Andrei Arlovski

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Andrei Arlovski
Statistics
Nickname The Pitbull
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Nationality Flag of Belarus Belarusian
Born February 4, 1979
Fighting out of Chicago, Illinois
Town of birth Minsk, Belarus
Fighting style Sambo, Kickboxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Mixed martial arts record
Wins 12
  By knockout 8
  By submission 3
Losses 5
Draws 0
No contests 1

Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (Belarusian language: Андрэй Арлоўскі,born February 4, 1979 in Minsk, Belarus) is a Belarusian mixed martial arts fighter and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion. He holds notable wins over Tim Sylvia, Vladimir Matyushenko and Paul Buentello.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Andrei 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 these bullies.[1] 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. 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.

[edit] M1 Mix-Fight

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 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.

[edit] UFC

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 Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo. Despite those early defeats, big 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 previous heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia.

Arlovski landing a right hand at UFC 51
Arlovski landing a right hand at UFC 51

The two competitors were well known for their hard hitting style, with Sylvia having won eight straight matches prior to facing Mir all through his striking prowess. As soon as the fight began, 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.

Arlovski made a subsequent defense of the interim title in June, when his opponent Justin Eilers suffered a freak injury to his anterior cruciate ligament. 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 motorcylce accident. The first defense of the title took place on October 7 of that same year at UFC 55, with Arlovski knocking out 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 early in the first round. Sylvia was able to protect himself and immediately get up. While Arlovski tried to finish Sylvia with a right lead, Sylvia countered with a short right uppercut to the chin, knocking out Arlovski. 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 period 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]

In his most recent fight, Arlovski soundly defeated Marcio "Pe de Pano" Cruz at UFC 66 on December 30, 2006 by knockout in the first round. His next fight will be against PRIDE Fighting Championships veteran and Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Fabricio Werdum at UFC 70.[2]

[edit] Movie career

Andrei has recently landed a movie role with Beverly Hills based movie company Imperia Entertainment, Inc, in a movie titled Never Submit. He is slated to be a Russian fighter by the name of Nikolai Kruzhalov[3].

[edit] Current Training

Andrei currently lives and trains in Chicago, Illinois. His boxing coach is Mike Garcia, and he trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu with Dino Costeas at POW Martial Arts. He has also has been training with UFC legend Randy Couture.

[edit] Trivia

  • Andrei's ring entrance music ("Onward to Victory") is performed by the side project of Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta, Icepick.

[edit] MMA Record

12 wins (8 KO's, 3 submissions), 5 losses (4 KO's, 1 decision), 0 draw.
Date Result Opponent Event Method Round, Time Notes
12/30/2006 Win Marcio Cruz UFC 66 KO (Strikes) Round 1, 3:15
7/8/2006 Loss Tim Sylvia UFC 61 Decision (Unanimous) Round 5, 5:00 For UFC Heavyweight Title
4/15/2006 Loss Tim Sylvia UFC 59 TKO (Punches) Round 1, 2:43 Lost UFC Heavyweight Title
10/7/2005 Win Paul Buentello UFC 55 KO (Punch) Round 1, 0:15 8/12/2005 Promoted from interim to undisputed UFC Heavyweight champion
6/4/2005 Win Justin Eilers UFC 53 TKO Round 1, 4:10
2/5/2005 Win Tim Sylvia UFC 51 Submission (Achilles lock) Round 1, 0:47 Won interim UFC Heavyweight Title
4/2/2004 Win Wesley Correira UFC 47 TKO (Strikes) Round 2, 1:15
9/26/2003 Win Vladimir Matyushenko UFC 44 KO (Punch) Round 1, 1:59
11/22/2002 Win Ian Freeman UFC 40 TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 1:25
3/22/2002 Loss Pedro Rizzo UFC 36 KO (Punches) Round 3, 1:45
6/29/2001 Loss Ricco Rodriguez UFC 32 TKO (Strikes) Round 3, 1:23
11/17/2000 Win Aaron Brink UFC 28 Submission (Armbar) Round 1, 0:55
4/9/2000 Win Roman Zentsov M-1 MFC-European Championship 2000 TKO (Strikes) Round 1, 1:18
4/9/2000 Win Michael Tielrooy M-1 MFC-European Championship 2000 Submission (Guillotine Choke) Round 1, 1:25
4/9/1999 Loss Viacheslav Datsik M-1 MFC-European Championship 1999 KO (Punch) Round 1, 6:05

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Andrei Arlovski Article by Terry Goodlad (October 2005)
  2. ^ Justin Bolduc. Arlovski vs Werdum at UFC 70. nokaut.com.
  3. ^ "Never Submit" (2007)

[edit] External links

http://www.myspace.com/arlovski Official Myspace http://www.arlovski.tv Official Web Site


Previous champion
Frank Mir		 11th UFC Heavyweight Champion
  • 2/5/2005 - 8/12/2005 as Interim &
  • 8/12/2005 - 4/15/2006 as Undisputed
 Next champion
Tim Sylvia
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