Andrei Arlovski to Try His Hand at Boxing

According to ESPN, former UFC Heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski will make his professional boxing debut on September 13. The match will be on HBO PPV as part of the undercard to the Joel Casamayor v. Juan Manuel Marquez lightweight championship bout in Las Vegas.

Arlovski seems to be taking the jump pretty seriously, as he's enlisted the services of top-notch trainer Freddie Roach. Roach was named the Trainer of the Year by the Boxing Writers Association of America in 2003, 2006, and 2007. Roach currently trains Lightweight and Super Featherweight champion Manny Pacquiao, and was in Oscar De La Hoya's corner for his fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Does this mean The Pitbull could be leaving the cage for the squared circle for good? Probably not. Despite being dropped by the UFC, it's not like Arlovski has struggled recently to find MMA success. He's currently riding a three fight win streak, two of which came by TKO. He's also scheduled to be on the July 19th Affliction: Banned card and his opponent, Ben Rothwell, is no slouch - Sherdog currently ranks him as the #10 best Heavyweight fighter in the world. Sherdog has Arlovski at #5. Finally, while it may not mean much for training-mate Randy Couture, Arlovski is under a three-fight contract with Affliction. So wethinks that this boxing match is just a detour for Arlovski's MMA career, and that he'll be back in the cage.