Fedor vs. Arlovski Video

Fedor is taking on yet another UFC champion. This time it’s a fellow sambo specialist Andrei Arlovski. These two MMA giants will battle it out for the for the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WMMA) Heavyweight Championship. Arlovski has had a career rival of sorts since his unexpected UFC departure. He has knocked out both Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson on his way to a title shot with the worlds best heavyweight. While he hasn’t looked overly impressive, he shown signs of improved form, striking and conditioning. He looks to be approaching top form and he’ll need to be if he hopes challenge the dominance of Emelianenko.

Fedor on other hand is coming of one of the most important victories in years. His status as the best heavyweight in the world was in question for over a year. Many including UFC Dana White had dismissed the former Pride star as nothing more than a paper champion. Fedor’s answers to the critics couldn’t be more emphatic. He submitted former champion and long time UFC heavyweight contender Tim Sylvia in less than a minute.

Fedor’s stand-up abilities have gained a lot of respect from the MMA community. However given Arlovski’s size and strength advantage I give the stand up advantage to the Belorussian. Fedor will have to take this fight to the ground. We really haven’t seen Arlovski’s sprawl but he does look quick. We also haven’t seen a lot of his ground game. I suspect if Fedor is able to take “The Pit bull” to the ground it wont be much longer before he submits him.

The winner of this bout will be considered the words top ranked heavyweight. It all happens tomorrow, January 24, 2009 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. The action starts at 9PM EST. Below are the latest preview videos of this epic encounter, courtesy of Affliction Entertainment.