UFC on FOX 23's Andrei Arlovski wasn't aiming for Francis Ngannou but isn't in business of picking opponents

DENVER – You get the sense UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski didn’t exactly want to fight Francis Ngannou at UFC on FOX 23. After all, a young, up-and-coming prospect offers little upside for a former champion fighting a slump.

But thankfully, Ngannou helped him out with motivation.

“He’s a big fan of Mike Tyson, and he’s going to knock out Arlovski in the first round,” Arlovski (25-13 MMA, 14-7 UFC) said at open workouts for his FOX-televised fight on Saturday at Pepsi Center in Denver. “It’s good. I like it. I like his attitude.”

Arlovski needed the boost after a 2016 that “(expletive) sucked” in the form of three straight losses that took him from turnaround contender of the decade to veteran hanging by a string. When the UFC came calling with Ngannou (9-1 MMA, 4-0 UFC), he didn’t have a lot of leverage at the negotiating table.

It was Ngannou’s confidence that caught Arlovski’s attention and turned him around. Having been around the block about a dozen times, the veteran didn’t see much exceptional about his opponent.

“Except that he’s huge and really strong,” Arlovski said. “To me, he looks really cocky,” later adding, “his comments, how he talks to people. I might be wrong.”

The task for Arlovski is still to prove he can compete in the UFC’s heavyweight division. Ngannou has won four straight fights and is considered by some observers to be the future. Arlovski, whose title reign took up all of 2005, is a once-bright star from a past era.

If ever there was a time to turn things around, it would be on Saturday. Arlovski, though, hasn’t abandoned the Jackson-Winkeljohn team that helped him revive his MMA career amid an earlier four-fight losing skid that had many calling for his retirement.

“I had a great camp, great sparring partners and great coaches,” he said. “My personal credo is I never change horses on the bridge.”

Whatever happens, Arlovski will head into the octagon with the goal of upsetting Ngannou and staying on the hunt for a title. A veteran would do no less.

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

And for more on UFC on FOX 23, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.