Andrei Arlovski claimed a unanimous decision victory over Frank Mir tonight at UFC 191, though by his own admission it wasn’t a performance he’s particularly proud of with both men looking tired before the final bell.
Round One:
Both men feeling out with the jab to start. Flurry from Arlovski, but Mir goes for the clinch and presses him up against the cage.
Couple of knees to the leg of Arlovski now and then they break apart. Hard right hand from Arlovski that’s mostly blocked. Mire with left hands as he presses forward and then a right.
Right hand lands for Arlovski now. Mir’s hands quite low but he gets them back up as Arlovski tries to land a right hand. A right does land now for Arlovski and a leg kick.
Mir has been taking the center of the Octagon while Arlovski moves on the outside. Mir with a punch as he steps into the clinch. Nothing happening from here and they separate. Leg kick for Arlovski. Another kick for Arlovski and Mir responds with a short flurry of punches into the clinch against the cage. Arlovski spins him around, lands a punch and moves away.
Arlovski steps in with a hook and then is back out of range again. Arlovski misses a punch and Mir is back into the clinch and pushes Arlovski to the cage.
90 seconds to go in the round and they break away. Arlovski goes for a collar tie and lands an uppercut. They break then Mir lands another punch as he clinches again. Arlovski reverses, then Mir returns to the favor. Not a whole lot happening from these clinch-ups so far. Arlovski turns him once again with 30 seconds remaining.
Knee strike from Arlovski to the midsection as they move apart. They both try to land punches as the round comes to a close.
Round two:
Arlovski with a low kick. Mir fires into a takedown attempt, doesn’t get it immediately, but works hard and does land it in the end. Mir in Arlovski’s full guard now with almost a full round to work.
He postures up and lands an elbow as Arlovski scores with punches from the bottom. Arlovski trying to tie him up,but Mir lands some heavy elbows to his ribs. Arlovski just holding him now and that works out as the ref stands them up.
Mir gets his head out the way of a punch. Good body kick from Arlovski. Right and a left from Mir and he’s back into the clinch now. Arlovski immediately reverses and they separate.
Leg kick for arlovski. Mir waits and tries to land a punch but it doesn’t pay off. Mir ducks a punch and clinches just for a moment. Mir wings a punch past his opponent’s head.
Mir trying to bait Arlovski by the looks of things, but we’ve not seen the payoff yet. Mir comes forward and tries a spinning backfist, but not a ton of momentum behind it.
Arlovski clinching and then moves away. Arlovski scores with a right hand. Mir just standing there and ducks a punch. Strike lands for Arlovski and Mir’s mouthpiece comes out. He’s allowed to get it back in. Arlovski clinches and presses him to the cage as the round comes to an end.
Round Three:
Right hand from Arlovski and it’s blocked by Mir. Arlovski clinching now. He lands a couple of light knees and Mir responds with one and the ref separates them for stalling.
Arlovski with an overhand right that misses clearly. Arlovski clinches. The crowd gets restless with the lack of action from this position. Stalling tactics more than anything here. Couple of knee strikes to the leg from Arlovski. He looks tired.
Ref separates them again. Mir ducks the right hand from Arlovski. Mir clips Arlovski with a strike and he goes to the mat. Mir follows him down, but Arlovski manages to find a way back to his feet relatively quickly.
Arlovski back to the clinch, but Mir reverses. They battle for position against the cage. Knee to the body from Arlovski but not much behind it. Crowd boos again and the ref pulls them apart.
Just over a minute remaining. Arlovski with a kick to the leg. Arlovski presses forward with combination and the left hand gets through, snapping back his opponents head. He lands it again. Mir bleeding from a cut near his right eye.
Arlovski clinching. They separate in the final 10 seconds. Right hand lands a couple of times for ‘The Pitbull’ and that’s the end of the round.
Decision:
Quite a close, and if truth be told a Bit of a lethargic heavyweight fight here with lots of action-light clinch work and hesitation in the striking at times. Still, the judges feel there was a unanimous decision winner, and it’s Arlovski who gets his hand raised (29-28 x2, 30-27).
