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Andrei Arlovski honors ATT coaches by sticking to plan, not brawling at UFC Fight Night 195

LAS VEGAS – At 42, Andrei Arlovski is still enjoying the fruits of his labor and maturity in the fight game.

The former UFC heavyweight champion notched a historic victory on Saturday night, as he extended his record for most wins in divisional history. Arlovski (32-20 MMA, 21-14 UFC) defeated Brazil’s Carlos Felipe by unanimous decision in the co-main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 195.

The American Top Team legend is on a good run of winning four of his past five fights, and he credits his success to his ability to stick to a game plan along with his great coaching staff.

“I almost followed his (Felipe’s) direction because he wanted to brawl. I almost did it, but thank God I calmed down and stuck with my game plan,” Arlovski said at the post-fight news conference. “I heard (coach) Mike Brown scream, Paulino scream, ‘Move around, keep your hands up,’ and thank God (I did). For me, only one problem: I get my ass whooped if I don’t stick to my game plan. I did OK.”

Arlovski believes he had issues with following the strategies built for his bouts early in his career and is glad he’s no longer reckless.

“Before I was crazy like, ‘Oh, I need to challenge him, I need to prove someone.’ But I don’t need to prove to anybody,” Arlovski explained.
“I do my job, I had a great camp, and I know my coaches did great homework. My coaches spent a lot of time and put a lot of knowledge inside of me.”

Arlovski not only wants to follow game plans for his sake, but also because he wants to honor the work and effort his coaches put in to get him prepared for his UFC fights.

“My coaches, they spent a lot of time at ATT with me,” Arlovski said. “Every time I need to work out, I call them, and they find a time for me. I felt if I want to follow his game plan then I’m going to let my coaches down. All this hard work and all this camp gets thrown in the garbage, so I had to be smart.”

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