Arlovski (34-20 MMA, 23-14 UFC), a former UFC heavyweight champion, edged Jake Collier (13-7 MMA, 5-6 UFC) by split decision in their heavyweight matchup Saturday. “The Pitbull” traded strikes with his opponent for the majority of three rounds, and ultimately landed on the right end of the judges with a pair of 29-28 scorecards. A third judge had the fight 30-27 for Collier.
The heavyweight bout was the UFC on ESPN 35 co-main event at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It aired on ESPN.
Collier pushed forward immediately into the clinch to start Round 1, and pressed Arlovski against the fence. They finally broke up almost half way into the round, and from there the striking exchanges picked up. Collier landed some hard shots, but Arlovski kept his composure and returned with his own offense with his punches, knees and kicks in a closely contested opening round.
Both men were fully committed to striking for the first three minutes of Round 2. Arlovski and Collier found a home for the boxing at close range, each landing but failing to stagger each other and take the momentum of the fight. Collier scored his first takedown with less than two minutes remaining, but he couldn’t do anything effective with it before Arlovski stood up. They got into a brief slugfest to close another close round, bringing the small crowd on hand to a raucous cheer.
Collier came out ultra-aggressive to start Round 3. He put Arlovski on he back foot with his pressure and punching output, but just as momentum was swinging his way, there was a third inadvertent head butt of the fight that caused referee Marc Smith to halt the action and issue a warning to both men. Both men showed desperation as the fight entered the final three minutes. There were solid flurries on both ends, but fatigue started to show and the power behind the shots faded. It became a points game at that point, and there were meaningful strikes landed on each side. Collier scored a late takedown, too, but there was no time remaining to do anything.
In the end, two of the three judges valued Arlovski’s work as the more significant, and as a result he got his 23rd UFC win, which ties him with Donald Cerrone and Jim Miller for most on the all-time list.
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