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UFC on ESPN 22: Andrei Arlovski admits he was worried UFC would cut him after Tom Aspinall loss

LAS VEGAS – Andrei Arlovski feared that he would no longer be a part of the UFC roster after his most recent loss.

Arlovski was submitted by top prospect Tom Aspinall in the second round at UFC Fight Night 185 in February, a loss that continues to irk him until now.

And with the UFC trimming their heavyweight roster by cutting the likes of Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, Arlovski worried he might have been next.

“My worried thoughts were about the UFC might kick me out,” Arlovski told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at Wednesday’s media session at the UFC Apex. “Because I knew I had a great camp before that fight, and I was ready. I knew I was going to beat this guy, but just something happened, and wow. Because at the end of the first round, he was tired, and I was ready to do my stuff in the second and third round and takedown – I’m still upset about this.”

But the former UFC heavyweight champion’s fears didn’t come true. Instead, Arlovski (30-20 MMA, 19-14 UFC) finds himself stepping in on short notice for the first time in his career when he takes on Chase Sherman (15-6 MMA, 3-5 UFC) at UFC on ESPN 22 on Saturday.

With Sherman spending some time at Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, Arlovski is expecting the matchup to play out primarily on the feet but said he wouldn’t be surprised if Sherman tried to take him down after the way things played out in his loss to Aspinall.

“I believe he’s 11 years younger than me, good striker,” Arlovski said. “Every heavyweight has heavy hands, and he’s a good hitter, and you just have to be ready. Definitely it might be 90 percent striking match, but just in case, I have to be ready for some wrestling, for some takedowns, because he saw what happened last time and just have to be ready.”

Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.

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