Andrei Arlovski – UFC's interim Heavyweight Champion
© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com
Special thanks to Leo Khorolinsky
Born in Minsk, Belarus, former police officer Andrei Arlovski was persuaded to take up a martial art whilst in training for the police force. His superior quickly realized Andrei had exceptional strength and conditioning, so he recommended Arlovski commence Sambo lessons with the academy.
As a youngster, Andrei made a name for himself playing goalkeeper in a local soccer team, but he later welcomed the opportunity to shine as an individual in Sambo competition. In 1998, Andrei placed third in the World Sambo Championships and went on to take the World Sambo title for the following two years.
However, Andrei preferred the completeness of Mixed Martial Arts and commenced studying kickboxing with Muay Thai's Dmitry Stepanov and former K-1 champion, Andrei Dudko. At 6'3" and 240lbs, Arlovski has exceptional dexterity for such a large man. And the finality of his strike game can be observed on Ultimate Knockouts 3, where Andrei is shown stopping MMA legend, Ian Freeman, and fellow countryman, Vladimir Matyushenko – the latter regarded by Arlovski as being one of his "most classic" KOs.
Although Chicago has become a second home to Arlovski, he still fights out of Belarus. "I stay in America to train for my fights and while I am competing. I am definitely considering making the move, but I haven't fully made the transition to the States yet."
At UFC 51, Arlovski defeated Sylvia 47 seconds into round one after knocking Tim down with a solid right fist and applying a heel lock, causing Sylvia to tap out.
Whilst Andrei is happy with his victory over Tim Sylvia at UFC 51: Super Saturday, he says there was a lot more to their long-anticipated battle than meets the eye. "I don't consider Tim Sylvia to have been an easy opponent. And I don't consider my fight with Tim to have been an easy fight. I put a lot of work and effort into that match, so the overall impression of the fight cannot be viewed from those 47 seconds, because the actual length of the fight was several months long.
"I consider the lead-up training and the sacrifices I made prior to the match to be a part of the fight. So I think it was a very difficult victory, especially against a tough opponent such as Tim Sylvia, who has been the world champion, and who actually produces fear in a lot of fighters out there. To prepare yourself mentally and physically for a fighter like that could never be considered an easy victory. There never is such a thing as an easy fight – especially in the UFC."
By defeating Sylvia at UFC 51, Andrei became the interim heavyweight champion due to current champion, Frank Mir, still recovering from an auto accident in 2004. A showdown between Arlovski and Mir is something MMA fans are now calling for to establish the outright UFC heavyweight champion. This is a clash Andrei welcomes.
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