Andrei Arlovski is not slowing down.
The former UFC heavyweight champion is still picking up victories even 22 years after his professional MMA debut. The 42-year-old Arlovski (31-20 MMA, 20-14 UFC) out-pointed Chase Sherman for a unanimous decision that read 29-28 across all three judges’ scorecards.
The heavyweight clash served as the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 22 event in Las Vegas. Jeremy Stephens vs. Drakkar Klose was originally scheduled as the co-main event of the card, but a same day cancellation promoted Arlovski vs. Sherman (15-7 MMA, 3-6 UFC) to the co-headlining act.
In the first round, both fighters started hot as they exchanged hard strikes that connected well. Sherman mainly walked down Arlovski, but both had similar levels of output. The fight was even until there was a minute remaining in the round. Sherman connected hard and wobbled Arlovski. He followed up with more punches further hurting the former champ, but not enough to put him away. Arlovski did a good job surviving and staying in the fight until the bell rang.
The second round was close, but Arlovski seemed to get the better of the exchanges. Both fighter landed plenty of shots, but Arlovski focused a lot more on leg kicks and battered Sherman badly throughout the round. There was significant redness and swelling on Sherman’s left leg.
Starting the final round, Sherman’s mobility was compromised. “The Vanilla Gorilla” was moving slow and chasing after Arlovski a lot less. Arlovski was able to bounce around Sherman, landing varied attacks to the body, head and legs. Arlovski connected well and often but wasn’t bale to put away Sherman, who also had some good moments.
With this result, Arlovski picks up his 20th win in the UFC. He moves into tie for fourth on the all-time UFC wins list, tying Michael Bisping, Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre.
The American Top Team product is 3-1 in his past four trips to the octagon. He made his UFC debut in November 2000 and he was champion of the promotion back in 2006.
Meanwhile, Sherman saw a four-fight wining streak come to an end. He’s 1-1 since re-joining the UFC in 2020.
Below are the updated results for UFC on ESPN 22:
- Andrei Arlovski def. Chase Sherman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Jacob Malkoun def. Abdul Razak Alhassan via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tracy Cortez def. Justine Kish via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Tracy Cortez def. Justine Kish via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
- Alexandr Romanov def. Juan Espino via technical split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28) – Round 3, 1:05
- Jessica Penne def. Loopy Godinez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Gerald Meerschaert def. Bartosz Fabinski via technical submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 2:00
- Austin Hubbard def. Dakota Bush via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Tony Gravely def. Anthony Birchak via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 1:31
