Long before Francis Ngannou battled Tyson Fury and any number of UFC veterans vied for a chance to face Jake Paul, former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski made overtures to transition from MMA to professional boxing.
A lifetime fan of the sport, the now 46-year-old veteran always felt there was a world where he chose boxing over MMA and made his mark in combat sports that way instead. He actually signed with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy promotions in 2009, but never got the chance to fight there.
Arlovski has no regrets considering the remarkable career he put together in MMA. On Sunday, he finally laces up the gloves when he debuts for Misfits Boxing, where he takes on former reality show star Kelechi “Kelz” Dyke in a heavyweight bout in Nashville.
“My manager told me you have an opportunity to fight in a boxing match,” Arlovski told MMA Fighting. “Would you like to? I said absolutely, let’s go. That’s how it happened.
“To be honest with you, shame on me, I never heard about [Misfits]. But right after a little bit, I found out that Tony Ferguson is fighting over there. I guess I’ll find out soon.”
Best known for his appearance on the series Too Hot to Handle, Kelz is currently 1-1 in his boxing career with his last fight occurring in 2024 when he fell to current Misfits champion Chase DeMoor.
On paper, Arlovski should be an overwhelming favorite considering he has over 25 years of professional fighting experience at the highest levels of the sport, but he doesn’t consider a win over the reality show star-turned-boxer to be a sure thing.
Because this fight is happening at heavyweight, Arlovski knows from painful experience that it only takes one shot to completely alter the direction of any fight in this division so he’s trying not to listen to all the ways he should walk through Kelz on Sunday.
“Of course, I looked at what we can find with my boxing coach,” Arlovski said about researching his opponent. “He’s a big guy so we’ll see. Obviously, being a f*cking reality show star and boxing is kind of different areas but we’ll find out. But no doubt about it, he looks strong, big, so we’ll see.
“I guess somehow I have to prove it to the boxing community that I’m OK. So it’s a perfect chance for me. But also don’t forget he’s a heavyweight. You can win the whole fight and then miss one punch and game over. Stick with the game plan and be on alert as usual.”
Ideally, Arlovski would love to use this introduction to boxing as a pathway to even bigger and better opportunities. In fact, he’s already throwing his name into the hat to fight Jake Paul, who awaits word on his next opponent after pulling the plug on a planned showdown against Gervonta “Tank” Davis on Nov. 14.
“I called [Jake Paul],” Arlovski said. “It’s going to be dreams come true but one step at a time. I need to beat my first opponent and then we’ll see what’s going to happen after but absolutely [I want to fight him].
“Another famous YouTuber but you have to respect that he trains a lot, spends a lot of money on his boxing coaches so I guess he’s not a joke. But like I said, one step at a time and we’ll see what happens after.”
All signs point towards Paul trying to make his return in December after his November date got scrapped. Names like Nate Diaz and Francis Ngannou have been tossed about as possible opposition, but Arlovski says he’ll be more than ready to accept that challenge once he gets through his fight in Misfits.
“Absolutely [I would fight him in December],” Arlovski said. “For me best case scenario all my MMA career, I’m telling them I would love to fight three or four times, the best case scenario five times a year. If you’re not injured, you’re good, like Nike, just do it. But like I said, as usual, one step at a time.”
By all accounts, Arlovski might have held off the ill effects of father time better than almost any fighter in recent history. He’s still competing at a high level, but Arlovski understands that the day will come when he has to call it a career.
That’s why he’s staying as busy as possible now with his influencer boxing match on Sunday and then hopefully getting a chance to throw hands with Paul in December.
“I want to make money,” Arlovski said. “I understand I have a short window to fight and make money. Obviously, for me a great example in the boxing world is George Foreman and Bernard Hopkins. He became a champion at age 48 so I believe [I can do it, too]. I set a few records in my mind so why not a few more?
“I love boxing. My favorite fighters were of course Mike Tyson, Johnny Tapia, Arturo Gatti, so I want to box all the time but I stuck with MMA for 25 years. But we’ll see. It’s better later than never. I’m on the right path right now and I’m ready to go.”
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