... would he be the best Heavyweight in the World?
To me, it's an interesting question, when you look at the man's career.
He basically carried the UFC Heavyweight Division for two years, along with Tim Sylvia. The trilogy with Sylvia was the only 'hot' thing in the division for years, really, and it was in that trilogy where Arlovski's weak chin became noticeable. In the first fight, Arlovski won in just 47 seconds. It was a very impressive victory. He goes on after that to knockout a couple of guys, before having to face Sylvia again.
Now, if you watch this 2nd fight, Arlovski is once again dominating and on the verge of defeating Sylvia quickly, once again. Then, all of the sudden, Sylvia lands this lucky pepper shot and it knocks Arlovski clean out. I honestly don't think I've ever seen such a weak shot knock someone out. It was astonishing.
Their 3rd fight was nothing but 15 minutes of stalling and hesitation on both parts, and it turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in UFC history. I'm sure if both could do the fight over again, they would and be much more aggressive in the process.
After the 3rd fight, Arlovski goes on a 5 fight win streak, against some very good fighters like Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell. He also got a knock out over current TUFer Roy Nelson during this time. However, he didn't take any shots during this time period. Outside of Rothwell, every fighter he beat during this time were Jiu-Jitsu guys with zero to very little striking skills. But still... with a 5 fight win streak against those names, Arlovski was ranked as the 2nd best Heavyweight in the World, and being that he wasn't in the UFC any longer, Affliction decided that he'd be perfect for Fedor Emelianenko's first fight in the company (Fedor being the 1st Ranked Heavyweight in the World, of course).
Obviously, the Fedor fight is the inspiration for this thread/question. Fedor has arguably been the best Heavyweight in MMA for around 6/7 years now. He is 30-1 (that one loss being a bullshit cut stoppage, which should have been a DQ, but Fedor would avenge that loss later on anyway), and nearly all his 30 wins came easy for him. No one, on the feet or on the ground, ever posed a threat for Fedor. However, in the first 4 minutes of his fight with Arlovski, Arlovski DID pose a threat to Fedor. He was absolutely controlling the fight on the feet, until... well, I'm sure you already know.
Arlovski had Fedor basically backing up nearly the entire fight, and got Fedor into the "turnbuckle", so to speak, and made perhaps the biggest mistake in his professional career: He went for a flying knee. Going for that knee cost Arlovski big time, as Fedor put his head down, and swung for the fences, nailing Arlovski right on his questioned chin, knocking him clean out. Now, it was a great shot by Fedor, but it's not the most devastating punch I've seen him thrown. I honestly believe there are a lot of Heavyweights who could have took that punch and recovered. But Arlovski? His lights got completely shut off with that punch, and there's no telling what would have happened if they hadn't.
Following this fight with Fedor, he took a fight with Fedor's next opponent for Strikeforce's CBS show, Brett Rogers, and while you can blame head movement and personal problems for the loss, I still think it was Arlovski's chin that cost him the fight. He got knocked out in just 20 seconds, with two shots. Yes, Rogers has heavy hands, but I've seen his scrub opponents take harder shots and not get knocked out from it (granted, they eventually would, but that's beside the point).
As you can see, Arlovski's biggest fights (Sylvia, Fedor, Rogers) have all ended because, in my mind at least, of his chin. My question is... what if his chin wasn't so weak? He definitely would have beaten Sylvia in their 2nd bout, but would he have beaten Fedor and Rogers, thus end up being ranked unquestionably the best Heavyweight in MMA? With a chin, could he defeat the best the division has to offer, including guys in the UFC like Brock Lesnar? Also, just from an all around skill stand-up, how many Heavyweights match-up with Arlovski? The guy has tremendous boxing, unlimited knockout power, and is very efficient on the ground (he has 3 Submission wins under his belt, and as I mentioned earlier.... he has defeated some of the best Jiu-Jitsu guys the Heavyweight Division has to offer). However, because of his chin, his ability gets completely ignored (I'm guilty of this myself). Whether that's right or wrong is all up to you, so I want to hear your opinion on the matter.
To me, it's an interesting question, when you look at the man's career.
He basically carried the UFC Heavyweight Division for two years, along with Tim Sylvia. The trilogy with Sylvia was the only 'hot' thing in the division for years, really, and it was in that trilogy where Arlovski's weak chin became noticeable. In the first fight, Arlovski won in just 47 seconds. It was a very impressive victory. He goes on after that to knockout a couple of guys, before having to face Sylvia again.
Now, if you watch this 2nd fight, Arlovski is once again dominating and on the verge of defeating Sylvia quickly, once again. Then, all of the sudden, Sylvia lands this lucky pepper shot and it knocks Arlovski clean out. I honestly don't think I've ever seen such a weak shot knock someone out. It was astonishing.
Their 3rd fight was nothing but 15 minutes of stalling and hesitation on both parts, and it turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments in UFC history. I'm sure if both could do the fight over again, they would and be much more aggressive in the process.
After the 3rd fight, Arlovski goes on a 5 fight win streak, against some very good fighters like Fabricio Werdum and Ben Rothwell. He also got a knock out over current TUFer Roy Nelson during this time. However, he didn't take any shots during this time period. Outside of Rothwell, every fighter he beat during this time were Jiu-Jitsu guys with zero to very little striking skills. But still... with a 5 fight win streak against those names, Arlovski was ranked as the 2nd best Heavyweight in the World, and being that he wasn't in the UFC any longer, Affliction decided that he'd be perfect for Fedor Emelianenko's first fight in the company (Fedor being the 1st Ranked Heavyweight in the World, of course).
Obviously, the Fedor fight is the inspiration for this thread/question. Fedor has arguably been the best Heavyweight in MMA for around 6/7 years now. He is 30-1 (that one loss being a bullshit cut stoppage, which should have been a DQ, but Fedor would avenge that loss later on anyway), and nearly all his 30 wins came easy for him. No one, on the feet or on the ground, ever posed a threat for Fedor. However, in the first 4 minutes of his fight with Arlovski, Arlovski DID pose a threat to Fedor. He was absolutely controlling the fight on the feet, until... well, I'm sure you already know.
Arlovski had Fedor basically backing up nearly the entire fight, and got Fedor into the "turnbuckle", so to speak, and made perhaps the biggest mistake in his professional career: He went for a flying knee. Going for that knee cost Arlovski big time, as Fedor put his head down, and swung for the fences, nailing Arlovski right on his questioned chin, knocking him clean out. Now, it was a great shot by Fedor, but it's not the most devastating punch I've seen him thrown. I honestly believe there are a lot of Heavyweights who could have took that punch and recovered. But Arlovski? His lights got completely shut off with that punch, and there's no telling what would have happened if they hadn't.
Following this fight with Fedor, he took a fight with Fedor's next opponent for Strikeforce's CBS show, Brett Rogers, and while you can blame head movement and personal problems for the loss, I still think it was Arlovski's chin that cost him the fight. He got knocked out in just 20 seconds, with two shots. Yes, Rogers has heavy hands, but I've seen his scrub opponents take harder shots and not get knocked out from it (granted, they eventually would, but that's beside the point).
As you can see, Arlovski's biggest fights (Sylvia, Fedor, Rogers) have all ended because, in my mind at least, of his chin. My question is... what if his chin wasn't so weak? He definitely would have beaten Sylvia in their 2nd bout, but would he have beaten Fedor and Rogers, thus end up being ranked unquestionably the best Heavyweight in MMA? With a chin, could he defeat the best the division has to offer, including guys in the UFC like Brock Lesnar? Also, just from an all around skill stand-up, how many Heavyweights match-up with Arlovski? The guy has tremendous boxing, unlimited knockout power, and is very efficient on the ground (he has 3 Submission wins under his belt, and as I mentioned earlier.... he has defeated some of the best Jiu-Jitsu guys the Heavyweight Division has to offer). However, because of his chin, his ability gets completely ignored (I'm guilty of this myself). Whether that's right or wrong is all up to you, so I want to hear your opinion on the matter.