Miocic on Arlovski fight: “It is what it is”

Last week Ben Rothwell stated that he believed it would take divine intervention for him to get a fight booked against a top ranked heavyweight after Stipe Miocic was forced out of their ‘UFC Fight Night: Dublin’ bout with an injured back and Andrei Arlovski declined to step in on short notice.

Miocic planned on only being out for a few weeks, and told the UFC that he would be willing to re-book a fight with Rothwell, or fight Andrei Arlovski.

He spoke to MMAJunkie to discuss the situation:

“I told him I would (fight Rothwell), and they came back with Arlovski. I mean, it is what it is. I wanted to fight Ben. But it’s what the UFC wants.”

“They’re both big names. They’re both top-five guys. I think Rothwell is ranked seventh, but he’s still beat top-five guys already and moved his way up. Arlovski is ranked fourth behind me, so yeah, I think it does, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re both game guys; they’re both veterans.”

Miocic will now face Arlovski at UFC 195 on January 2nd.