The best and worst from UFC on ESPN: Dos Anjos vs. Edwards

#2 Best: It’s 2008 again for Andrei Arlovski

Andrei Arlovski wound back the clock in his impressive win over Ben Rothwell

11 years ago, Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell clashed under the Affliction MMA banner, with Arlovski winning the fight by third-round KO. It’s usually considered one of the better Heavyweight fights in MMA history and it arguably represented the high point of Arlovski’s career, as he’d left the UFC as a hot free agent for some huge paydays – and swiftly tumbled down the ladder not long after.

When a rematch between the two was announced for this show I couldn’t see ‘The Pitbull’ having much success – he’d lost his previous 4 fights, and while he hadn’t been getting knocked out, it looked like his career was slipping to an end. Somehow though, at the age of 40, he turned things around last night and wound back the clock, giving us his best showing since probably his win over Antonio Silva in 2014.

Arlovski looked fleet-footed and his combinations looked quick and varied, as he pieced Rothwell up for 15 minutes and only got hurt in the third round. Even that was probably due to tiredness, as the tough Rothwell hung in the fight despite taking a ton of damage.

Does this mean Arlovski is a title contender again? Certainly not, but for one night at least he gave us a glimpse of the Andrei Arlovski of old – or 2008 at least – and it was definitely cool.