Last winter it seemed that Andrei Arlovski had found his groove again. The former UFC heavyweight champion navigated the worst losing streak of his career (5 straight) over 2016-17 to pick up wins over Junior Albini and Stefan Struve. What’s more, he seemed to have improved his notably crack-able chin.
But, while he still hasn’t been KO’d since June of 2017, his winning ways seem to have once again abandoned him. Now coming off losses to Tai Tuivasa and Shamil Abdurakhimov the still top 15 ranked 265er is looking for another chance to rebound.
The UFC is giving him that chance against Walt Harris on December 29th. Officials announced the matchup between the ‘Big Ticket’ and the 39-year-old current ATT fighter on Sunday, October 28th.
Harris enters the bout off a win over Daniel Spitz last June in Utica, NY. The victory brings the Champions MMA talent to 4-6 in his UFC career, with all of his wins coming by way of knockout.
It should make for another major test of Arlovski’s improved resiliance, as well as an opportunity for Harris to climb toward a .500 record in the UFC and a spot in the rankings.
UFC 232 is set to go down in Las Vegas, NV at the T-Mobile Arena. The event is expected to be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson. A women’s superfight between featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes is scheduled for the co-main event.