Ahead of his fight with Travis Browne at UFC 187, Andrei Arlovski was around a +325 underdog. Browne had four first round finishes from his last five fights. Dismantling Gabriel Gonzaga, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett and Brendan Schaub had led some to believe that Browne was the best of the chasing pack in the UFC’s heavyweight division. After all, his only loss during that period had come against interim champion Fabricio Werdum. Certainly there is no shame in losing to the second best heavyweight on the planet.
Conversely public opinion of Andrei Arlovski seemed tainted by a crushing run of four consecutive defeats from 2009 to 2011. It was not only that Arlovski had been beaten by Fedor Emelianenko, Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov during that time, but that all three had made him look like a fragile entity by connecting with powerful strikes that put him away. Few believed we would see an Arlovski win on Saturday night.
EXPECTATION vs REALITY
The facts and performances since that time had been ignored. In the minds of many, if it doesn’t happen inside the cages of the UFC it doesn’t happen at all. Arlovski’s performances since his return in June of last year were also easy to downplay. His decision victory over Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 could politely be referred to as questionable. The September Fight Night knockout of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva that followed said as much about Silva’s own rapid decline as it did about Arlovski’s ability to pick off opponents.
The truth is that those performances on Arlovski’s return to the UFC only tell half of the story. The Belorussian had won eight of his ten fights since losing to Kharitonov in February of 2011. His no contest against Tim Sylvia in August of 2012 was the result of illegal soccer kicks in a fight he was clearly winning.
His only defeat was a decision loss to Anthony Johnson in March of 2013, and even that was somewhat controversial. That fight, perhaps more than any other during his time away from the UFC told us the most. Johnson is one of the most destructive strikers in mixed martial arts, and even managed to break Arlovski’s supposed glass jaw during the fight. That Arlovski did not collapse and made it to the final bell showed that he was still capable of taking more punishment than anyone gave him credit for at this stage of his career.
NOBODY PREDICTED A ONE ROUND BLOWOUT
Most people expected the fight between Arlovski and Browne at UFC 187 to end early, but few could have envisaged the incredible scenes that they were about to witness inside the octagon. If there was ever a fight to put on display when trying to convince your non-UFC fan friends of the excitement the sport can bring this was it.
Arlovski rocked Browne time and again throughout the first round. At times his striking was precise, at others versatile and imaginative. Arlovski’s composure and pacing was on point as he made Browne miss and picked him off with uppercuts, hooks, knees and backfists. The only question was how long Browne could stay on his feet.
Then came the moment of truth. The single shot from Browne that we had been led to believe would see Arlovski crumble. A big right hand connected, dropping Arlovski to the mat, but there would be no fragile collapse from the former UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Arlovski was quick to his feet, landing a knee and backing Browne up against the fence once more. An uppercut and right hook soon followed as Browne started to slump against the fence. Referee Mark Smith waved the contest off and Andrei Arlovski had once again become a contender for the heavyweight title.
PERFORMANCES CAN BE DISREGARDED NO LONGER
If much of what Arlovski had done away from the UFC in recent years had been ignored, his performance against Browne on Saturday can’t be. It served as a stunning reminder that he is one of the most gifted strikers in the heavyweight division. Moreover, there could not have been a more graphical representation of Arlovski’s ability to take a shot, recover, and go on to win a fight, when most believed that had died back when Fedor Emelianenko knocked him out cold in 2009.
Now Arlovski finds himself on the cusp of title contention once again. Cain Velasquez will meet Fabricio Werdum at UFC 188 next month. That fight will combine the heavyweight championship with the interim title and give the UFC an undisputed king at the top of the division.
Should Velasquez win it would be hard to sell a fourth encounter with Junior dos Santos, who Velasquez beat most convincingly in his last defense in October of 2013. Stipe Miocic, who looked so impressive in beating Mark Hunt down in Adelaide a fortnight ago, lost to dos Santos before that. Travis Browne, well he was just blown out in one round by Arlovski.
If Werdum becomes the undisputed champion on June 13, Arlovski not only holds a perfect 3-0 record since returning to the UFC, and one of the most memorable heavyweight performances in recent years, but also a 2007 victory over Werdum himself. His case for a title shot is strong.
GAP AT THE TOP OF HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION REMAINS VAST
Arlovski’s re-emergence as a title contender in 2015 tells us much, not just about him but about the current state of the UFC’s heavyweight division. At the top stands the incredible, if disappointingly injury prone, Cain Velasquez as title holder. Below him the interim champion Fabricio Werdum and more questionably, Junior dos Santos appear better than the rest of the division.
Next in line, supposedly, was Travis Browne. A fighter who was picked apart in little more than four minutes by Andrei Arlovski, and who failed to win a single round against Fabricio Werdum in their clash in April of last year.
Andrei Arlovski deserves his recognition as a title contender. He earned it in emphatic fashion in the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Saturday night. Only Stipe Miocic could legitimately challenge his status as the best of the rest based on recent in-cage performance and results. Arlovski made a loud and clear statement that he cannot, and should not, be written off.
Still, what happened in that cage at UFC 187 served as a significant reminder that the gap between the very best that the 265 pound division has to offer, and the pack that are trying to chase them, is as vast as it has ever been. Arlovski, and those in and around him when the new rankings are announced this week, face a tough task in making up that ground.
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