“Uncle Dana Helped Me”: 45-Year-Old UFC Fighter Eyes Career Extension Amidst Financial Responsibilities

Veteran Andrei Arlovski is not yet ready to close the book on his MMA career. Currently 45, Arlovski’s last fight in the promotion came at UFC 303 when he fought Martin Buday in the prelims. While he did put up a spirited effort, it just wasn’t enough. Arlovski could retire tomorrow and still be proud. So why does he not?

Following his parting from Dana White and the UFC, the veteran has revealed the harsh reality that prompts him to continue his MMA career.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani in The MMA Hour, he revealed that he wanted to fight till after turning 48 to beat Bernard Hopkins’ record. And then there are the financial troubles.

While he credited White for helping him buy a house, he did not shy away from revealing his financial constraints.

“I want to beat a couple of more records. One of them is Bernard Hopkins, he fought at 48 last fight and was champion. Obviously, Uncle Dana (White) helped me buy a new house but I need to pay bills. I have a newborn baby, so I need to do a couple of more years

Andrei Arlovski says he wants to fight at least until he's 48 years old like boxer Bernard Hopkins, who became a champion at that age.

"Uncle Dana [White] helped me to buy a new house, but I need to pay bills. I have a newborn baby."

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Now, even though he doesn’t have a definitive answer as to when or where he will fight next, he still has plans to compete.

Meanwhile, ‘The Pitbull’ has also revealed the conversation he had with the UFC before White decided to drop him from the roster.

Why did the UFC drop ‘The Pitbull’?

Now, Arlovski is not a new face for hardcore MMA fans, who know him as the tough, gritty Belarussian who took the fight to the ‘Last Emperor’ Fedor Emelianenko back in the now defunct MMA promotion, Affliction.

He started with the UFC, where during his brief run saw him take the heavyweight title and defend multiple times, he decided to try his luck in other promotions, parting ways and joining Affliction in 2008.

Though he defeated Ben Rothwell and remains the only man to finish Roy Nelson, Fedor derailed the hype train with R1 KO promoting him to join Strikeforce.

Following a brief stint in Strikeforce, One FC, ProElite, and World Series of Fighting he returned to the UFC roster in 2014 to face Brendan Schaub.

Despite being victorious against Schaub and racking up a couple of more wins, his stocks dropped to an all-time low suffering back-to-back losses.

In total, he suffered 15 losses in the second half of his UFC career.

Now coming to the meat of the matter, the veteran said that he knew that it was his last fight at UFC 303 and when the UFC gave him a few options to resign, he turned down the offer.

Of course, he still wants to fight and is now considering other more lucrative options.