Andrei Arlovski will face Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC Fight Night 136 on September 15th, which will mark the promotion’s first ever visit to Russia.
The 39-year-old Arlovski saw a two-fight winning streak snapped last time out after coming out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 225 in Chicago.
Prior to that Arlovski had escaped a five-fight losing slump with wins over Junior Albini and Stefan Struve, proving that he still had something to offer in the heavyweight ranks as he approaches his 40’s.
His next opponent will be the 36-year-old Abdurakhimov, who has so far compiled a 3-2 record since joining the UFC in 2015.
Abdurakhimov began his UFC run with a loss to Timothy Johnson, but then won back-to-back bouts against Anthony Hamilton and Walt Harris, followed by a loss to Derrick Lewis and then most recently rebounded with a KO victory against Chase Sherman.
As things stand Arlovski is now ranked No.11 in the division, while Abdurakhimov is just two spots behind at No.13, so there could be a top 10 spot on the cards for whoever emerges with the victory in Moscow.
Arlovski Vs Abdurakhimov joins a UFC Fight Night 132 card that is expected to be headlined by another heavyweight encounter as Mark Hunt squares up to Oleksiy Oliynyk.
