Former UFC heavyweight champ [autotag]Andrei Arlovski[/autotag] showed he still has life in him at age 41 when he beat a surging contender in [autotag]Tanner Boser[/autotag] on Saturday night at UFC on ESPN+ 40.
It was far from the most entertaining affair, but Arlovski (30-19 MMA, 19-13 UFC) did a little bit more over the course of three rounds to net a unanimous decision victory over Boser (19-7-1 MMA, 3-2 UFC) by 29-28 scorecards across the board at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Both men were tentative in the opening moments of the fight until Boser struck first with a pair of leg kicks. Arlovski failed to land a strike in the first two-and-a-half minutes, and Boser was content to circle and look to counter the few opportunities he received. Arlovski started to work the legs with kicks of his own, then mixed some attacks to the head that missed. Boser gave some kicks back down the stretch, but the fist round was dull by any measure.
Boser came out applying a touch more pressure in the second frame, but Arlovski remained calm in hopes of finding a perfect opening. He nearly landed a hook kick to the face, then tagged Boser during a rare exchange. Arlovski landed a straight right hand, then Arlovski came back with a looping left of his own for his best strike of the round. Both men remained cautious for most of the fight, as nothing that caused visible damage landed though 10 minutes.
With the bout up for grabs going into the third frame, Arlovski and Boser picked up to the pace in the early stages. They both connected with a number of hard low kicks and upped the punching output. Arlovski landed a hard straight right with roughly three minutes remaining then came forward with a left hand. Boser stayed focused on attacking the legs over and over, but Arlovski took it all and worked his game. He threw multiple strikes at a time, landing a big one to back Boser up. He couldn’t capitalize, though, and the same sequences played out until the final bell.
Arlovski, who made his UFC debut 20 years ago this month, became the eighth fighter in company history to reach 19 victories inside the octagon.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN+ 40 results include:
- Andrei Arlovski def. Tanner Boser via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Raoni Barcelos def. Khalid Taha via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Giga Chikadze def. Jamey Simmons via TKO (head kick) – Round 1, 3:51
- Yan Xiaonan def. Claudia Gadelha via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Trevin Giles def. Bevon Lewis via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:26
- Alexandr Romanov def. Marcos Rogerio via technical submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 1, 4:48
- Darren Elkins def. Eduardo Garagorri via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 3, 2:22
- Max Griffin def. Ramiz Brahimaj via TKO (injury) – Round 3, 2:03
- Gustavo Lopez def. Anthony Birchak via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:43
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