Andrei Arlovski vs Soa Palelei
 

From Andrei's facebook...

Man I hope he gets the win here. Soa is HUGE though and hits like a truck...really hope Arlovski can stick and move and avoid the big punches. I hate seeing him get KO'd :(

I hope Andrei gets the victory here. While Soa holds victories over virtually nobody, his still huge and hits hard, sth that apparently does the job against Andrei.

If I recall Soa fought against Eddie Sanchez in one of the most grueling fights and he lost. Andrei should be able to take it as long as he focuses on footwork and head movement.

Andrei needs to make one last run in the Octagon. He'll be welcomed with open arms for the exciting fights he puts on.

Yeah Soa lost to Eddie, but that was back at UFC 79. He's also submitted to punches from Cormier.

He's on a 7 fight win streak all coming via KO or TKO. They're against no names and Bob Sapp however.

I wouldn't rank Andreis chances of getting back to the octagon very highly. Sad but true.

I wonder if it's the vendetta from UFC...you know with signing with Affliction OR simply because he hasn't strung enough W's with formidable opponents. The current HW division is getting stale again. Cain just destroyed Big Foot. Cormier, Barnett are stuck with SF for the time being. Overeem is on hiatus. Mir just got whooped on! JDS vs Cain II is the only highly anticipated match up.

No idea. I remember Dana saying he regretted letting Andrei go when he did but later changed his opinion (figures). :dunno:

Well there is probably a reason Dana White initially regretted letting Arlovski go. As for the current heavyweight division I wouldn't describe it as stale. Arlovski wouldn't last very long because of the talent.

Actually talent wise i think he'd fair pretty well in the UFC. It's his chin and the mentality due to that that's failing him at this point.

Here's the issue #1 & #2 have cleared out the division.

Overeem is suspended til the end of the year which is another six months or so.
Brock while not the greatest MMA fighter drew PPVs, but has gone back to his roots.
Mir just lost badly.
Mirko Crocop retired.
Big Nog is aging and about to retire.

Big Foot got his ass handed to em by Cain. Personally thought it would be a little more competitive. Werdum also got beat by JDS, but he's the only interesting HW fighter.
Roy is a gatekeeper.

You just saw Kongo vs Shawn Jordan.

Hunt puts on exciting fights, but against any top notch wrestler or BJJ artist and it should be over.

Brendan Schaub has a weak chin and Matt Mitrione is a decent up and comer, but lost to Kongo which shows he's not quite ready for the upper echelons of the division.

Struve is good, but he wins, loses, wins, loses. Although Barry has a wicked personality he belongs in a lower tiered organization.

Russow just lost.

Stipe and Travis Brown are the only undefeated newcomers, but they are still green. Who else is there Lavar Johnson, Morecraft, Herman, Tuchscherer, Madsen, any Death Clutch fighter for that matter are all C grade fighters.

Minus a few others' I just laid out the entire HW division. What other exciting match ups are there we havn't seen yet. Werdum vs Mir, Hunt vs Pat Barry, Big Foot vs Struve

The division needs Cormier, Barnett, Sergei, and Overeem back to make it interesting. If they put in Arlovski it would make some fights entertaining even if he loses. Arlovski vs Hunt, Kongo, Barry, Struve, etc.