Famous Like Me > Actor > A > Andrei Arlovski
Profile of Andrei Arlovski
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Name: |
Andrei Arlovski |
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Also Know As: |
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Date of Birth: |
4th February 1979 |
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Place of Birth: |
Minsk, Belarus |
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Profession: |
Actor |
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From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia
Andrei Arlovski |
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Statistics |
Nickname |
The Pitbull |
Height |
6 ft 4 in (193 cm) |
Weight |
240 lb (109 kg) |
Born |
February 4, 1979 |
Fighting out of |
Chicago, Illinois |
Town of birth |
Minsk, Belarus |
Fighting style |
Sambo and kickboxing |
Mixed martial arts record |
Wins |
10 |
Losses |
3 |
Draws |
0 |
Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (born 4 February 1979 in Minsk, Belarus) is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion.
Background
Andrei only took up martial arts at the age of 18 having previously been interested in football. It was an interest in personal fitness and conditioning that led Arlovski to take an interest in combat sports.
Enrolling at the police academy in Minsk, Arlovski combined his interest in a career in law enforcement with his growing martial arts participation by taking up the required police defence course of Sambo. He showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo exponent. Within just a year of taking up the sport, Arlovski placed third in the World Sambo Championships. The next year, aged 20, Arlovski won the World Sambo Championships. He retained the title in 1999.
Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts, studying with kickboxing and developing striking skills to complement his Sambo-based ground abilities.
Mixed martial arts
With mixed martial arts competitions taking off around the world, Arlovski began his professional career at the M1 Mix-Fight World Championship in St Petersburg, Russia in April 1999. It was a fairly inauspicious start, losing by KO to the un-heralded Viacheslav Datsik. Un-deterred, Arlovski returned in 2000 to M1 at the European Championships, taking the heavyweight crown with a submission victory and a knock-out victory.
From there, the UFC beckoned. Arlovski debuted at UFC 28: High Stakes, defeating Aaron Brink with by submission. Arlovski was thrown in against top class opposition early on in his UFC career, taking tough losses against Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo. Despite those defeats, big wins versus Ian Freeman and Vladimir Matyushenko propelled Arlovski back into the UFC elite.
Arlovski showed that as a physically large competitor with tremendous knock-out power, he has the wrestling and submission background from Sambo that makes him dangerous on the ground as well.
UFC Heavyweight Championship
The out of competition injury suffered by UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir led to the creation of an interim title. The match-up was between the previous heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia and Arlovski on February 5, 2005. The two competitors had become known for hard hitting, Sylvia having won the eight matches prior to facing Mir all through striking prowess.
As the fight unfolded, Arlovski showed greater mobility and accuracy when striking. Within 47 seconds, Sylvia had been grounded and Arlovski applied a heel hook. Not wanting to risk serious injury, Sylvia tapped out and Andrei Arlovski was named the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion.
Arlovski made a subsequent defence of the interim title in June, when his opponent Justin Eilers suffered a non-contact anterior cruciate ligament injury.
On August 12, 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognised Arlovski as the Heavyweight champion outright, as Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his injury. The first defense of that title took place on October 7 of that same year, with Arlovski knocking out the top contender, Paul Buentello, in 15 seconds of the opening round.
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