SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
June - 2015
37
eighth), he has put himself in
a position few thought pos-
sible: on a three fight UFC
win streak and in contention
for a title shot.
In the tumultuous ranks of
the heavyweight division,
a three fight win streak is
not something to take likely.
When those wins come over
three recognizable names,
it’s even more impressive.
True, Schaub and Antonio
“Bigfoot” Silva are not the
fighters they once were, but
that’s not to be held against
Arlovski. Browne, mean-
while, was coming off a TKO
win over Schaub, and had
lost only to current interim
title holder Fabricio Werdum
since 2012. In short, he is (or
perhaps was, after this loss)
a legit top five heavyweight
in the UFC.
Come UFC 188, either Cain
Velasquez or Fabricio Wer-
dum will unify the heavy-
weight title, clearing up the
title picture that has been
stuck in limbo due to Velas-
quez frequently being in-
jured. Barring any immedi-
ate rematch between the
two, a new challenger will
be needed, and The Pitbull
could very well get the nod
after UFC 187.
And he should.
Lets face it: something that
really helped build up the
mystique of Jon Jones was his
tendency to beat — soundly
— any number of former
champions. For Cain Velas-
quez, who has fought only
two men (Junior Dos San-
tos and Bigfoot) in his past
five fights, should he come
out victorious, he’ll need to
at long last start defending
the belt with a greater fre-
quency and against a more
varied cast of characters.
What better option is there
than put to him against a
former champ? It’s a market-
able fight that would have a
lot of fans rooting for Arlo-
vski thanks to the nostalgia
factor, and could be the first
step in making Velasquez
into the complete package
as champ. And should The
Pitbill win? You still have a
popular, exciting champ. For
the promotion, it’s win-win.
It’s also the most logical op-
tion, as in the division’s top
five, no one else is on such
a roll. Josh Barnett hasn’t
fought in over a year and is
coming off a loss, Stipe Mio-
cic has just one win since los-
ing to Dos Santos, who him-
self has just one win, over
Miocic, since losing to Velas-
quez for the second time. A
Werdum win might shake
things up a little, as Dos
Santos has a win over him
already, but the only man in
the top ten with a three fight
win streak is Arlovski. A case
could be made for seventh
ranked Alistair Overeem,
who has won two straight
— but he should preferably
see one more bout before
getting a shot, and a bout
against Dos Santos at this
point probably makes the
most sense.
Which makes Arlovski the
front runner. Rankings, of
course, don’t always get fac-
tored into title shots. Nor do
win streaks. They are, how-
ever, a key indicator. And if
fan reaction is taken into ac-
count — well, though he’d
be a massive underdog yet
again, Arlovski being grant-
ed a title shot would be a
rather popular move.
It’s also the right move. As-
suming no long layoffs are
in order for the winner of
Velasquez vs. Werdum, this
is the fight the UFC should
make. If Arlovski fails in a
title challenge, he still has
plenty of compelling match
ups left in the division to
take him through the end
of his career. Should he suc-
ceed — it would cap the big-
gest comeback in the MMA
world in years.
