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After surviving three rounds against Ben Rothwell at UFC San Antonio, Andrei Arlovski wants the haters to shut their mouths.
Andrei Arlovski experienced a return to form on Saturday night at UFC San Antonio, blanking the tough and durable Ben Rothwell 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards en route to a unanimous decision win. It was a much needed victory for the Belarus native, as he had lost his last four (although one of those was later switched to a no contest due to drug test failure). Afterward, an emotional Arlovski admitted the win was harder than it looked and he was close to breaking.
”I would love to say nice things about myself but deep inside I thought I was going to finish him in the first or second round,” he said during a media scrum. “But fight went three rounds and I almost gave up in the second round, to be honest with you. He landed a couple of good shots and I guess because I promised my son to get this tonight, I kept fighting the third round. But it was hard.”
”I was kind of scared when he almost finished his takedown, but thank God I escaped and I did what I did, so of course I’m happy. And I mentioned before in interviews, my biggest compliment came from my manager, he told me it’s the best Arlovski in the last three years. When I left the Octagon I started crying. My son told me ‘I hope you’re going to get victory tonight.’ That s**t, it motivates but it hurts at the same time. That’s why I kept fighting. That’s why I got victory late.”
The win was extra sweet given the adversity he went through. He went on a bit of a tirade on that point.
”Ben, he’s a f**king heavy hitter,” Arlovski said. “And once again I want to tell everyone to shut your f**king mouths about my f**king glass chin. So go f**k yourself, f**gots. That’s it. I just proved everyone f**king wrong. I’m happy that I shut their mouths again, so that’s it.”
As for what’s next? The “Pitbull” has a lot of hopes but refuses to name names.
”I want to fight everyone who ever whupped my ass in the past. So of course I want to fight who is in front of me, but it’s up to the UFC, to Dana White, to the matchmakers. And I never pick my opponents. So I’m good to go.”