Andrei Arlovski's Video Blog While Training at Greg Jackson's - Ep. 5

The latest entry from Andrei Arlovski as he continues his training with MMA guru Greg Jackson...

Andrei Arlovski's Video Blog While Training at Greg Jackson's - Ep. 4

Andrei Arlovski talks about his training at Team Jackson's...

Andrei Arlovski's Video Blog While Training at Greg Jackson's

Andrei's Video Blog 1:


Andrei's Video Blog 2:


Andrei's Video Blog 3:

Andrei Arlovski on This Week's Bully Beatdown on MTV

Former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski fights on this week's episode of "Bully Beatdown" on MTV. The show is hosted each week by professional fighter Jason "Mayhem" Miller. Check out clips from this week's episode, which airs Thursday night at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT.

Andrei prepares to fight...

Andrei enters the ring...

Andrei fights Nathan the Bully...

Andrei Arlovski Says Next Fight Will Be Boxing

Andrei Arlovski recently held a question and answer session at the recent Comic-Con Convention in Chicago saying that his next fight will probably be a professional boxing match sometime around the end of November or early December.

He also talked quite a bit about Fedor Emelianenko, Sambo, and numerous other topics.

Watch the question and answer session below:

Andrei Arlovski Slams His Way to Chicago Comic-Con

Andrei 'The Pitbull' Arlovski Slams His Way to Chicago Comic-Con Former UFC

Heavyweight Champion will be signing for free all weekend.

NEW YORK, July 27, 2009 -- At 6'4" and 240 lbs, Andrei Arlovski is a beast. Armed with mixed martial arts skills and a Heavyweight Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) under his belt, Arlovski is a human wrecking ball waiting to unleash havoc at Chicago Comic-Con.

"I've been a huge fan of Andrei's for some time, especially as my interest in MMA really intensified. Being a UFC Heavyweight Champion is something special, and Andrei is one of the few men who can claim he has reached that pinnacle," said Gareb Shamus, producer of Chicago Comic-Con.

At only 27 years of age, Arlovoski is in the prime of his fighting career. Currently, Arlovoski is 9-4 with six wins by knockout and three by submission. Arlovski trains in Chicago and has mentioned making Chicago his permanent home.

Nicknamed "The Pitbull," Arlovski began lifting weights when he was 14 years old because, if you can believe this, bullies actually used to pick on him. Arlovski figured that if he got enough muscle, the bullies would move on to another prey.

Fans can purchase the Chicago Comic-Con exclusive Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski Round 5 action figure featuring him and his pet Pit Bull, Maximus, during the show, and have it signed for free by Arlovski.

Round 5 Series 3 Now Available - Mir, Nog, Big John, Arlovski

PRESS RELEASE:

Round 5 figurines for Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski, "Big John" McCarthy, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, comprising Series 3 of the popular mixed martial arts collectibles, are now available at retail, it was announced today by Round 5 C.E.O. Barron Lau and President Damon Lau. They join the first two Round 5 Series which can be purchased in outlets throughout North America and online at www.Round5MMA.com and in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store.

"We are extremely pleased with the final products for Series 3," said Damon Lau. "Each of the athletes had extensive input into their development, and I know that fans will enjoy the 'small touches' that make Round 5 figurines unique."

Round 5 also confirmed today that Series 4, scheduled for late July/Early August release, will now feature five athletes, Gina Carano, Dan Henderson, Cung Le, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Matt Serra. The Fedor Emelianenko figurine, originally intended to be issued as part of Series 4, is going through an additional redesign and will instead appear as part of a future Series.

"We continue to work closely with Fedor and his team on making his figurine as accurate and true to his persona as possible," added Lau. "Consumers appreciate Round 5's commitment to producing collectibles that capture each athlete's individual style, and we look forward to completing the Fedor figurine with that goal in mind."

Round 5 is also preparing for its large presence at the UFC Fan Expo in Las Vegas in July, where near-complete prototypes of Series 4 will be on display.

In addition to this week's release of Series 3, Round 5 has issued two Series of four athletes each: Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson and Tito Ortiz comprised Series 1 while Rich Franklin, Sean Sherk, Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva were released in Series 2.

Round 5 plans to release collectibles of two additional series of athletes later in 2009, one during each quarter. Athletes to be represented in those series are yet to be announced.

Purchase Round 5 Collectible Figures in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store.

8,867 Witness Strikeforce Night of Upsets

In what can only be described as a "Night of Upsets," 8,867 fans were in attendance at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis to witness the shocking turn of events.

The biggest shocker of the night had to be Brett Rogers' amazing knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Andei Arlovski. Rogers unleashed a flurry of hooks that put Arlovski in a heap on the floor.

No less surprising was the finish to the 182-pound catchweight main event between Robbie Lawler and Jake Shields. For two minutes, Shields looked like a fish out of water, unable to take Lawler down and struggling to find his rhythm on the feet. But in an instant, he rushed Lawler and secureed a fight-ending guillotine choke.

Strikeforce Lawler vs Shields Weigh-in Videos

Robbie Lawler & Jake Shields:

Phil Baroni & Joe Riggs:

Andrei Arlovski:

(Courtesy of ShoSport)

Strikeforce Feature Photos: Baroni, Arlovski, & Smith

Esther Lin, the photographer for Strikeforce, took some great feature shots as we head into Strikeforce "Lawler vs. Shields" on Saturday night on Showtime. Here are some of Phil Baroni, Andrei Arlovski, and Scott Smith...

Andrei Arlovski Breaks Down Brett Rogers

A preview of Friday night's Inside MMA on HDNet has Andrei Arlovski talking about his upcoming fight with Brett Rogers at the June 6 Strikeforce event in St. Louis.

Overeem Suffers Hand Injury, Summer Return Possible

News of a heavyweight match-up between Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers arrived at Tuesday's press conference for Strikeforce: Shields vs. Lawler in St. Louis, quashing reports that Rogers would face heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem on the event's main card.

Strikeforce Director of Public Relations Mike Afromowitz told MMAWeekly.com that the bout had been close to finalized, but a hand injury to Overeem scuttled its possibility.

Afromowitz says the Dutch heavyweight will likely return this summer, likely in August. The promotion is taking a much-needed break in July.

Overeem fought last November in his home country, taking out Gary Goodridge by submission.

Round 5 Collectibles Ready to Release Series 3

Below are images of the Round 5 Series 3 figurines, scheduled to be available at retail in the next month. The Series 1 figurines (featuring Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, and Tito Oritz) and the Series 2 figurines (featuring Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, and Sean Sherk) are currently available in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store.

You can also pre-order these new Series 3 collectibles -- featuring Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Big John McCarthy, Frank Mir, and Andrei Arlovski -- now!

Andrei Arlovski - The Prototype

Round 5, creators of the World of MMA Champions collectible figures, has quickly made its mark on the mixed martial arts fan base. With two series already released, the company in January announced its next line of collectibles, Series 3, featuring fighters Andrei Arlovski, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Frank Mir, as well as famed referee "Big" John McCarthy.

Earlier this week, Round 5 released exclusive behind the scenes images of the prototype for its new Andrei Arlovski figure. The company gives immense creative control to the subjects for the figures that Round 5 creates. So, of course, Arlovski's figure is captured in his famed pose with his arms spread wide and vampire-fanged mouthpiece intact.

The set featuring Arlovski, Series 3, will be available in April.

Round 5 already has two series on the market. Series 1 features Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, and Randy Couture. Series 2 features Sean Sherk, Rich Franklin, Wanderlei Silva, and Anderson Silva.

(Both Series 1 and Series 2 are currently available in the MMAWeekly.com Online Store either as a complete series or as individual fighters.)

Atencio Gives Up "Reckoning" PPV Numbers....Sorta

MMAInsider spoke with Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio on Wednesday evening as he returned from a meeting with executives from Golden Boy Entertainment. The spectacled promoter said his team is working on logistics with the boxing promoters for future shows. At the time, he doesn't know whether the idea of cross-breeding MMA and boxing will materialize. His guess for the alliance's next event ranged from June to July.

But enough of all those question marks--MMAInsider wanted to know what the pay per view numbers were for "Day of Reckoning."

Published reports citing Golden Boy CEO Richard Schafer have put the figure between 150,000-200,000 buys, giving the promotion a low estimate--at $44.95 a pop--of between $6,742,500 and $8,990,000 in net revenue.

Atencio, citing his company's desire not to discuss money a la the UFC, put it this way: "We did 50% better than our last event."

MMAWeekly.com was the first to report his estimate for Affliction's first event, "Banned," in which he said the broadcast "did well over 100,000 (buys)." That was before the partnership with Golden Boy; Atencio said his company got a better deal than the standard 40 percent of net revenue doled out to the promoter of the event. A conservative estimate of a $2.4 million take was "within the ballpark."

In an interview with MMAInsider following the second event, Atencio claimed he was not privy to the pay per view deal secured for "Reckoning," as Golden Boy was dealing with Showtime pay per view.

But assuming the standard 40 percent take for promoters in a pay per view event and a 50 percent improvement from 100,000 buys, a low estimate for Afflction/Golden Boy's pay per view take would be $2,697,000. Combined with total gate receipts of $1,429,557, the event could have produced $4,126,557 in gross revenue, excluding other sources like merchandising and sponsorships.

The total on-the-books payroll for the event was $3.3 million. Fedor Emelianenko, who pummeled Andrei Arlovski in the main event, received $1.2 million less than his Belarusian counterpart, but it is widely believed he was given an off-the-books bonus north of a million dollars.

As you would expect, there are a lot of variables in Affliction's equation of profitability. The two companies are private and are required only to disclose the salaries paid to their athletes. There are staff costs, venue costs, taxes, advertising--a litany of expenses that subtract from revenue. And as speculation indicates with Emelianenko, the true numbers of the event's payroll may never be known. Those, in addition to live gate receipts, are a very limited picture of success.

Then there's the possibility that Atencio and Golden Boy have been misleading about the true numbers--not a far-fetched scenario in the world of fight promotion.

Still, even at low estimates, the raw pay per view and gate numbers are impressive for a non-UFC promotion in this economy.

The sustainability of Affliction/Golden Boy's business model is likely the main point of future meetings.

Atencio's "Reckoning" Post-Mortem

MMAInsider: So, how do you feel about the second show?

Atencio: It was work. (laughs) I can honestly say that without the guys that helped me here, Tracy and Shannon and everyone else that's involved, it would have never happened. But aside from that, we made it through, and I'm extremely happy. The fights were awesome, and the event seemed to go pretty well. There were a few glitches, and this is only my second time. As a team, we're still learning.

MMAInsider: Then you've got this Larry Merchant throwing some crap your way.

Atencio: Yeah, it's just like anything else. You have people who are completely myopic and they're not open to anything, and I think that was his way of trying to hurt us, because (allegations of a $5 million payoff to Oscar De La Hoya) are completely false.

MMAInsider: What are some of the roadblocks you encountered on the way to the show?

Atencio: I think it's just the B.S. of rumors, and having to squash that. And they're so minimal, it really doesn't matter, but it's wasted time. Like the ticket sales, the whole 1500 seats sold, then I heard Arlovski broke his hand the week before. It's just petty little rumors.

MMAInsider: You ever feel like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't?

Atencio: I always feel like that. Always.

MMAInsider: There was a report on Yahoo! Sports that your paid attendance was 8,946 for a live gate of $1,512,750. Are those numbers accurate?

Atencio: Not to my knowledge. As far as the numbers, I don't really get into the numbers.

MMAInsider: Is the characterization that Golden Boy does logistics, runs the show, deals with athletic commissions, and Affliction finances the fighter purses, is that accurate?

Atencio: No, that's not accurate. There's definitely things they do, there's things that we're learning, and that's why we brought them on board. Things that they're going to have expertise on that we're just learning.

MMAInsider: How does this partnership work, then?

Atencio: They're handling the back end, the deals, the negotiations when it comes to things like Showtime, and pay per view, and we're doing the marketing -- what we do well. The matchmaking we do because they come from the boxing industry. If we start doing boxing shows, they'll handle the matchmaking for the boxing.

MMAInsider: Is Affliction in charge of the fighter purses?

Atencio: Yes, we are.

MMAInsider: What are the chances of putting on Arlovski vs. Sylvia now? It would seem like those two have a built in storyline and rivalry.

Atencio: It definitely does seem like one. I'm still trying to catch up on my emails alone. I have 500 emails that I have to catch up on. I've got a lot going on.

MMAInsider: Is Fedor vs. Barnett a lock?

Atencio: I'd like to think so, but I haven't even sat down with them and discussed it yet.

MMAInsider: Will your next event be in July?

Atencio: We're shooting for it, we haven't finalized it though. I take it one fight at a time. I just want to focus on each show at a time until we become seasoned at this, and then I'll be able to feel more comfortable to give dates. I like to take things slow. I want to make sure we’re doing everything right, and when we're not, to fix whatever we're doing wrong.

MMAInsider: Well, you mentioned seasoning, and one of the main things that people are looking at is your payroll. You've said in the past you want to make sure fighters don't look at you as a cash cow. You have most of these guys to three-fight deals, and originally, you said you wanted to put on three fights and no more. Is that one of the things you want to look at moving forward as a promotion?

Atencio: Well, just to correct you, I absolutely choose to stay in this. But the reality of it is -- whether we do -- it really comes down to finances. But having said that, the shows are successful in other ways than just that. Our plan is to have four fights a year with Golden Boy, M-1, and Mr. Trump, that's our plan right now. I'm just taking it easy because I want to make sure that each event is methodical on our side. I just don't want to get ahead of myself, get cocky, get arrogant, because I've seen what happens when people do that, and I like to learn from other people's mistakes. Hopefully, I can continue to stay grounded and do that.

Roach: Arlovski Made A Young Man's Mistake

Boxing guru Freddie Roach has been an outspoken ally of his student Andrei Arlovski's striking abilities, and following Arlovski's loss to Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction's "Day of Reckoning," chalked the experience up to youthful inexperience.

"He made a young man's mistake," Roach told MMAInsider backstage. "It was too easy for him. He was winning the fight handily I thought, controlling the fight like we planned. He got a little cocky, and he tried the flying knee from too far away, no setup, and he paid for it."

While it seemed Arlovski may have thrown the high-risk strike because he thought Emelianenko was hurt, Roach disagreed.

"No, not at that moment," he continued. "But Fedor swings hard, that's his thing. He probably had his eyes closed, but he just got lucky, I think. If we had followed a more disciplined fight, and kept to the game plan, I think it was going to be easy."

Roach was unsure about what came next for Arlovski, but said he would continue to work with his student.

Arlovski 360: On the Road to Reckoning Episode 6 (Arlovski vs Fedor)

Affliction Fedor vs. Arlovski L.A. Press Conference

Fedor - Road To Reckoning (Tuesday's Episode)