© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
4/10/2006
Special thanks to Leo Khorolinsky
On April 15, 2006, UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski will be stepping into the Octagon to defend his title against former champion Tim Sylvia. But what does Andrei do when he's not putting his belt on the line?
"I like to read, go out to nice restaurants and listen to music. But quite frankly, I don't have a lot of free time. Right now, I'm doing a lot of endorsements, and a lot of charity work has been scheduled for me. I've also been doing very intense English lessons. Straight after my fight with Paul Buentello, I commenced private lessons with three, and some times four, tutors working one after the other with me each day. The sessions lasted for eight hours and went for a month," says Arlovski.
For some time now, some critics have suggested UFC may be a little light-on in the heavyweight department. But whether in Belarus, Chicago or Tokyo, Arlovski knows talk is cheap.
"The only thing my management and I hear some people say is that PRIDE has better heavyweight fighters. But this is my job and I'm a professional athlete, so I don't concern myself with what people say.
"On my website, I receive over one million hits a month, and I get a lot of positive emails from fans all over the world. And as a professional athlete, I fight whoever they put in front of me. Today I signed another contract with UFC. And if they decide to bring people from PRIDE to fight me, then I will fight people from PRIDE. I don't care what organisation my opponents are from."
Andrei's manager, Leo Khorolinsky, added: "With the growth of UFC, it is getting major dollars rolled into it, and I wouldn't be surprised if in the future we see top fighters from PRIDE competing in UFC, because UFC is growing and bringing in revenue. So I think you will see some of the best fighters from PRIDE fighting in UFC."
At UFC 57, two other big guns from the heavyweight division showed they are not to be taken lightly in that class. UFC heavy hitter Paul Buentello and Rage in the Cage KO specialist Gilbert Aldana clashed for one-and-a-half rounds of non-stop thunder.
Andrei did not compete at this event, but was on hand to observe the competition. "It was two big guys going at each other. You could tell Gilbert was a tough guy, but he could probably work on his defense a little because Paul was able to land shots quite easily. Paul is a good fighter and he has a very strong punch."
Another heavyweight on the card was 5'9" Jeff Monson. "He's a known fighter and tough. I don't look at whether someone is tall or not tall. If they are strong and possess skills and the ability to punch, then they are all dangerous fighters. Look at Randy Couture. He isn't a very tall guy, but he dominated heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions for a long time. Don't underestimate the shorter guys – especially a guy who's won Abu Dhabi twice. He has to know a thing or two."
Read the full article on Knucklepit.com.
