VIDEO | 16 year old Andy Ruiz Jr. spars UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski

Footage has recently been released of a 16-year-old Andy Ruiz Jr. sparring with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski.

The combat sports world has gone into lockdown over the course of the last few weeks as a direct result of the coronavirus outbreak. Therefore, fans are taking comfort in the knowledge that there is a whole lot of footage out there from years gone by that they can watch as we wait for things to settle down. In addition to that, newly discovered footage is also being unveiled — as seen here when Ruiz Jr. posted up the following clip of him and Arlovski going at it many years ago.

I was 16 years old when I had the honor to spar with UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski . Super tough guy lived up to his name The Pitbull. I did manage to give him some trouble tho.😂Thanks champ! pic.twitter.com/BMCLJNTCaG

— AndyRuizJr (@Andy_destroyer1) March 19, 2020

“I was 16 years old when I had the honor to spar with UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski,” Ruiz wrote on Twitter. “Super tough guy lived up to his name The Pitbull. I did manage to give him some trouble tho. Thanks champ!”

It’s been a few months since we saw either man compete inside the ring or Octagon, with both going in search of bounce-back wins when they do eventually return. Ruiz Jr. lost his titles in a rematch against Anthony Joshua back in December, with many criticizing him for coming in overweight and potentially even unprepared.

On the flip side, Arlovski was knocked out in 29 seconds back in November by rising star Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Many weren’t sure whether or not he would carry on fighting after that, but as of this writing, he is scheduled to face Philipe Lins at UFC Oklahoma City on May 2. Of course, with the outbreak still rampaging through the United States, it seems unlikely that they’ll meet on that date.

In these times of trouble, though, all we can really hope for is that we get to see all of our favorite competitors do what they do best in the not so distant future.

What do you think of this old footage of Andy Ruiz Jr. and Andrei Arlovski sparring?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/20/2020.