Andrei Arlovski now has a 2-fight win streak after knocking out Travis Fulton at Pro Elite: Big Guns in Moline on Saturday night.

The opponents haven’t been UFC-caliber, but confidence can do amazing things for a fighter. Arlovski is getting his back. He’ll need to start taking on tougher opponents — no disrespect to Fulton or Raymond Lopez — but for now it’s nice to see him notch two straight wins.

Here’s the newest trailer for the Pro Elite show that is coming to Moline on November 5th. Andrei Arlovski will be fighting Travis Fulton and Tim Sylvia battles Pedro Rizzo.

Killer promo for the first Pro Elite MMA event on August 27, featuring Andrei Arlovski, Kendall Grove and the debut of Reagan Penn, BJ Penn’s brother. Penn will be fighting Paul Gardiner, who holds a professional record of 2-0. The event will take place in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Sergei Kharitonov was able to KO Andrei Arlovski in the opening round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix this weekend. But while most know Kharitionov from his days fighting in PRIDE, he has also fought in K-1. Here is his match against veteran kickboxer Singh Jaideep at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 Final.

The “Pit Bull” is out in New Mexico getting ready for the GP with Greg Jackson. Maybe that front push kick will be a frequently used weapon in Arlovski’s first round match against Sergei Kharitonov.

FLO MMA instructor and Strikeforce heavyweight Andrei Arlovski talks about the upcoming Strikeforce World Grand Prix tourney and his first opponent, Sergei Kharitonov.

Arlovski recently had surgery, so that is likely a factor in his decision not to compete in the event.

The reaction to the news in the MMA blogosphere and message boards is full of doubt.  The main question:  Why foray into kickboxing when he’s been outstruck in his recent MMA fights?

It’s a legitimate question considering many fans have tagged Andrei with a glass jaw label, and boxing career is nearly non-existent.  In fact his best performances of late have come against out of shape novices on MTV’s “Bully Beatdown,” hardly inspiring considering he’s a former UFC heavyweight champion.

However there are two reasons why this could be a move that gets the FLO MMA instructor/fighter his fighting mojo back.  First, despite being a newcomer he is one of the more well known and popular combatants in the field of 16 in Korea.  Plus K1 superstars Badr Hari and Remy Bonjasky will not partake in this event, giving him an even brighter star.   Provided he advances to the Elite 8, Arlovski would for sure be one of the bigger names in contention.  In fact he finished third in the fan poll on the promotion’s website despite never fighting K1 before.

Second, the talk /potential of a match up with fellow Strikeforce heavyweight Alister Overeem would be one of the San Jose based promotion’s most intriguing and sellable fights.  Arlovski’s name in MMA circles would carry weight once again.  People have short memories and it doesn’t take much to make fans forget the stumbles of the past.   Highlights of an Arlovski win over first round opponent Raul Catinas would give us something else to look at besides the Fedor KO and Rogers KO.

From what I am reading from those familiar with Catinas, Arlovski has more than a legitimate shot at beating the Romanian and advancing.

Of course the Andrei can really hurt his image if he looks bad in the K1 ring.  Losing can’t be a major strike against the native Belarusian since this will be his debut.  But if he gets knocked out then it will be another reason to suspect his best days are behind him and perhaps he should leave fighting in general and retire.  He hasn’t had a high profile boxing match yet, and his losses in MMA and K1 would decrease any interest the fans have in seeing him take on the sweet science.

Arlovski surely has the size and athleticism to be competitive, it will be interesting to see if he can make good things happen in the K1 ring for himself.  The best part, we can see how he fares when it comes time to ring the bell.  Here in Chicago you can catch Andrei and the K1 2010 Grand Prix on HDNet.  The live broadcast is scheduled for late Friday night/early Saturday morning on October 2 at 1am central time.

FLO MMA has quickly become one of the top gyms in the Chicago area. Their roster of instructors is second to none, including Achour Esho, Andrei Arlovski, Shonie Carter and Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros. Click on the link above for more info.

Contact them at 847-934-1FLO
709 South Vermont Street | Palatine, IL | 60067