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Andrei Arlovski coach talks 'greatest open workout in UFC history'

Andrei Arlovski coach talks 'greatest open workout in UFC history'

 

Andrei Arlovski punched his way back into the top-ten last week with a knockout of Antonio "Pezao" Silva, but before he did that, he conducted what the UFC called "The greatest open workout in UFC history," with his Muay Thai Coach. The light-hearted open workout, which featured Arlovski's coach Said Hatim (view Hatim's most recent MMA fight in the video above) punching, kicking, elbowing and headbutting the fighter (video below) a couple days before the fight in Brazil, delighted the crowd of fans and media members in attendance.

According to Hatim, the drill was equal parts useful and fun. "It was Andrei's idea to do it for the workout," Hatim said.

"He wanted to do something fun. It gets crazy in Brazil and he didn't want to be serious. He just wanted to relax and have fun. This is something we do after training, sometimes, to just get the body ready to be hit.

"I hit him in the body, the legs, hard. People freak out when they get hit, sometimes. This helps the body wake up. It's an old Muay Thai thing, and it's now a part of my "Hatim Style" of training, you could say. We do some other drills and secret training that are fun and useful as well."

Other "Hatim Style" secret training for Arlovski have included a custom neck-strengthening program for the former champion after he suffered a number of brutal knockouts. In order to improve his ability to take a punch, the coach had "The Pitbull" do a set of old school neck exercises each day.

The coach's program appeared to be quite successful in Arlovski's next fight against Anthony Johnson. Johnson broke Arlovski's jaw in the first round but still couldn't knock him out, as the Belarusian fought on for two more periods and made it to the final horn.

If you haven't seen it yet, check out the 135 pound Hatim pound away at a yawning 250 pound Arlovski in the video below!

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