It was 'The Last Emperor', Fedor Emelianenko who almost completely stole the soul of former UFC champion, Andrei Arlovski. The two heavyweights engaged under the Affliction banner in 2009 in a historic bout which delivered one of the most chilling knock outs in MMA history.
The 6 ft 4" Belarusian was in cruise control for the majority of the first round, out boxing his Russian foe and beating him to the punch. Arlovski looked to be en-route to a comfortable win over Emelianenko until a flying knee changed the course of history. The enigmatic Russian caught Arlovski with a looping overhand right during his lunging attack, swatting 'The Pitbull' out of mid-air like a fly. Arlovski came crashing to the canvas and lay motionless while Emelianenko celebrated his 10th consecutive win.
After the loss, the former sambo competitor plummeted into the depths of heavyweight obscurity. Arlovski suffered brutal KO losses to Brett Rogers and Sergei Kharitonov, and lost a decision to Antonio 'Bigfoot' Silva. On a four-fight skid and on the receiving end of three murderous knock outs, the end looked to be near for the former UFC heavyweight champion. Arlovski ignored all the calls for retirement from his coaches, fans and promoters, and decided to soldier on and persevere through the darkest chapter of his mixed martial arts career.
The 36-year-old sprang back into the winners column and made his way back into the UFC, where he now sits as the #4 ranked heavyweight in the world. As haunting as that loss in 2009 was, the determined contender wants to step back into the ring with Emelianenko for a shot at redemption.
"I would love to fight him," Arlovski said Thursday on his live chat. "I would love to have a rematch but I don't know. It's up to the UFC. If Dana White is going to sign him, great."
Talk of revenge comes after it was revealed that Emelianenko plans to come out of retirement. The heavyweight legend departed from MMA after knocking out Pedro Rizzo in 2012, but with the recent flood of career resurgences, it appears the former Pride champion has got the itch to come back.
Arlovski would love nothing more than to 'f**k' Fedor up and redeem himself in a rematch.
"I'm going to f**k him up," said Arlovski. "I'm not going to jump with that f***ing stupid flying knee. It's going to be a different match.
"Why did I jump that stupid flying knee? I still can't figure out why. I still don't have a clear answer for that. When I see Dana White next time I'm going to ask him, 'Please, please if you're going to sign Emelianenko just give me a rematch. Please, please.'"
Before Arlovski can think about a rematch with Fedor, the 35 fight veteran may have to battle with Frank Mir first. Bloody Elbow reported on Wednesday that Andrei Arlovski vs. Frank Mir has been targeted for the upcoming UFC 191 pay-per-view on September 5th in Las Vegas. Frank Mir is fresh off a first round KO over 29-year-old Todd Duffee, while Arlovski knocked out Travis Browne in a Fight of the Year candidate at UFC 187.
(Transcripts via MMAFighting)