While Mike Winkeljohn may not love training two fighters to fight against one another, it sounds like Andrei Arlovski isn’t having any problem with the situation at all.
Fighters in the same gym, at the UFC level, don’t fight each other very often. So, when they do, that in and of itself becomes a narrative. In the main event of UFC Rotterdam (the UFC’s first ever trip to Holland) Dutch fighter Alistair Overeem takes on Belarusian former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski, both of them Jackson-Winkeljohn fighters.
While that’s not a prospect that makes Mike Winkeljohn particularly happy, it doesn’t sound like it represents any trouble at all for Andrei Arlovski. Not long ago, Alistair Overeem made it clear that the two men, while training partners aren’t friends. And now, in a recent interview with MMA Latest, Arlovski went on the record to say that he’s not about to give Overeem any consideration in the gym when it comes to scheduling training time or getting his work in (transcript via MMA Fighting):
“It is a little weird, but for me, it isn’t weird because I don’t give a f**k. He won’t have coach [Mike] Winkeljohn or Greg Jackson as the coaches so it is no help to him so I am fine with that.”
…
“F**k no, absolutely not,” Arlovski said about splitting his training sessions. “I’m training on my schedule. If I have to be there in the morning, I will be there in the morning. If I have to be there at night, I will be there at night. If I have to be there all f***ing day, I will be there all f***ing day. I’m number one priority for the team and that’s it. Period.”
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“Overeem is in my f***ing way and I will do everything possible to smash him and that’s it. Period.”
There you have it. At least to hear Arlovski tell it, when it comes to Jackson-Wink, he’s going to be getting all the attention he needs to be in top form for May 8th.