Andrei Arlovski came out on top. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
4. Andrei Arlovski vs. Travis Browne
UFC 187 “Johnson vs. Cormier”
May 23, 2015
Few would have picked Arlovski to survive a series of flush shots from an enormous heavyweight as powerful as Browne, much less to handily win that kind of fight. Most had written him off after a series of losses to elite competition and a miracle last-second head kick that he needed to defeat Travis Fulton, but Arlovski got his groove back in epic fashion.
It was clear from the opening bell that Arlovski was the more skilled of the two, as he repeatedly nailed Browne with counters at the end of every exchange. Eventually, a missed right hand and follow-up backfist -- yes, a backfist -- dropped Browne to the mat. The inhumanly tough Hawaiian survived, only to eat more shots against the fence. He fired back and dropped Arlovski but could not capitalize, and another Arlovski flurry led the referee to step in and stop the fight.
The fight was outstanding by any measure, but the fact that it marked the improbable return to greatness of the prodigal heavyweight champion Arlovski was icing on the cake.
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