We at Fight At The Night have decided to explore the most possible, most appropriate and most interesting next fights for both Silva and Arlovski in the aftermath of their bout in Brasilia, Brazil.
Andrei Arlovski
He into the Main Event as the underdog, but Andrei ‘the Pitbull’ Arlovski silenced the crowd in Brasilia after he knocked out Silva just 2:59 into the first round.
It was a great way to erase some of the memories of his lacklustre UFC comeback against Brendan Schaub, which he won via split decision in a boring affair.
The emphatic victory over Silva, who was fourth on the UFC Heavyweight rankings going into the fight, will likely propel Arlovski into the top ten.
A number of potential contenders in the heavyweight division have emerged in the last year as a result of the Heavyweight title not being defended since October 2013. This means that there are a few potential intriguing future match-ups for Arlovski as he continues his re-ascension into the top ranks of the division.
Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic are both top fighters who are not currently booked for any future fights. However, in the past the UFC has seemed hell bent on putting Miocic and JDS against each other. Because of this, it is likely that they are both on the shelf until JDS returns from a handy injury he sustained earlier in the year.
A fighter who is available, however, is Ben Rothwell. Like Arlovski, he too is in the middle of a climb in the Heavyweight rankings after picking up dominant back-to-back wins over Brandon Vera and Alistair Overeem.
Arlovski and Rothwell have fought each other before. That was in July 2008 at an Affliction event and was won by the Belarussian, who stopped Big Ben in the third round via punches.
That was six years ago, though, and with both fighters coming off wins against top level fighters, it may be an appropriate time for a rematch.
Another solid match-up for Arlovski may be the winner of the next weekend’s fight between Roy Nelson and Mark Hunt. Like Arlovski, both Hunt and Nelson are MMA veterans who each have a decade’s experience in the professional realms of the sport.
That helps make a fight between two long-time, big name veterans interesting to the hardcore and casual fan bases while making sense rankings wise.
A rematch between Nelson – should he win next week’s Main Event – and Arlovski will be even more interesting as the first fight between them, won by Arlovski in 2008, was mired by controversy.
Josh Barnett is another possible, but less intriguing, next fight for Arlovski. Both fighters have fought since the 1990s and both have held the UFC Heavyweight title. Despite this, a fight between Barnett and Arlovski has never occurred and a fight between two fighters with such decorated MMA histories may go down well with some sections of the MMA community.
