the sidelines. Collier caught Arlovski with an aggressive right hook, followed by a left behindit. However, neither heavyweight was able to land on the floor.
It was a close fight but ultimately two judges thought Arlovski did enough for the win as he continues moving forward in the heavyweight division with an impressive 6-1 run through his last seven appearances overall.
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