The UFC heads to the Brazilian capital city of Brazilia for this weekend’s Fight Night event headlined by the Heavyweight match-up between Antonio Silva and Andrei Arlovksi. Right now as we head into fight week, Silva is the solid (-400) favorite, with the comeback on Arlovski sitting at +325. It isn’t the first time the two have met, as they faces each other in May of 2010, with Silva winning the Unanimous Decision the first time around.
Since that first meeting, Arlovski has gone a solid 7-2 with a NC in 10 fights, though the level of competition the includes the likes of ‘Iron Man’ Travis Fulton and Tim Sylvia, but he was commonly seen as doing the hard work necessary to return to the UFC. And despite UFC President Dana White’s eyes on the door, Arlovski returned to the UFC whereas Tim Sylvia was not are-signed despite doibf a fight event in his home state.
Arlovski’s June 2014 ‘return’ tot he UFC resulted in a Split Decision win over Brendan Schaub in what may be a candidate for ‘Worst’ match of 2014. Arlovksi’s limitations as a striker, who though long and with a lot of reach, is not a big heavyweight as he comes in about 240 lbs. He is cautious because he has to protect his weak chin, so Arlovksi’s matches inevitably settle down at a slow pace as time has passed.
Well, Antonio Silva’s head alone is close to 240 lbs. Though Silva needs to be careful because Arlovski can KO people (he is the only person to stop Roy Nelson that way) he can take punishment to dish it out, and he wants to get Arlovski corralled and up against the fence chest to chest as quickly as possible. From there he needs to maul Arlovski and take him out.
Silva is in a touchy spot as well. he is coming off a long layoff, mainly due to a suspension for testosterone. Perhaps he just brushed up against Vitor Belfort and blew hot, or perhaps his performance now may drop off without them. That is what we are betting on here. Because Silva has been fighting at a higher level than Arlovski and he has more tools to finish the fight than Arlovski, and he is bigger and more capable of imposing his will on the fight. Let’s hope Silva comes out aggressive, if not the fight could break down into a 15 minute snooze fest.
