Andrei Arlovski has accomplished a lot in his legendary career, but one mistake in particular still sticks to him a few years later.
In 2009, Arlovski was one of the biggest free agent signatures to take part in a startup’s suffering promotion, launched by a t-shirt brand known for its outrageously expensive and gorgeous t-shirts. After knocking out Ben Rothwell in his first fight with the promotion, Arlovski was booked against former Pride champion Fedor Emelianenko in one of the most anticipated heavyweight fights.
Arlovski fires up from the gate and begins the fight by catching Emelianenko with some hard shots and some nasty leg kicks, but he decides to throw an unfortunate flying knee that has been betrayed. Before he could even tie his knees, Emelianenko blows him up with Arlovsky’s brutal right hook, planting his face on canvas.
In the 16 years since that fight ended, Arlovski has always wanted another shot at Emelianenko, but despite public comments showing interest in doing it, the former UFC heavyweight champion is not sure that “the last emperor” is actually serious about it.
“The first fight, I was caught, but that’s my biggest regret,” Arlovsky told MMA Fighting. “But it’s what it is. That’s true. I lost that fight. Where is Emelianenko now? Are you struggling in Russia? I’m still fighting. I’m still doing what I want to do.
One of the main reasons why Arlovski was hopeful that he might still get a chance in some sort of rematch was hearing Emelianenko mention his name during an interview.
It quickly pissed him off, but since then, Arlovski says he was silent without many words about whether Emelianenko was serious about coming out again.
“The reason I mentioned the Russian reporter Emelianenko is that he interviewed him and said, “If Arlovsky’s name comes up, obviously I’m not going to do an MMA, but I want to box him up,” Arlovsky said. “So I wanted to have an answer from him, but he’s as quiet as f*ck. So obviously I don’t know.”
Arlovski was happy to think of a boxing match against Emelianenko, so that’s because it’s a sport he’s always wanted to try.
“I’ve always loved boxing,” Arlovsky said. “I signed with Golden Boy Promotion in 2009. Oscar de La Hoya signed and handed me $50,000 as a signature bonus. I lost a few fights. But I was supposed to fight (Vladimir) Klitschko in 2009, but obviously I did the first thing (Floyd) Mayweather opposed (Connor) McGregor.
On Saturday, Arlovski actually made his naked knuckle combat debut after signing a deal to compete in BKFC, and although he is even open to that possibility, he is highly doubtful that Emelianenko will consider it.
“It’s definitely not,” Arlovsky said of Emelianenko facing him in the naked knuckle fight. “I understand. Maybe BKFC will do something. I know.”
For now, Arlovski continues to focus on what he has control over, and his immediate future is his battle with Josh Copeland at BKFC.
With over 25 years of experience already, Arlovski is still finding new ways to surprise himself, while also discovering new combat sports he will experience for the first time. He did Mike Perry’s dirty boxing for his recent fight, and now he’s testing himself in the arena of naked knuckles.
What do these two have in common?
“Listen, I want to make money,” Arlovsky said. “Dirty boxing, regular boxing and BKFC doesn’t matter. That doesn’t matter. I want to make more money for a few more years. That’s why I’m retiring from sports.”
BKFC has exploded in popularity over the past few years, and Arlovski is undoubtedly interested in exploring future opportunities in promotions, assuming everything will go well with his debut.
In fact, he has actually had two wins against current BKFC heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell, but it’s not lost at Arlovski. It’s a battle that he will be happy to revisit.
“I can defeat him twice and defeat him in BKFC,” Arlovski said of Rothwell. “But when he won the title, I congratulated him and I asked him maybe we can dance in the ring. There’s no obvious answer but it’s okay.
“My next move, I’ve signed with BKFC, so I’ll make sure that’s the following. Obviously, it’s not up to me, it’s up to the people at BKFC.”