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NEW YORK – UFC heavyweight Andrei Arlovski isn’t sentimental.

Statistics and records don’t mean a lot to him. But when he found out his next UFC appearance would also mark the promotion’s 500th live event, the Belarusian couldn’t help but reflect on his long and largely successful career.

UFC 244 will mark 31st fight Arlovski (28-18 MMA, 17-12 UFC) has had with the promotion, when he takes on Jair Rozenstruik (8-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

“I spoke with (my) coach a couple days ago and I told him my first UFC was UFC 28 back on Nov. 16, 2000, at Taj Mahal (in) Atlantic City, (N.J.),” Arlovski told MMA Junkie at a Thursday media day. “Now to be here at UFC 244, it’s 216 events.

“Of course, I’m very excited for 500 live events. (The) most important thing is, I’m going to fight for first time at Madison Square Garden. For every fighter, it’s a legendary arena. That’s a big deal.”

Former UFC heavyweight champ Arlovski has seen MMA go from having a fringe following to what he called “one of the main sports in the United States and the world.”

“I’m very happy to be a part of that,” Arlovski said.

The fight Saturday will be his fourth in 11 months. Despite having turned 40 at the beginning of this year, the promotion is keeping Arlovski active. He’s thankful for that.

“No doubt about it, I’m very thankful toward the UFC and (UFC president) Dana (White) for keeping me busy,” Arlovski said. “Actually, I saw in my head after my fight in July, ‘Maybe I’ll fight somewhere in December.’

“I wanted to be on the card in Vegas or Washington, D.C., but my manager said this when I was in Abu Dhabi: ‘You have an opportunity to fight in Madison Square Garden in New York.’ I said, ‘(Expletive) yeah, why not? It might be a once in a lifetime opportunity.’”

Before the fight was offered, Arlovski had no idea who Rozenstruik was. The Suriname native was a new face to the Belarusian. Now that he’s had time to research, Arlovski isn’t a fan of Rozenstruik’s (alleged) past antics.

“No, not before and I just read about him,” Arlovski said of his familiarity with Rozenstruik before the offer. “He’s a dirty (expletive). He put grease on his body when he fought in Japan.”

The bottom line for Arlovski on Saturday? Fight. He’ll keep it simple, while trying to remember why he still gets up every morning to train.

“I know that during the camp every time when I woke up, I knew why I started this – what I want,” Arlovski said. “I still have passion. I still have fire in my eyes. I just want to fight. I just want to show to everyone my age is just a (expletive) number. I have to fight him. That’s it.”

UFC 244 takes place Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and ESPN2/ESPN+/UFC Fight Pass.