A renewed Andrei Arlovski?

Andrei Arlovski held a live video chat on his website, Arlovski.com, on May 1, 2010 and spoke about his recent back to back losses, what he did to improve as a fighter, and his upcoming fight with Antonio Silva. Arlovski takes on Silva on May 15 at the Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery event.Here are some highlights of the chat:

What his trainers’ response was after his loss to Brett Rogers:
“After I lost to Brett Rogers, I had meetings with all my trainers, and they gave me a lot of ultimatums and said that I had to do it their way or that I would have to start to look for new trainers. When I fought Rogers, I didn’t stick to my game plan, and I didn’t take him seriously.”

On training with other teams:
“After that (Rogers) loss, I just kept training and training, and in November of 2009, I met with Greg Jackson and started training with him. I came back and trained in (my hometown of) Chicago and then started working with Bob Cook and the guys at [American Kickboxing Academy] and then went back to Chicago. So I’ve had a lot of experience with different trainers.”

On lessons learned after the Rogers loss:
“Everything happens for a reason, and I’m more disciplined now. I’m definitely going to stick to my game plan. No more putting my hands down like I did against Rogers. I just can’t lose again. It’s very dramatic for me to lose fights, and I want to climb back into the top. It’s going to be a very tough and important fight for me.”

On his upcoming opponent, Antonio Silva:
“[Silva] is very dangerous on the ground. That’s why I have spent a lot of time here in Chicago with some big, heavy guys training a lot on the ground. He’s an all-around fighter. His striking is good. He’s good on the ground. He has long arms. He’s really dangerous. I have to be really prepared for this fight.”

On his personal life:
“Now that I’m in Chicago, all my good friends are here and like brothers to me, and they support me all the time, and they try to keep me in a right [frame of mind]. Before, I was in a relationship, and all the time I worried about where my girlfriend was going to sit or how was she going to fly to the place where I am. Now I have a great girlfriend who supports me and she never asks me, ‘Oh, can I go?’ She lets me focus on my MMA career. Now, it’s just train hard, sleep and eat. I’m just focused on my MMA career and climbing back to the top.”

Quick Hit:I really hope so, Andrei. Let me be the first to say I’m a huge Andrei Arlovski fan. Easily my favorite fighter, but it was obvious he didn’t take Rogers seriously. He should’ve easily won that fight but looked cocky and got smashed for it. I think he still has a lot to give to the sport and maybe even become champion somewhere. He has great hands and great quickness for a heavyweight. I’d even say he moves faster than a lot of light heavyweights. He has some serious talent. If he can get his head right and apply that talent he’ll be back on top in no time. WAR ARLOVSKI!!!