- The obvious one, the chin. He's got next to no recovering ability.
- The mental game. The Bigfoot Silva fight was not good. He fought like his primary goal was not getting KTFO again rather than winning. Completely gunshy. He was landing decently against Sergei, but when he gets in tight quarters, he stiffens up, the head movement goes away, the hands drop, and he loses the firefight.
- Most maddening to me...his primary skill is his quickness in and out of range and fast hands. For the love of all that is holy, can someone explain to me WHY THE FACK HE BACKS HIMSELF INTO THE CAGE EVERY FUCKING FIGHT!?!?!?!?!?!? He ALWAYS ends up retreating, giving big strong guys much less area to cover and chase him down. I want him to watch Machida on a straight loop for hours, focusing on nothing but the footwork, how when he gets near the cage he spins off to get his back off of the cage. You are not a MT/clinch fighter Andrei...get the hell off of the cage.
Number 3 was spot on for this fight. Arlovski got himself trapped.
truevalon - Number 3 was spot on for this fight. Arlovski got himself trapped.
He did it when he got stunned early against Rogers too, backed straight up into the cage and made it easy for Rogers to finish him off. Also did it against Bigfoot.
Getting brutally KO'd will change your approach. Getting brutally KO'd a couple of times will change your life.
I noticed backing up against the cage is his biggest problem. He doesn't fight well within the clinch but he ends up there against the cage. He seems comfortable there for some reason.
I thought arlovski looked good, but kharitonov walked through his shots like they were nothing
If he had a good chin, he would be top 5. What's annoying about Arlovski is that you can see the guy is very talented and athletic, he just lacks a good chin and a good gameplan. Sucks for him. He's still probably beat everyone outside of the top 10 or 15 heavyweights..
As soon as he gets tagged the hands go down. 
JOB - If he had a good chin, he would be top 5. What's annoying about Arlovski is that you can see the guy is very talented and athletic, he just lacks a good chin and a good gameplan. Sucks for him. He's still probably beat everyone outside of the top 10 or 15 heavyweights..
No he wouldn't
i agree with all 3 points. he needs to stop going straight back and locking himself against the cage. by doing so its making it that much easier to size up his week chin. he needs to have more side to side movement and head movement. he seriously needs to protect that week chin by moving his head... maybe try that freaky caveman copoeira that clady guida pulled on gomi.
also... he needs to fight some scrubs and slowly build himself back up. he needs to gain the confidence in himself and his/this new style. i think he got over a million for that affliction fight against fedor so why not take a few easy fights against cans.
As soon as he shaved his shoulder hair, he lost his killer instinct.
jjj2121 -He actually probably would. He's not getting submitted. He tends to outland his opponents. He's more physically gifted than the vast majority of HW's. He has good kickboxing. His chin just fails him again and again, and part of that is his own fault due to his defensive faults. However, a good chin would have at least extended his career in the top ranks despite his defensive faults...look at Nog. His best defense was to eat shots while he waited for an opportunity, and he made a great career out of it. If Andrei had the same luxury, he'd probably still be regarded as one of the best HW'sJOB - If he had a good chin, he would be top 5. What's annoying about Arlovski is that you can see the guy is very talented and athletic, he just lacks a good chin and a good gameplan. Sucks for him. He's still probably beat everyone outside of the top 10 or 15 heavyweights..
No he wouldn't
AA has mental breakdown issues (which tend to happen when you get shelled a time or two), but His chin wasnt "weak" (though now, after several bad KO's it certainly didnt get any better). He took a couple of serious shots from Khariktonav before the big ones put him out. His problem is however his mental composure under pressure, he simply does not react well when a guy is willing to come after him, combined with the worry over being KO'd in the past, he sort of breaks down and stops moving/moves backwards, and gets tagged.
I think his Chin gets way overblown regarding weakness. The guy has gone down, but he puts himself, consistently into a position to take big shots. I think if he had a better overall clinch game, and better takedowns to complement his good speed and kickboxing technique, he would do much better. He seems to mentally break himself if he cant get a guy to back away from his aggression standing, and that is a problem.
Ezekiel - I noticed backing up against the cage is his biggest problem. He doesn't fight well within the clinch but he ends up there against the cage. He seems comfortable there for some reason.
Comfortable enough that he manages to go to sleep everytime...
GriffinQ -jjj2121 -He actually probably would. He's not getting submitted. He tends to outland his opponents. He's more physically gifted than the vast majority of HW's. He has good kickboxing. His chin just fails him again and again, and part of that is his own fault due to his defensive faults. However, a good chin would have at least extended his career in the top ranks despite his defensive faults...look at Nog. His best defense was to eat shots while he waited for an opportunity, and he made a great career out of it. If Andrei had the same luxury, he'd probably still be regarded as one of the best HW'sJOB - If he had a good chin, he would be top 5. What's annoying about Arlovski is that you can see the guy is very talented and athletic, he just lacks a good chin and a good gameplan. Sucks for him. He's still probably beat everyone outside of the top 10 or 15 heavyweights..
No he wouldn't
He lost a 5 round standup fight with Tim Sylvia. He lost a 3 round standup fight with Antonio Silva.
He'd be good with a better chin, not top 5 though.
I have slightly different take..
MONEY
u take these guys from some...some...less fortunate coutries all over the world..Cuba, for exaplme.....u bringem to USA.....throw'em a new two door.. and mobile home..20k...or in AAs... like Vera's...case alot better than that....primarily hwts this hapens with bc they are rare to find talent with... and they get 'Ninja Rich' and never reach their potential or suked to begin with and were product of great hype in a weak ass division..weakned even more by several orgs and guys that have to study for drug tests..
Now guys like Jose Aldo... fukin ther is a guy tahst fighting to eat...or was anyways..and what a diff...
always thought AA was average...and caught heat...but unfortunately he is..
this rant and the Pitbulls been put to sleep.. again
rosario02 - I was getting mad everytime he backed into the cage; it's like he was either forgetting the strategy or that wasn't discussed by his corner before the fight
You said it...he backed into the cage...he's not even being forced there. He's doing it himself. There is no way he is being coached to do that.
It really sucks when someone who has such definitive gifts has such a tailor made gameplan for defeat too. Far be it from me tell a fighter when to hang it up but I do think he really should start thinking about his health.
Oddessa - I have slightly different take..
MONEY
u take these guys from some...some...less fortunate coutries all over the world..Cuba, for exaplme.....u bringem to USA.....throw'em a new two door.. and mobile home..20k...or in AAs... like Vera's...case alot better than that....primarily hwts this hapens with bc they are rare to find talent with... and they get 'Ninja Rich' and never reach their potential or suked to begin with and were product of great hype in a weak ass division..weakned even more by several orgs and guys that have to study for drug tests..
Now guys like Jose Aldo... fukin ther is a guy tahst fighting to eat...or was anyways..and what a diff...
always thought AA was average...and caught heat...but unfortunately he is..
this rant and the Pitbulls been put to sleep.. again
I was going to add a fourth point on my OP that fan expectations of his talent level was the fourth issue. Look at this thread, people think AA with a better beard is top 5. I love AA and root for him everytime, but that is nuts.
Another problem he has, for a HW with a bad chin...he's a striker who doesn't really lamp guys. That's a pretty bad combination. The other guy basically has 15 minutes to shut his brain off.
I don't buy that it's money. He seems to deeply care about the result (as compared to someone like Fedor, who is seemingly unfazed by losing), switched his camp out going out to Jackson's...I think he wants it.
Agreed Arloski actually has good foot work when he uses it but keeps stopping and stadning in front of guys and backing into the cage. I knew almost right away he was going to get knocked out when he would move good then stop and stand right in front.