Ex-Heavyweight Champ Andrei Arlovski to Face Shamil Abdurakhimov at UFC Moscow

Former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski will meet Shamil Abdurakhimov when the Ultimate Fighting Championship makes its maiden voyage to Russia on Sept. 15.

Arlovski recently announced the booking via Instagram, though it hasn’t been formally confirmed by the Las Vegas-based promotion. The UFC Fight Night card takes place at Olympic Stadium in Moscow and will stream in its entirety on UFC Fight Pass. Alexey Oleynik is rumored to headline the card against Mark Hunt in another heavyweight contest.

Arlovski had a two-fight winning streak snapped in a competitive decision loss to Tai Tuivasa at UFC 225 on June 9. Prior to that defeat, 39-year-old Belarusian had outpointed Stefan Struve and Junior Albini in back-to-back outings.

Abdurakhimov, meanwhile, has won three of his last four Octagon appearances, including a first-round knockout of Chase Sherman in his most recent bout at UFC Fight Night 122. The 36-year-old Dagestan native is 18-4 as a professional overall.

It’s on !!!! I’ll fight in #UFCMoscow September 15th .... Tuff / Dangerous opponent .... / ОФИЦИАЛЬНО !! Я дерусь на турнире #ufcмосква .... Соперник очень сильный и опасный .... #AndreiArlovski #AndreiThePitBullArlovski #OriginalPitBull #warlovski #foreverfighting #mma #ufc #ArlovskiWillBeReady#awesome #ufcfirsttimeinmoscow #ufcrussia

A post shared by Andrei Arlovski (@andreiarlovski) on Jun 21, 2018 at 6:38pm PDT