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The last phase of Andrei Arlovski had a habit of not really pressing the action, which, like Benson Henderson, led to a lot of controversial split decisions.
Now that he's done with the UFC, let's take another look at the weirder decisions on his scorecard and see what his record would look like in a more perfect world.
Buday def. Arlovski: Arlovski's final spar—er, fight—was done at a glacial pace and ended up being very close. Not quite a robbery but I thought Arlovski edged out the third round in a fight that was 1-1. A majority (55.3%) of fans scored the fight for Arlovski, which was also reflected in the media scorecards (7/12 for Arlovski).
Acosta def. Arlovski: Waldo Cortes-Acosta is far more annoying than he has any right to be based on his ability to fight. However, I thought he rightfully ended up with the decision against Arlovski, and most media members (16/17) felt the same way. Interestingly enough, 46% of fans (probably less happy with Costa's showboating than anything else) managed the score the fight for Arlovski.
Arlovski def. Collier: Even grotesquely mediocre as he is, it is hard to score this fight for anyone other than Collier. And yet the genius of Sal D'Amato and Douglas Crosby managed to see it two rounds Arlovski. 14/14 media for Collier and a mere 15.7% of fans for Arlovski.
Arlovski def. Vanderaa: A close but clear win for Arlovski, and a split decision it should not have been. 15/15 media members as well as 87.8% of fans had the fight for Arlovski. A bad scorecard isn't dissenting judge Robert Alexander's only crime, as he has since arrested in connection with sexual assault on a minor.
Arlovski def. Felipe: What probably could have been a split decision ended up unanimous for Arlovski. Surprising, considering that this fight was a total coin flip—Arlovski was winning most of the first half while Felipe won most of the second half. 7/12 media members scored it for Arlovski, as well as 63% of the fans.
Arlovski def. Boser: Awful fight and no real way to tell who won. What probably should have been a draw turns into another unanimous win for Arlovski, which I'm generally OK with when it's a 20-something-old "prospect" failing to make it a convincing against someone who made his debut before the Internet era. 10/16 media for Arlovski, and 46.1% of fans.
Arlovski def. Lins: Not so much a weird decision but a weird scorecard; Arlovski almost certainly should have lost the first round but two of the judges did not see it that way.
Sakai def. Arlovski: By and far the worst robbery on his record, and potentially the worst robbery of that year. I was struggling to give Sakai even one round. 12/13 media members gave it to Arlovski (the dissenting one scoring it a draw) as well as 92% of fans.
Tuivasa def. Arlovski: A genuinely good scrap, reasonably technical and well-paced. It's a wonder that Arlovski's chin held up. The mild dissent in the media (5/18 for Arlovski) was magnified in the fan scoring (48.7%), which reflected how close the fight was. Certainly a factor was the battered and bloody visual of Tai afterwards.
Arlovski def. Schaub: Talmbout robberies, B? The first of Arlovski's controversial decisions is one I have to regrettably score for Bapa himself. Shitty fight though, and neither really did anything to really solidify a win. A scant 2/15 media members scored it for Arlovski, and only 27% of fans.
Conclusion
My biggest takeaway from watching these fights is that the 9-9 (or, if you'd like, 10-10) function should be used more often. Instead of scoring a coin-flip round as a draw, judges tend to literally flip a coin which leads to scorecards that often seem more arbitrary than anything. I get that draws hold up the division, but when careers are on the line, it is always better to err on the side of accuracy.
At least four of these fights were probably scored incorrectly (Schaub, Sakai, Collier, and Buday). But the robberies balance themselves out since there were two for him and two against him, so his record would remain the same either way. All the other fights were either very close or entirely coin-flips (and mostly not very fun to watch).
Nonetheless, thank you Andrei for such a long and fruiful career.
Now that he's done with the UFC, let's take another look at the weirder decisions on his scorecard and see what his record would look like in a more perfect world.
Buday def. Arlovski: Arlovski's final spar—er, fight—was done at a glacial pace and ended up being very close. Not quite a robbery but I thought Arlovski edged out the third round in a fight that was 1-1. A majority (55.3%) of fans scored the fight for Arlovski, which was also reflected in the media scorecards (7/12 for Arlovski).
Acosta def. Arlovski: Waldo Cortes-Acosta is far more annoying than he has any right to be based on his ability to fight. However, I thought he rightfully ended up with the decision against Arlovski, and most media members (16/17) felt the same way. Interestingly enough, 46% of fans (probably less happy with Costa's showboating than anything else) managed the score the fight for Arlovski.
Arlovski def. Collier: Even grotesquely mediocre as he is, it is hard to score this fight for anyone other than Collier. And yet the genius of Sal D'Amato and Douglas Crosby managed to see it two rounds Arlovski. 14/14 media for Collier and a mere 15.7% of fans for Arlovski.
Arlovski def. Vanderaa: A close but clear win for Arlovski, and a split decision it should not have been. 15/15 media members as well as 87.8% of fans had the fight for Arlovski. A bad scorecard isn't dissenting judge Robert Alexander's only crime, as he has since arrested in connection with sexual assault on a minor.
Arlovski def. Felipe: What probably could have been a split decision ended up unanimous for Arlovski. Surprising, considering that this fight was a total coin flip—Arlovski was winning most of the first half while Felipe won most of the second half. 7/12 media members scored it for Arlovski, as well as 63% of the fans.
Arlovski def. Boser: Awful fight and no real way to tell who won. What probably should have been a draw turns into another unanimous win for Arlovski, which I'm generally OK with when it's a 20-something-old "prospect" failing to make it a convincing against someone who made his debut before the Internet era. 10/16 media for Arlovski, and 46.1% of fans.
Arlovski def. Lins: Not so much a weird decision but a weird scorecard; Arlovski almost certainly should have lost the first round but two of the judges did not see it that way.
Sakai def. Arlovski: By and far the worst robbery on his record, and potentially the worst robbery of that year. I was struggling to give Sakai even one round. 12/13 media members gave it to Arlovski (the dissenting one scoring it a draw) as well as 92% of fans.
Tuivasa def. Arlovski: A genuinely good scrap, reasonably technical and well-paced. It's a wonder that Arlovski's chin held up. The mild dissent in the media (5/18 for Arlovski) was magnified in the fan scoring (48.7%), which reflected how close the fight was. Certainly a factor was the battered and bloody visual of Tai afterwards.
Arlovski def. Schaub: Talmbout robberies, B? The first of Arlovski's controversial decisions is one I have to regrettably score for Bapa himself. Shitty fight though, and neither really did anything to really solidify a win. A scant 2/15 media members scored it for Arlovski, and only 27% of fans.
Conclusion
My biggest takeaway from watching these fights is that the 9-9 (or, if you'd like, 10-10) function should be used more often. Instead of scoring a coin-flip round as a draw, judges tend to literally flip a coin which leads to scorecards that often seem more arbitrary than anything. I get that draws hold up the division, but when careers are on the line, it is always better to err on the side of accuracy.
At least four of these fights were probably scored incorrectly (Schaub, Sakai, Collier, and Buday). But the robberies balance themselves out since there were two for him and two against him, so his record would remain the same either way. All the other fights were either very close or entirely coin-flips (and mostly not very fun to watch).
Nonetheless, thank you Andrei for such a long and fruiful career.
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