SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
July - 2015
33
fights of recent memory.
Jones vs. Sonnen, we’re
looking at you. Of course,
it’s not an ailment unique
to the world of the UFC:
Bellator’s “better late than
never” main event of Slice
vs. Shamrock was all about
getting fans in the door
with a couple of notable
names, and serving them
up a much more solid un-
dercard. And there’s really
nothing wrong with it, so
long as it is the exception
not the rule — and not
for title gold. However,
when you’ve got gold on
the line, deserve should,
scratch that, must, have
something to do with it.
Which brings us to the late
career resurgence of An-
drei Arlovski.
Arlovski is on the sort of
tear many old warriors
hope for in the twilight
of their careers. Outside
of the UFC, he began his
comeback in 2011 in Pro-
Elite with a pair of wins,
followed by a No Con-
test due to soccer kicks
in a ONE FC bout he was
winning against Tim Syl-
via. That led to his signing
with the WSOF, where he
would perform admirably
(losing only to Anthony
Johnson, and picking up a
couple of wins outside the
promotion), which in turn
earned him another run in
the UFC.
Yet coming in against
Brendan Schaub, few ex-
pected much, and in a rel-
atively close split decision
win, it seemed that expec-
tations, low though they
were, had been met. Not
many expected what came
next: a stunning knockout
of Bigfoot Silva in Brazil.
Suddenly, Arlovski was
2-0 in the UFC. Yet when
he was paired up against
Travis Browne at UFC 187,
again, the majority under-
estimated him — only to
get a classic heavyweight
bout that ended with Arlo-
vski finishing his opponent
in the first.
And that’s where we stand:
Andrei Arlovski is suddenly
on a 3-0 run in the UFC,
ranked fourth in the heavy-
weight division, and possi-
bly in line for a title shot.
Which, when you really
look at it, he does deserve.
Consider this: the other
possibilities are Junior Dos
Santos, who is injured, has
just one win (a close deci-
sion against Stipe Miocic)
following his most recent
loss to now-former cham-
pion Cain Velasquez, and
Miocic, who has just one
win, against Mark Hunt,
following his loss to Dos
Santos. And while Mio-
cic had run up a consid-
erable record prior to the
Dos Santos fight, it’s rather
questionable to give him a
title shot coming off a sin-
gle win — even if stranger
things have happened.
With Valasquez not get-
ting an immediate re-
match, Dana White has
said that either Miocic or
Arlovksi will get the next
title shot. In that case, the
UFC needs to do the right
thing, and give it to the
legend who really does de-
serve it.
Then they need to contin-
ue that trend, and make
sure that “deserve” has
everything to do with ti-
tle shots moving forward.
That, the fans deserve.
