Andrei Arlovski breaks down the run-in with influencer Jack Doherty. The backstage incident at the Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua fight in Miami on December 19 caught everyone’s attention, but it was what came after that revealed the real story. Andrei Arlovski, the 46-year-old former UFC heavyweight champion, broke his silence in a sit-down with MMAFighting, and his perspective cuts through the social media chaos surrounding the altercation with streamer Jack Doherty and his crew.
Why Did Jack Doherty Think He Could Walk Up to a UFC Legend? Andrei Arlovski Explains
Here’s what happened, according to Arlovski himself. He was heading toward the parking lot with his wife, son, and a pregnant friend when Jack Doherty’s group appeared. Someone bumped his friend, then bumped his wife. When Arlovski asked what was going on, that’s when things escalated. His bodyguard got involved, his friends jumped in, and within seconds it became the kind of backstage brawl that gets clipped and reshared across every platform by morning.
What struck Arlovski wasn’t the fight itself. It was the reaction afterward. “I woke up the next morning and I didn’t understand what was going on,” he explained to Helwani. “A lot of people sent me good text messages, phone calls – ‘you’re a hero, you’re people’s champ,’ etc., etc.” He was surprised he’d never received that kind of attention after actual UFC fights. The moment was viral for two days, then Doherty essentially vanished from the conversation.
But what really bothered former UFC heavyweight champ Arlovski was something deeper: the disrespect toward his profession. “I guess that guy is not a super nice person, Jake Doherty, whatever his name is,” he said. “What surprised me, and why I was disappointed, is nobody tried to stop the fight. Everybody started recording stuff.” No security intervention until it was already happening. Just people with phones trying to capture content.
“I got that bodyguard who punched me because for some reason I thought he was people from the crowd who just got lost. I was in between his accident and one punch. After the first punch I was like, ‘What the…?’ Second punch I started chasing him. Somebody threw some punches from behind and it wasn’t fun. I really appreciate and I’m really proud of my wife and my son. They stood up for me and they tried to save my soul. That’s the one memorable moment – I’m very excited and proud of that.”
Arlovski went there frustrated but controlled when discussing why someone with Doherty’s online presence would provoke a confrontation in the first place. “You have 25 plus years in this business,” he said. “You think I’m stupid enough to start something with some kids? The video shows what happened. I asked what was going on and got punched right away.”
“Not like you train hard for the last month in the boxing gym or do MMA. People spend their lives over there. It’s kind of disrespect to professional athletes,” he explained. “I spent the last 25 years non-stop in the gym. Not once – two, three times a day.
“Come on. You think you’re superhuman, you can come and do…I don’t know what’s going on. I try to watch my mouth, don’t say bad words, but it’s not cool. Let’s put it this way: not cool at all. I’m not going to try to play professional football right now because I’m big, I think I’m strong and I’m a genius – obviously not. Because you can see people get hurt over there.”
