Andrei Arlovski and Youtuber Jack Doherty have spoken out about their altercation during Friday’s fight card between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua at the Kaseya Center in Miami.
The skirmish in the concession stands is talked about more than the headliner itself, given how bad a night of boxing was between Paul and Joshua (although Andrew Tate somehow managed to embarrass himself even worse the next night).
Now Doherty claims that Arlovski actually confronted him, despite video footage showing the exact opposite: Doherty bumping into the former UFC heavyweight champion, twice his size, and then speaking a few words. Doherty’s denials belie the fact that provoking confrontation is his exact MO, which YouTube has somehow allowed over the years despite a dangerous number of copycats and the potential for real harm.
“How did I start the Andrei Arlovski fight? Watch the video. You (sic) old twitter f*cks you (sic) guys just point the finger at the kid half your (sic) age and way richer than you (sic). I would do the same,” Doherty wrote in a short statement on social media site Twitter/X.
It’s clear that Doherty doesn’t have an assistant writing his tweets for him. Anyway, anyone who watched the video probably knows what’s going on. However, Arlovski addressed the issue on his Instagram Story on Sunday, answering questions from numerous fans, several of whom thanked the heavyweight for insulting several members of Doherty’s crew, while Doherty himself hid behind his bodyguard.
However, Arlovski denied punching anyone from Doherty’s crew, despite landing multiple punches on at least three attackers, including the Youtuber’s rather large bodyguard, who quickly seemed to realize he had been outsmarted.
“First of all, I didn’t beat anyone, I just stopped the threat. They threatened me, my wife, my child and I had another friend [present]” said Arlovski. “So I did what I had to do, what every man should do. Stop the threat.”
He added in response to a second fan: “I didn’t beat them. I just stopped the threat, like I said.”
When asked why he was attacked, Arlovski suggested: “I think they were looking for content for their website, and I think I was a victim.”
“They thought it might be easy content for YouTube. Maybe that’s why.”
Maybe I’m old, maybe because it was like three idiots and a big bodyguard. Actually, you know what’s a bit strange, because I saw him walking but I didn’t pay attention to the fact that he might be with them. And he got hit. So I have to be more alert and pay attention to more people around. That’s the lesson.”
When it was suggested that he take out the bodyguard in question, Arlovski responded, in more explicit terms, by saying: “That guy, he was sneaky. He hit me and I didn’t take that damn hit, to be honest.”
Still, he hesitated to call the altercation a real fight. “Fight? They were just trying to film some content, I guess.” And he had a rather backhanded compliment, albeit well deserved, for Jack Doherty. “It was a successful escape. He hid successfully and ran away, chasing his bodyguard. He did a great job.”
Andrei Arlovski will be in a sanctioned fight in February when he takes on fellow UFC alumnus “Big” Ben Rothwell for the BKFC Heavyweight Championship.
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