Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski has always been considered one of the most dangerous, and ferocious fighters to compete in the UFC’s heavyweight division, but on the back of his fifth straight loss, it may be time to hang up his gloves.
Four fights into his professional career, Arlovski was called up to fight in the UFC, and following a 1-2 start, the Belarusian strung together six straight victories. In that run, he won the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship, defended it once, was then promoted to the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, and defended that once, too.
After losing the title to Tim Sylvia at UFC 59, the pair fought again, with Sylvia again winning. Arlovski then won three straight, earning two stoppages, before leaving the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He started his post UFC run 2-0, with stoppage victories over Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson, before hitting the biggest slump of his career.
Starting in January 2009, and ending in February 2011, Arlovski was winless. Four fights, four defeats. He faced Fedor Emelianenko, Brett Rogers, Antonio Silva and Sergei Kharitonov, and lost to all four, suffering stoppage defeats in three of those contests. The next two years were up and down for Arlovski, but, coming off two straight wins, he was once again signed by the UFC.
With many doubters claiming he was ‘past it’ and ‘had nothing left’, the now 38-year-old debuted against Brendan Schaub. After a sloppy fight, the judges awarded the decision to Arlovski, while most fans believe he lost that fight. He more than made up for the lackluster performance in his next outing, leaving Antonio Silva unconscious on the mat just three minutes into their headline bout in Brazil.
Then, “The Pitbull” faced Travis Browne, and although the fight only lasted four minutes and 41-seconds, he showed his skill, determination, heart and toughness. Although mostly dominant, Arlovski did end up hurt a few times, and was even dropped at one point. He stopped Browne with a violent flurry, and then faced Frank Mir, winning by decision.
Next in line was Stipe Miocic, with the pair fighting for a shot at the heavyweight championship, then held by Fabricio Werdum. Arlovski was stopped in the first round, then lost to Alistair Overeem in the second round, Josh Barnett in the third, and Francis Ngannou in the first before most recently losing a decision to Marcin Tybura at UFC Singapore.
When thinking about what was next for “The Pitbull”, the expression ‘every dog has his day’ came to mind, and I thought it was a perfect way to describe the Jackson Wink MMA fighter. I felt like Arlovski was just bested in his first four losses, but watching him in the UFC Singapore fight against Marcin Tybura was tough.
It seemed like he just didn’t have it any more. It was clear he really wanted to win, but his body just would not let him.
