From November 22, 2002 to April 15, 2006 former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski made history by becoming one of the most upsetting fighters in UFC.
During that time he defeated notable favorites Ian Freeman, Vladimir Matyushenko, Wesley Correira, Tim Sylvia, Justin Eilers, and Paul Buentello with devastating hand speed, boxing technique, and sixth-sense submission skills on par to no one in UFC at the time.
He was an underdog, a passionate, Belarusian champion the crowd had to learn to respect. He was the first UFC Heavyweight champ to be booed after knocking out his opponent, Buentello, 15 seconds into the fight.
Across the Pacific Ocean in Japan's UFC equivalent, Pride Fighting Championships, a fellow citizen of the Eastern Bloc created a tsunami, taking nearly twice as many fights as Arlovski in the same period of time and building a similarly skeptical reputation as an MMA contendor.
Unlike Arlovski, he hushed his critics with round-the-clock victories stemming from a will tempered by hunger. He gained the moniker "the Last Emperor," but he should be known as the First Emperor for delivering such an impeccable record with astounding fights.
Also, unlike Arlovski, the fans grew to love him indiscriminately.
His younger brother Aleksander commented in an April 7th interview that "[he and Fedor] already beat everyone in Japan, even though no one bet on [them]." Despite his string of victories and consistent underdog status in his early days of Pride contention, no one booed Fedor for his accomplishments.
The "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko and Andre "the Pitbull" Arlovski should have fought years ago, long before Fedor's complicit stand-off alongside M-1 Global in the developing Cold War with UFC, and certainly long before Arlovski took a manic turn for the worst by losing sight of what makes him one of the top ten fighters in the world.
However, Affliction's Day of Reckoning will bring the MMA fighters together on January 24th for a fight that puts nothing but pressure on Arlovski's shoulders.
Suprisingly, few have lent an ear to this fight with few, if any, win predictions or pre-fight analysis. Maybe it was overshadowed by the Lesnar-Couture Championship bout? The hype surrounding that match turned heads at ESPN, so it certainly is a factor.
Perhaps Affliction-Golden Boy hasn't been marketing the bout as aggressively as they should be?
With De laHoya, the face of Golden Boy entertainment, gearing up for his anomalous boxing match against Manny Pacquiao, Emelianenko shooting a film in Thailand, and Donald Trump working on his comb-over and future catch phrases, it's possible the bout got lost in the melee of the UFC-Affliction/M-1 promotion war that's ensued.
Or maybe everyone has counted Arlovski out.
It makes sense doesn't it?
His golden days in the UFC were quickly followed by gloomy performances: spectators wanted the electric, passionate Arlovski and had no compassion to spare after his twin losses to Tim Sylvia. Despite his overwhelming talent, Arlovski was released from his contract with UFC.
And considering Affliction's trend of match-making for Fedor, Arlovski comes off as a stepping stone, more ammunition in the war on paper to prove that Dana White, Joe Silva, and the other organizers at UFC are dodging the truth.
Affliction pursued a Fedor-Couture bout for the fans initially, and followed the flopped bout with Tim Sylvia's 36 second stand against Emelianenko. It makes sense to schedule a bout with Arlovski, and in the meantime subtlely call-out Brock Lesnar for a match.
For Affliction, Arlovski's loss is evidence that UFC Champions don't compare to Fedor's skill and talent. For UFC, Arlovski's loss may be more evidence that he's fallen off the high horse and by the wayside.
But if there's one thing that's taboo in MMA it's to count someone out before the fight's over. Especially if the fight hasn't even happened.
While Fedor has been reaping the international glory of being the WAMMA Champion, Arlovski has been steadily plugging away in training.
Arlovski's showing against Roy Nelson at EliteXC's Heat foreshadowed his return to aggressive, calculated striking and quick footwork to create depth and angles for his punches.
The time he's spent training with Freddie Roach, who's also prepared Pacquiao for his match-up against De la Hoya and is rumored to be training Anderson Silva, adds to the heavy, calculated striking equation.
Given Arlovski's punching speed and potency, it seems that he's going to rely on his fists to wear down Emelianenko. But if he's expecting one punch dominance, as he did against Buentello and Sylvia 1, he should go back to the drawing board.
If there's an area Arlovski needs to polish, it's his Jiu Jitsu and Sambo skills.
In his fight against Roy Nelson, Nelson left some doubts about Arlovski's Sambo laurels. Nelson made the World Sambo Championship silver medalist look as bad on the ground as Arlovski made Nelson look on his feet.
The fight drew sided opinions because of the apparently inappropriate stand-up from the EliteXC ref who negated Roy Nelson's progress on the ground, possibly saving Arlovski from a submission loss.
Not only is Fedor's Jiu Jitsu better than Nelson's, he's stronger and has better fortitude than Nelson. Where Nelson crumbled under Arlovski's vicious combinations, expect Fedor to rise to the occassion; in fact, expect Fedor to trade with Arlovski.
It may be that Arlovski is looking to be elusive and counter-punch against Fedor, possibly opening up an opportunity to score a few combinations. Arlovski creates angles that other fighters can't, purely based on his quick footwork. And his heavy hands have suprised fighters again and again...
It's highly unlikely that Arlovski will knock out Emelianenko, but it's very possible.
He looks hungry and determined. He looks like he wants to solidify his place as a credible contendor and diminish the thought that he's a prey to the whims of his youth.
He looks like a naturally-gifted fighter who wants to fight his fight.
As wishy-washy as Arlovski is and has been in the past, his recent win over Roy Nelson, which tops off a five fight winning streak, reeks of the old Pitbull who fought like a passionate, intelligent Rus.
Let's hope the old Arlovski comes to the ring, and that the other Arlovski, the over-cautious "I-don't-wanna-get-knocked-out" stays in his dog house. Otherwise, Arlovski's MMA days may be over.
Fight Prediciton: long-shot for Arlovski win by decision or TKO; easy, but time-consuming win for Emelianenko TKO.
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