Andrei Arlovski & Fedor Emelianenko May Meet in a Boxing Ring
Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski likely deserved better sendoffs to their mixed martial arts career. Both men fought well into their 40s. Like every combat sports athlete who attempts to stretch out the glory days, both eventually hit a wall and ended on a sad note.
Looking at MMAfighting latest news, both fighters expressed disappointment they couldn’t go out on a better note. These two men were among the best heavyweights in the world for a long time in the early 2000s. When they fought in January 2009, Emelianenko picked up one of the best highlight-reel knockouts of his career.
But with both men in their late 40s, they are both looking for a few more fights to make money and gain new fans. An organization is looking to get them together. RCC boxing would like to pair the two together to fight under boxing rules.
This has become a regular tradition in boxing, with former MMA fighters putting on the gloves in the ring. The nice thing about fighting in exhibition fights is they can alter the type of gloves they use to be heavier and help the fighters take less damage.
Arlovski Retired With a Whimper
Nearly 20 years after winning the UFC heavyweight title, Arlovski was still taking on younger fighters in the most dangerous division. The best MMA news sites show that Father Time finally caught up to Arlovski, 45, in 2022. Arlovski lost by submission to Marcos Rogerio de Lima in October 2022.
It kicked off a four-fight losing streak. During Arlovski’s last performance at UFC 303, he lost a controversial split decision to Martin Buday. Following the fight, the UFC didn’t make a big decision about a former champion retiring. It was disappointing.
Emelianenko Was One-of-a-Kind
Emelianenko is one of the rarest examples of success in MMA history. Despite a lot of pressure from UFC CEO Dana White, Emelianenko never came to the world’s biggest brand to fight. Much of the dispute was over Emelianenko’s desire to co-promote.
White, who always feared MMA becoming dysfunctional like boxing, declined to co-promote an MMA fight with another promotion. While the UFC had many heavyweight champions during the first decade of this millennium, none of them measured up to Emelianenko.
There was a genuine desire to make Brock Lesnar vs. Emelianenko happen, but it never did. Emelianenko had a lot of ups and downs following his loss to Fabricio Werdum in June 2010 in Strikeforce.
Emelianenko, a PRIDE champion, never quite regained his magic after the loss that dropped him to 31-2. He ended up in Bellator and fought for the heavyweight championship twice. During Emelianenko’s last fight against Ryan Bader at Bellator 290, he lost to Bader in a first-round TKO.
Emelianenko was well past his prime and clearly wasn’t like the dominant heavyweight he used to be.
Arlovski Would Like Revenge
Arlovski didn’t want to waste his opportunity when he fought Emelianenko. The two men went back and forth for a little over three minutes before Arlovski took what turned out to be a fatal risk. While Fedor was back up against the corner of the ring, Arlovski attempted a flying knee.
It would have looked awesome had it landed. However, Emelianenko was ready to make sure Arlovski never got close. Emelianenko fired off simultaneously, catching Arlovski mid-air and sending him face-first to the canvas.
The fight was waived off, and Emelianenko had an impressive victory. Fedor was still king of the world after he beat Arlovski. He was 30-1 in his career at the time and was defending the WAMMA heavyweight championship.
He would go on to defend the championship one more time against Brett Rogers in Strikeforce before seeing his lengthy winning streak end.
Arlovski Showed Impressive Durability for a Heavyweight
It’s hard to imagine anyone taking a punch from a heavyweight could survive that punch. But when fighters are paid to train and do enough sparring, they develop almost a superhuman ability to absorb punishment.
Arlovski fought 60 times as a professional despite being knocked out nine times. He compiled a 34-24 record with two no-contests. The highlight of Arlovski’s career came before his loss to Emelianenko. Arlovski won the UFC heavyweight championship in February 2005 when he took the interim title off Tim Sylvia.
Arlovski was promoted to full champion after defending the interim belt against Justin Eilers. He then defended the belt against Paul Buentello before dropping the championship back to Tim Sylvia.
Arlovski never fully recovered from the loss to Sylvia. He never fought for a championship again in any major promotion other than his loss to Emelianenko.
Everyone Can Box These Days
It’s hard to imagine two people not being circulated as potential opponents in the boxing ring these days. The world seemed to go mad during the pandemic, and online boxing news shows that many athletes were willing to engage in wild fights. Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen chose to fight each other again.
There is an agreement where Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather Jr. may rematch. In a startling choice, Mike Tyson returns to boxing and steps into a ring with Jake Paul. Arlovski and Emelianenko will fit in well with people who enjoy watching these fights.
Should Legends Continue to Fight?
Arlovski and Emelianenko didn’t have the best endings to their MMA careers. It’s only natural for people looking at MMA latest updates to see that neither many want to leave a sour last taste in their mouths for the fanbase. While neither fighter has any professional boxing experience, this would be a chance to exchange blows one last time.
Arlovski would like to get some revenge over someone who handed him one of the most brutal knockouts in his career. It is still unclear if this is happening, but there are many people eager to see these two legends collide one more time.
Find all the latest boxing news and MMA breaking updates on boxingnews.com.
By Dean McHugh.
