Fighter Profile: Andrei Arlovski Reported By
OnlyUFC
Fighter: Andrei Arlovski Record: 12-5-0 Division: UFC Heavyweight Age: 27 Fighting Out Of: Chicago, Illinois
Andrei Arlovski is proficient in grappling and striking.
Wikipedia Information: Arlovski grew up in Minsk, Belarus, and when he was younger, bullies often picked on him and beat him up. In 1994, when he was 14 years old, he finally had enough and started lifting weights to put on muscle and, he hoped, to help him deal with bullies. Andrei only took up martial arts at the age of 18 having previously been interested in soccer. It was an interest in personal fitness and conditioning that led Arlovski to take an interest in combat sports.
Enrolling at the police academy in Minsk, Arlovski combined his interest in a career in law enforcement with his growing martial arts participation by taking up the required police defence course of Sambo. He showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo exponent. In 1999, Andrei won the European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. He also took a silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship.
Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts, studying kickboxing and developing striking skills to complement his Sambo-based grappling abilities.
With mixed martial arts competitions taking off around the world, Arlovski began his professional MMA career at the Mix Fight M-1 in St Petersburg, Russia in April 1999. It was a fairly inauspicious start, losing by KO to the un-heralded Viacheslav Datsik. Not deterred, Arlovski returned in 2000 to M-1 at the European Championships, taking the heavyweight crown with a submission victory and a knock-out victory.
Arlovski made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 28: High Stakes, defeating Aaron Brink by submission. Arlovski was thrown in against top class opposition early on in his UFC career, taking tough losses against Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo. Despite those defeats, big wins versus Ian Freeman and Vladimir Matyushenko propelled Arlovski back into the UFC elite.
The out-of-competition injury suffered by UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir led to the creation of an interim title. The match-up was between the previous heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia and Arlovski on February 5, 2005. The two competitors had become known for hard hitting, Sylvia having won the eight matches prior to facing Mir all through striking prowess. As the fight unfolded, Arlovski showed greater mobility and accuracy when striking. He connected with an overhand right and followed up with an ankle lock on the ground that forced Sylvia to tap out after 47 seconds of the first round.
Arlovski made a subsequent defense of the interim title in June, when his opponent Justin Eilers suffered a non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury. On August 12, 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognized Arlovski as the Heavyweight champion outright, as Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his injury. The first defense of that title took place on October 7 of that same year, with Arlovski knocking out the top contender, Paul Buentello, in 15 seconds of the opening round.
In a rematch with Tim Sylvia on April 15, 2006, Arlovski knocked Sylvia down with a right hand punch. Sylvia was able to protect himself and get up. While Arlovski tried to finish Sylvia with a right lead, Sylvia countered with a right hook to the chin. Arlovski collapsed on the ground stunned, with Sylvia peppering the side of Arlovski's face until referee Herb Dean stopped the match at 2:43 of the first round, ending Arlovski's title reign.
The rubber match between Tim Sylvia and Arlovski has been confirmed for UFC 61.
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