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Andrei Arlovski knocking out Bigfoot Silva perfectly symbolizes UFC’s 2014 campaign

By Zach Arnold | September 13, 2014

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Never has there been so much MMA activity and yet so much of it is insignificant.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Bigfoot Silva headlining a card in Brasilia with 8,000 fans was the perfect symbolism of what UFC is now in 2014. Arlovski, who struggled to get booked and ended up finding a home in the UFC-friendly World Series of Fighting, got a call from Zuffa to come back as a card filler a main eventer. His cable fights recently were on NBC Sports network with WSOF and not on any Fox platform under the UFC banner. (Ed. — After Andrei Arlovski and Anthony Johnson were granted releases from WSOF to get back into UFC, WSOF put a halt to the practice.)

UFC asked fans to pay to watch Andrei Arlovski’s last two fights on either PPV or an internet stream. Within the last three months. In 2014, no less. On the same night of a Floyd Mayweather fight. If Andrei Arlovski is considered a top 10 UFC Heavyweight by the end of 2014, then I don’t want to hear anyone attack the plausibility of a Brock Lesnar return.

Arlovski, who should have retired long ago, proceeded to have an all-time ugly fight with Brendan Schaub in Vancouver. His reward was getting booked for an Internet card. He was supposed to be cannon fodder for one of the poster children of the testosterone plague in MMA, Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. More time was spent this week talking about Bigfoot needing surgery after the Arlovski fight to fix his medical ailments than the Arlovski fight itself. It was supposed to be a fait a’ccompli.

And right on cue, Arlovski knocked Bigfoot out. Yeah, the same Bigfoot who failed a drug test after his zombie Australia fight with Mark Hunt.

Memo to UFC: Having alleged pirates agree to goofy shaming settlement press releases name-dropping copyright law firms like the infamous Lonsteins in Albany isn’t going to curb your piracy problems. What’s going to curb your piracy problems is presenting a product that is affordable and priced fairly in the market place.

The only bright spot from UFC’s Brasilia card was Jessica Andrade, who is well on her way to major league stardom. She is a machine that is only getting better each fight. Andrade says she needs two years more of development before fighting Ronda Rousey. I think that assessment is a fair one.

As for the rest of the action this week in boxing & MMA? What a joke it was for Fox Sports 1 to market Luis Ortiz vs. Lateef Kayode as “the fight of the year.” Spike TV may have delivered the two most interesting moments with Liam McGeary pulling off the inverted triangle and Emmanuel Newton finding his back-spinning fist mojo to knock out Joey Beltran. Marlon Moraes had little trouble with Cody Bollinger in the main event of WSOF’s Pennsylvania show. Good crowd at the Sands. The East Coast fans deserve a lot more fight cards.

Floyd Mayweather/Marcos Maidana pretty much turned out the way we all expected the fight to play out, sans the biting accusation. It’s been years since a Mayweather fight had such little heat going into it. He says there are two fights left in him. The next one will have to be against Pacquiao. He better pray that Pacquiao wins and wins convincingly in Macao.

Topics: Brazil, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 8 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

8 Responses to “Andrei Arlovski knocking out Bigfoot Silva perfectly symbolizes UFC’s 2014 campaign”

  1. king famous says:

    I watched all access leading up to may weather maidana 2 but it was tame. I can’t see how money may will be able to retire without letting pacman have a try. It is smart for him to let pacman take more fights but I hope it happens anyway. I watched bellator and the whole thing feels like it has new life to it. I’ve always thought Scott Coker was a better promoter then Dana white. Ufc has nothing for me at this point except maybe jobs cormier which is I don’t know when.

  2. ryan says:

    “Arlovski, who struggled to get booked and ended up finding a home in the UFC-friendly World Series of Fighting, got a call from Zuffa to come back as a card filler.”

    This isn’t even close to being true. Arlovski and his manager approached Zuffa, being that he was on a win streak. They worked out a deal (he’s not making as much as he wanted), and WSOF agreed to release him.

    • Zach Arnold says:

      Arlovski was one of several WSOF fighters who magically was released by WSOF to go back to UFC, including Anthony Johnson. Hey, Arlovski and Anthony are getting paid coin now and have some wins under their belt. More power to them.

  3. rst says:

    I dont know how flawless he is, he seems like a little bit of a racist jerk.

    Thats a really good win for AA. But I just cant see it as more then a one off yet. (Its still a good win though.)

    After reviewing the tape, Arlovski has always been capable of such things. He KO’d rizzo. He caught Sylvia with a hot one the first time. He one punched Country. But he can never maintain it. He’s dangerous on any day, but then he’s dropping again on tuesday. I always liked AA. This is pretty much his last chance, maybe it will all fall into place this time.

    • Diaz's packed bowl says:

      He got starched by Rizzo. With the pathetic low testosterone state of bigfoot It was AA’s fight to lose.

      Without TRT the UFC lions tigers and bigfoots are easy pickings for B grade fighters.

  4. Chris says:

    So a fighter gets popped for cheating and loses his next fight back. Yeah, we’ve seen this before, so Vitor better get ready.

    Mayweather and Maidana 2 rematch was so unnecessary, and I would be shocked if Mayweather-Pacquiao happens.

    Even with the lackluster numbers Floyd’s put up outside of the Alvarez fight. Lackluster numbers for him are still pretty good by normal PPV standards. The kind of numbers the UFC would love to have at this time.

    He’s also cashing huge checks in the process. So he has zero motivation to give Boxing fans the fight they really want to see.

    I predict his next fight will be against Amir Khan(groan). And Mayweather wins by KO.

  5. david m says:

    Arlovski was always a chin away from being an all-time great HW. Actually, if he had a chin, he probably would have been a boxer and made more money.

  6. Diaz's packed bowl says:

    So Thiago Silva vs A Johnston is not happening?
    And Wand is now fighting for OneFC? for free, for the fans?
    Whats next? Struve’s heart exploding live in the octagon?

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