After his wildly exciting first-round knockout of Travis Browne at UFC 187, former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski didn’t seem too concerned about a title shot..
One thing “The Pitbull” is apparently interested in, though: revenge.
With news emerging
last week that the once-great Fedor Emelianenko is mulling a career
comeback, Arlovski – a man who has tasted defeat at the hands of the
Russian once before – is making it clear that he wants first dibs should
the opportunity present itself.
“When I’m gonna see Dana White next time I'm going to ask him,
'Please, please… If you're going to sign Fedor Emelianenko, just give me
a rematch,' ” Arlovski said during a recent fan Q & A. “Please,
please, please.'"
Arlovski and Emelianenko first mixed it up at an Affliction event in
2009. At the time, Arlovski was on a five-fight winning streak, with one
of those victories coming over current UFC heavyweight champion
Fabricio Werdum. However, on that particular night, Arlovski tried an
ill-advised jumping knee that resulted in the Belarusian laying face
down on the canvas inside the first round.
Emelianenko retired from professional MMA in 2012 with a record of
34-4-1, and Arlovski admits that he isn’t even sure that the former
Pride FC heavyweight champ is going to return to begin with. He is even
more unsure if Emelianenko – who is one of the greatest fighters to
never step foot inside the UFC’s Octagon – would even consider signing
with the Las Vegas-based promotion.
But if he does, Arlovski is quite confident that a rematch between
the two heavyweight legends would go differently a second time around.
“I’m gonna [expletive] him up,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m not
going to jump with that [expletive] stupid flying knee anymore. It’s
going to be a different match.”
Arlovski is rumored to be squaring off with Frank Mir at UFC 191 in
early September. He is currently 9-1 in his last 10 fights and is on the
verge of title contention once again.
So, a potential showdown with
Emelianenko actually makes a lot of sense, if he does, in fact, decide
to return to professional MMA; after all, their first fight ended in a
flash, they both have their enduring fan bases, and they both share the
inescapable bond of being linked to a prior generation.
When asked by a fan if Emelianenko could expect “Andrei Arlovski 2.0” if the fight happened, Arlovski simply replied: