Andrei Arlovski
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| Andrei Arlovski | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Statistics | |
| Nickname | The Pitbull |
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) |
| Weight | 240 lb (110 kg/17 st) |
| Nationality | Belarusian |
| Born | February 4, 1979 |
| Fighting out of | Chicago, Illinois |
| Town of birth | Minsk, Belarus |
| Team/Association | Team Pitbull |
| Fighting style | Boxing, Kickboxing, Sambo, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Wins | 13 |
| By knockout | 9 |
| By submission | 3 |
| Losses | 5 |
| Draws | 0 |
Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (Belarusian: Андрэй Арлоўскі, born February 4, 1979 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian mixed martial arts fighter and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion.
A veteran of the UFC, he holds notable wins over such fighters as former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, current IFL light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko, former Cage Rage heavyweight champion and current Cage Rage British light heavyweight champion Ian Freeman, and three-time world Brazilian jiu-jitsu champion Fabricio Werdum.
Many major MMA publications consider Arlovski to be one of the top ten ranked heavyweight fighters in the world.[1][2][3][4][5]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Andrei Arlovski grew up in Minsk, Belarus, where he became feared for his Sambo skills. 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 these bullies.[6] 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 defense course of Sambo, and quickly showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo exponent. In 1999, Andrei won the European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. Not long after, Andrei became first Master of Sports, and then International Master of Sports. He also took a silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship. [7]
Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts, studying kickboxing and developing striking skills to complement his Sambo-based grappling abilities.
[edit] MMA Career
At the age of 19, 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 knock out 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.
[edit] UFC
Andrei Arlovski made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 28: High Stakes, defeating Aaron Brink by submission. He was thrown in against top opposition early on in his UFC career, taking tough losses against future UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez and heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo. Despite those early defeats, notable wins over Ian Freeman and Vladimir Matyushenko propelled Arlovski back into the UFC elite.
The motorcycle accident injury suffered by UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in 2004 led to the creation of an "interim heavyweight title". It was decided that the two top heavyweight contenders would meet to declare the interim champion. On February 5, 2005 at UFC 51, Arlovski would face the former heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia. The two competitors were well known for their hard hitting style, with Sylvia having won ten of his last twelve fights by KO or TKO. Arlovski showed greater mobility and accuracy when striking. He connected with an overhand right and dropped Sylvia, following up with an ankle lock on the ground that forced Sylvia to tap out at 47 seconds of the first round, making Arlovski the new UFC interim heavyweight champion.
Arlovski defended his interim title on June 4, 2005 at UFC 53: Heavy Hitters, against Justin Eilers. Andrei won the bout via TKO by strikes in the first round. After the fight, it was revealed that Justin Eilers suffered extensive injuries in this match including a badly broken nose, two broken hands and a complete ACL tear. [8]
In October Arlovski once again defended the interim heavyweight title at UFC 55: Fury, against top contender Paul Buentello. Arlovski knocked Buentello out in 15 seconds of the opening round. On August 12, 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognized Arlovski as the undisputed heavyweight champion, as Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his motorcycle accident.
In a rematch with Tim Sylvia on April 15, 2006, Arlovski knocked Sylvia down with a right hand punch early in the first round. Sylvia was able to protect himself and recovered almost immediately. While Arlovski tried to finish Sylvia with a right lead, Sylvia countered with a short right uppercut to the chin, knocking Arlovski to the mat. Sylvia followed up with strikes on the ground until referee Herb Dean stopped the match at 2:43 of the first round.
The rubber match between Tim Sylvia and Arlovski took place on July 8, 2006 at UFC 61: Bitter Rivals. In what turned out to be a 5 round battle of attrition, neither fighter was able to knock out the other, or even land any truly significant blows. In the end Sylvia won the fight by decision. It was later discovered that Arlovski had actually been significantly injured by a checked leg kick sometime in the second round which left him unable to throw kicks of his own or make any takedown attempts. Arlovski did not report his injury during the fight, as is required by UFC rules; indeed, the injury may never have been known except that it was leaked that Arlovski was having an MRI done on his leg a week after the fight. The injury caused his ankle and knee on his left leg to swell up to about four times its normal size. When confronted by a reporter about the MRI, Arlovski avoided responding directly and would only say "I do not want to talk about my injuries or look for any other excuses."[1] Not too long after it was also revealed Tim Sylvia had sustained an injury as he fainted at his hotel room, and upon hospital examination, doctors discovered a concussion undetected after the match. [9]
Arlovski fought PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum at UFC 70 and won by unanimous decision. Both fighters kept their distance for the majority of the fight, causing the referee to inform them at the beginning of the third round that he would remove a point from the first fighter to retreat in that round. Although Arlovski won the fight by unanimous decision, many boos could be heard from the crowd. After the fight Arlovski apologized to the fans for fighting for the full fifteen minutes.[10]
After 11 months of inactivity, Arlovski made his return to the octagon at UFC 82 and defeated Jake O'Brien via TKO in round two. With this win, Arlovski gives O'Brien his first ever MMA loss.[11] This was Arlovski's final fight on his UFC contract.[12]
Arlovski leaves the UFC with a record of 9-4 and an overall MMA record of 13-5.[13]
[edit] Affliction
Most recently, it was officially announced Arlovski had signed a 3-fight contract with Affliction and would participate in the co-promoted event Affliction Banned between Adrenaline MMA and Affliction on July 19 in Anaheim, California.[14] Arlovski will face former IFL heavyweight standout Ben Rothwell who is riding a 13 fight win streak and is currently ranked by Sherdog as the #10 heavyweight fighter in the world.[15]
Arlovski joins an accomplished list of former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight champions and championship contenders including , Pedro Rizzo, Ben Rothwell, Aleksander Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Tim Sylvia and Fedor Emelianenko.
[edit] Personal life
Andrei Arlovski currently lives and trains in Chicago, Illinois. His boxing coach is Mike Garcia, and he trains in Brazilian jiu-jitsu with Dino Costeas at POW Martial Arts. He also has been training with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture.
After his breakup with Playboy Cybergirl Patrycja Mikula[16] Arlovski is currently single. Andrei Arlovski is a Christian.
[edit] Other Arlovski Facts
- Andrei's ring entrance music "Onward to Victory" is performed by the side project of Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, Icepick.
- Andrei stated in an interview with British MMA magazine "Fighters Only" that he likes to skydive. This was confirmed in an interview on UFC.com.
- Andrei appeared on an episode of the Jerry Springer Show on September 26, 2007 as a guest bodyguard.
[edit] MMA Championships
[edit] Sambo Championships
- Master of Sport [19]
- International Master of Sport [20]
- European Youth Sambo Champion [21]
- Silver medalist at the Sambo World Cup [22]
- Silver medalist at the World Sambo Championship [23]
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
| Professional record breakdown | ||
| 18 matches | 13 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 9 | 4 |
| By submission | 3 | 0 |
| By decision | 1 | 1 |
[edit] Notes
- ^ MMA WEEKLY - Your #1 Source for Daily MMA News, Interviews, Multimedia, and More: - MMAWEEKLY WORLD MMA RANKINGS UPDATED
- ^ Full Contact Fighter Gear, Ultimate Fighting (UFC), Mixed Martial Arts
- ^ InsideFighting.com - MMA Rankings
- ^ UFC & MMA Top Ten Unofficial Rankings, Standings, Top 10 - MMANEWS.com
- ^ Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
- ^ Andrei Arlovski Article by Terry Goodlad (October 2005)
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ Advertising at Sherdog.com
- ^ Beatdown: UFC Champ Sylvia Talks Title Defense
- ^ http://www.fightauthority.com/ultimate-fighters-martial-artists/ultimate-fighters/andrei-arlovski/
- ^ Arlovski downs O'Brien on undercard of UFC 82: Pride of a Champion - Yahoo! Canada News
- ^ http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2008/01/18/report-andrei-arlovski-for-fight-at-ufc-82/
- ^ http://www.arlovski.tv/#fights
- ^ Andre Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Banned » MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis
- ^ Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
- ^ "UFC Junkie- Arlovski Interview" (2007)
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
- ^ http://www.arlovski.tv/#fights
- ^ Fight Finder - M-1 MFC European Championship 2000 Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
- ^ Fight Finder - M-1 MFC European Championship 2000 Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
- ^ Fight Finder - M-1 MFC World Championship 1999 Mixed Martial Arts Statistics
[edit] External links
- Professional MMA record for Andrei Arlovski from Sherdog
- Official Andrei Arlovski web site
- Official Myspace site
| Previous champion Frank Mir |
11th UFC Heavyweight Champion
|
Next champion Tim Sylvia |
