Ex-champ Andrei Arlovski knows he can't keep losing, but 'it's primetime for heavyweights'

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski knows the score. He can’t continue to keep losing in the octagon.

After five straight setbacks, it’s unlikely the UFC will give him many more chances – if any – with a loss to Junior Albini (14-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 120.

“I consider myself a smart person, and if I’m going to be losing all the time and getting hit, of course, I’m going to finish this,” Arlovski (25-15 MMA, 14-9 UFC) told MMAjunkie in advance of his FS1-televised fight against Albini at Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va. “I don’t want to be an invalid in a few years, because I have family, and I still have a lot of things to do in my life.”

What’s keeping Arlovski in the fight is the possibility he might be able to reverse the trend. He sees examples like UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and boxing legend George Foreman and thinks he could turn things around late in his career.

As long as he feels he can still compete in the octagon, who’s to tell him he can’t?

“I think it’s primetime for heavyweights,” Arlovski said. “I think I still have a few more years.”

That said, Arlovski is making accomodations to make sure the final years of his career are comfortable. He is now training at the famed American Top Team in South Florida, close to where his family resides, after seven years of working with Greg Jackson at Jackson Winkeljohn Academy.

It was very hard for Arlovski to leave Jackson, but he could no longer bear being away from his loved ones for extended periods of time during training camp.

Now undertaking his second fight under the new camp, Arlovski’s first and foremost goal against Albini is to stay on task. He is prone to getting into reckless firefights, which isn’t good for his chin. If he wants to be successful, he mustn’t stray from the strategies that work.

“I have to be patient,” he said. “I understand expectations are awesome, but for me, it’s more important to stick with my gameplan against Albini.”

To hear more from Arlovski, check out the video above.

And for more on UFC Fight Night 120, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.