

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Andrei Arlovski has carried a loaded gun around his whole life. Last night was the first time in a long while that he actually chose to fire it.

Arlovski knocked out the hulking Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva in the first round with the tremendous right hand which we all remembered him having, but only vaguely—as if all those knockouts happened in a dream.

You see, the problem which has plagued Arlovski throughout his career is that he is pretty hittable, and he struggles to take a good shot. His 'right hand power' to 'punch tolerance' ratio must be one of the most severe in mixed martial arts history. And it seemed that the more time Arlovski put in on his boxing with Freddie Roach, the less he threw that right hand and the more he attempted to jab and move—something he just wasn't that good at.

Finally, under the care of Team Jackson Winkeljohn, Arlovski seems to be finding a style more suited to his strengths and weaknesses. Yes, he wants to stick and move, but he also needs to be throwing and landing that right hand as often as possible.

Against Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva, Arlovski would leap in with a right hand, and then clinch or duck away. He didn't avoid getting hit altogether—but it sure beats standing on the end of his opponent's punches like he used to.

Midway through the first round, one of these right hands stunned Bigfoot, and a second put him to sleep.



Notice the dropped left hand as he throws his second right—a very dangerous game for someone with a history of knockout losses like Arlovski's. Notice also the Donkey Kong double hammerfist as the referee intervenes.

When Arlovski is at his best is when he's punching in combination—but it doesn't need to be neat combination punching: all he really needs to do is throw that right hand as much as possible. It keeps the opponent's head down and his mind off of punching back at Arlovski, and it is so often the second right hand which puts his opponents to sleep while they're still thinking about the first one.

His combination work against Roy Nelson and Ben Rothwell was sublime—and he is the only man to knock both of those iron jawed brawlers out. That certainly puts Arlovski in the shortlist of “heaviest hands in MMA”.

Though my hopes are not high for another title run from Andrei Arlovski, this fight showed more of what I hope to see from him. He just doesn't have the defensive skills or chin to be out at boxing range the whole time.

He has some of the best takedown defence on record in the UFC, so he knows his way around the clinch. Punch in, clinch up, don't get caught with stray punches, and don't simply start retreating when the opponent starts punching as he did in so many of his losses—most notably againt Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov, two fighters who really don't have the tools which one should need to beat a fighter of Arlovksi's skill.

Odds and Ends From Around the Fight World

Fight Night: Bigfoot versus Arlovski was not a particularly strong card, but there were some decent moments. Iuri Alcantara, whom I always enjoy watching, demonstrated again the power of kicks with the ball of the foot to the body. I don't know how these are still being under appreciated as they visibly change the attitude of the fighter who receives them.

Elsewhere in the mixed martial arts world, Paul Daley pulled off another knockout win by way of—you'll never guess—left hook. This time a stepping left hook to the body. Surprisingly it was Daley's jab which was on point throughout much of the fight.

Daley has gone 7-1 since his loss to Kazuo Misaki in 2012 and this return to BAMMA was an impressive one. If BAMMA can keep him around they could be on to a real box office star.

The finishing blow was what used to be called The Fitzsimmons Shift. A shift, as we discussed in relation to T.J. Dillashaw the other week, is a stepping punch. The Fitzsimmons Shift was the punch which Robert Fitzsimmons used to take the world heavyweight title from Gentleman Jim Corbett and become just the third man to hold the title. “Ruby Rob” would step his right foot to the outside of his opponent's lead foot, stepping into a southpaw stance, and put in the left to the midsection as his shoulders and hips followed onto this new angle.

Daley's is a good deal more dynamic and fun to watch though! The left high kick which just missed as Da Rocha dropped was also a thing of beauty.

Elsewhere still, Bellator's light heavyweight champion, Emanuel Newton defended his title on Friday night against Joey Beltran. This fight represents the arrival of Scott Coker style matchmaking to Bellator—building the brand of champions by putting them in entertaining mismatches, as Coker did with Nick Diaz.

But let's not be too hard on Newton, he is a brilliant competitor who can only fight the guys put in front of him. Newton first came into the public eye when he used a bizarre spinning backfist to lay out Muhammad 'King Mo' Lawal.

Really, the hammerfist that Newton threw was a half turn to recover position more than a full spin. And it demonstrates the short space and small amount of power needed to knock a fighter out if you catch them at the right time, with something unexpected. A year later and four fights on, and Newton did it again! Looking for spinning kicks and even Chuck Norris jumping back kicks throughout, Newton eventually drew Beltran in along the fence and clocked him with the backhand.

Two such knockouts pretty much rules off the idea of fluke—but watching Newton fight, it's clear that he wants opponents to step into his spin. He spent the entire fight throwing side kicks at Beltran and stepping across himself along the fence, hoping for Beltran to bum rush him and walk right into the backfist.

Finally, this bout from World Series of Fighting showed us why it is often best to turn in and take kicks on both forearms. You will see so many great Nak Muay focus their kicking ire on the arms—because they're in the way of the good targets and, if you keep kicking them, you can have as much effect.

Later in the week we'll be looking at the fighters and match ups of the upcoming UFC Fight Night in Japan, headlined by Mark Hunt versus Roy Nelson.

Pick up Jack Slack's ebook, Fighting Karate at his blog Fights Gone By. Jack can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

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