Weight Class: Heavyweight This fight may very well determine a clear-cut number one contender in the UFC's heavyweight division. And if it doesn't, then Alistair Overeem is waiting in the wings, should he re-sign with the promotion. Andrei Arlovski (25-10, 1NC) has had the late career, Rocky-like resurgence most fighters only dream about. "The Pitbull" is 4-0 since returning to the UFC in 2014, and undefeated in his last six fights. Nor has he been taking the easy way out: Arlovski holds recent wins over Brendan Schaub, Bigfoot Silva, Travis Browne, and Frank Mir. Now, he faces his stiffed test in his comeback against Stiple Miocic (13-2), who recently put away the seemingly indestructible Mark Hunt. Prior to that, Miocic lost a decision to Junior Dos Santos which was a closer fight than the scorecards really showed. He has looked like a top five fighter for the past year, and in all likelihood, this is where the Arlovski comeback likely gets derailed. The UFC would have been wise to give him a title fight after his huge win over Travis Browne. Instead, they booked a rematch between Fabricio Werdum and Cain Velasquez, a fight we really didn't need to see again so soon. Either way, one of these two men should be fighting the winner of Velasquez-Werdum 2 in 2016 - but with the heavyweights and fickle UFC brass you never know.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
