The best and worst from UFC Fight Night 136

#2 Worst: No country for old men

Shamil Abdurakhimov beat a jaded-looking Andrei Arlovski

One major disappointing theme for this card was how bad most of the veteran fighters on show ended up looking. Mark Hunt obviously lost in the main event, but that wasn’t quite as bad as a couple of other examples. Realistically, that fight could’ve gone the same way had Hunt been in his late 20s; Oleinik is that good on the ground.

But elsewhere, we saw hardened UFC veterans losing to fighters they simply would’ve walked through in their primes. After a worrying KO loss to Curtis Millender in February, Thiago Alves looked slightly better last night, but still seemed sluggish and lacked aggression and ended up losing a decision to newcomer Alexey Kunchenko. In 2008, Kunchenko would likely have been destroyed by ‘The Pitbull’ as he didn’t offer anything great, but it’s not 2008 anymore.

The same could be said for Andrei Arlovski’s performance against Shamil Abdurakhimov. Andrei is still trying desperately to recapture his old magic but again, were he in his prime then there’s no way he’d be losing to a fighter as unmemorable as Abdurakhimov. It looks like the former champion’s athletic gifts are finally waning, this time for good, even if his chin is now holding up better than it once did.

Veterans losing to great up-and-comers is one thing, but to see them losing to no offense, journeymen, is another. If only fighters themselves would realise sooner when it’s time to hang it up.