Former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia will fight for a fourth time at ONE FC 5 in the Philippians on August 31st.
Arlovski had originally been slated to fight against Soi Palelei, but he was withdrawn after failing to agree to a five fight deal with the Asian promotion.
Meanwhile, Sylvia had recently looked like finally making it back to the big stage last week when it emerged that Strikeforce were attempting to line him up against their tournament winner Daniel Cormier, but when Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta heard about it they pulled the plug on the deal.
That then opened up the opportunity for Sylvia to fight Arlovski again, some six years after their last encounter.
Currently the score stands 2-1 to Sylvia in their prior meetings, with Arlovski having submitted him the first time they fought to become the UFC interim heavyweight champion, while ‘The Maine-iac’ produced back-to-back TKO and decision wins to win back the title.
Both men have fallen on harder times since that spell when they were at the top of the UFC’s heavyweight roster. Both eventually left the sport’s top promotion and Arlovski went on to suffer a four fight losing streak before finally righting the ship with a couple of less-than-impressive wins last year.
Sylvia also had a swift fall from grace thanks to a three defeats in a row, and while he’s since compiled a 7-1 record the level of opposition he’s faced has often left a lot to be desired.
So this match-up isn’t likely to give either man the boost they need to get back to the UFC, but it’s a fun fight for ONE FC who’ll also featured a number of other UFC vets like Jens Pulver and Phil Baroni on their fifth show.
