#2 Tim Sylvia vs Andrei Arlovski 3- The Jab-fest
Tim ‘Maine-iac’ Sylvia (31-10-1) is a former two-time UFC Heavyweight (HW) champion, with an MMA base of karate and wrestling. Andrei ‘Pitbull’ Arlovski (25-14-1) is a former UFC HW champion as well as former Interim-UFC HW champion, with an MMA base of Sambo, Judo and kickboxing.
Sylvia faced Arlovski four times over the course of their MMA careers, at UFC 51, UFC 59, UFC 61 and at ONE FC: Pride of a Nation.
Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more
The ‘Maine-iac’ got submitted by Arlovski in the 1st fight and went on to knock out ‘Pitbull’ in their rematch. Their 3rd fight at UFC 61 was an unintentionally hilarious matchup with both fighters coming out wary of each others’ power and appearing almost skittish when hit by the slightest of grazing strikes.
The 6’8” Sylvia kept the 6’3” Arlovski at the end of his long jab, executing the jab-rinse-repeat strategy over the better part of 25 minutes. The fans were bored, the commentators were bored and quite frankly, even both fighters themselves appeared disappointed toward the final frame of this abomination of a fight.
Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski’s skittish performance in their trilogy matchup lands the two ‘frenemies’ the 2nd spot on our list.