Ex-UFC Champ Compares Himself To Boxing Legend George Foreman

Former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski vows to channel boxing Hall of Famer George Foreman as he makes another run at reclaiming his title.

Arlovski is one of the few aging UFC heavyweight fighters who can still compete with some of the younger elites in his division. The 41-year-old is once again booked for another main card bout in UFC Fight Night: Santos vs. Teixeira on Saturday.

Ahead of the fight, “The Pitbull” remains confident that he can defy the laws of time and compared his lengthy career with that of Foreman, a boxing legend who became a champion in his mid-40s and defended his belt until he was 48.

“I take care of my body,” Arlovski recently told reporters on UFC media day. “I choose what is most important for me now. There are not many UFC fighters over age 40 that are still fighting.”

“Me, Alexey Oleynik, Yoel Romero, and Anderson Silva who fought last weekend, listen, I have a great example in George Foreman, who became champion at age 46,” he added. “Mark my words, for me primetime is ahead of me in near future.”

Despite having only four wins in his last 15 fights under the UFC banner, Arlovski was still handed a chance to prove himself worthy of a possible crack at the heavyweight title. He is set to face Canadian heavyweight contender Tanner Boser, who is coming off back-to-back KO wins.

Boser is well aware of Arlovski’s legendary status but insisted that none of it would matter as soon as they meet inside the octagon.

“I knew who he was, of course, and I’d seen some replays on like Spike TV or whatever,” Boser recently told Cageside Press. “I’ve seen his fights with Tim Sylvia, I was aware of him, and I definitely cheered for him on his win streak, when he came back to UFC.”

The 29-year-old also admitted that despite enjoying watching the former UFC champ’s fights, he doesn’t consider himself a “fanboy.”

“I’d say I cheer for [Andrei] Arlovski more than I don’t,” Boser added. “I’m obviously not in this one. But is he a guy that I watched a lot? No. I’ve definitely seen most of his fights, but he was never a guy I was overly a fanboy of. But I always enjoyed watching him fight and I have a lot of respect for him.”

Arlovski was once one of the most feared heavyweight fighters in the world, earning a reputation as a heavy-hitter with his vicious knockout power.

The Belarusian-American mixed martial artist's last win came in May when he defeated Philipe Lins by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Weidman.