Andrei Arlovski (Belarus) vs Jake Collier (USA)
UFC Apex, Las Vegas. USA
01.05.2022, 03:00
On May 1, another UFC tournament will take place in Las Vegas (USA). In one of the main card fights, the ageless veteran and former champion Andrei Arlovski will share the cage with American fighter Jake Collier.
The bout will take place in the heavyweight division. Neither fighter is in the top 15 of the official UFC rankings. In bookmakers' betting odds, Arlovski is the favorite.
Get Your Welcome Bonus!Andrei Arlovski: He's been careful, but he's been successful
Arlovski fights more often than in his younger years. Most recently, in February, he won by split decision over Jared Vanderaa. In that fight, the Belarusian fighter operated as the second number successfully counterattacked without passing heavy punches and did not allow to be transferred to the parterre. So, slowly the fight was taken.
Eight days ago, I turned 43. It's a great gift for me, and I've tested my conditioning. I'm good for three rounds, so I'm good. My coach is a bit upset because I didn't do what I was supposed to do, but otherwise, it went smoothly, well, and I'm happy.
It's only been two months, and he is back in the octagon.
And in general, contrary to the skeptics' predictions and despite the haters, Andrei has been quite successful lately. Since 2020, he has fought six times and lost only once to Tom Aspinall, which was only because of his biggest mistake. The result came after Arlovski put his ego and aggression aside and acted prudently, without risk and another cavalry. There is no reason to believe that anything will be different in the fight with Collier.
Jake Collier: Middle division
Give me a good opponent. I named Arlovski because he had a great fight with Chase. I want to fight a legend. I think it's a good fight for me. I want to stay active. I'm tired of fighting twice a year. I haven't taken any damage. I don't even know how long this fight lasted. I didn't miss much. As I said, a fight in March would be awesome for me.
This was said after Collier's last fight. He choked out Chase Sherman in the first round in January and felt the beast in him. But he does alternate between defeats and wins in the UFC, although he doesn't lose by a landslide. He's a fairly versatile fighter with a great but not outstanding arsenal, and his rightful place in the league is certainly middle division. He won't make it to the top, but Jake is certainly no punching bag either. Just what Arlovski needs at the moment.
Expert Betting Tips
Nothing is going to change in this fight. Arlovski will take the lead. He'll be winning little by little, and the judges will give him the win out of respect for his storied past. Andrei will take the fight fair and square, thanks to the insane experience and clear strategy, but without the fountains of blood and swooning fans from admiration. They're more likely to take a nap at this point.
Analysts estimate the victory of the Belarusian fighter at odds of 1.67, the victory of the American at 2.22.
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