Sherdog’s Top 10: Fighters Who Lost Their Pro Debuts

5. Andrei Arlovski
Even as a former UFC heavyweight champion, Arlovski has battled the glass-chin stigma throughout his career. Perhaps that can be traced all the way back to his MMA debut opposite Viacheslav Datsik at an M-1 Global event on April 9, 1999. There, “The Pit Bull” was knocked cold with a single punch a little more than six minutes into the first round.

It was not the start Arlovski or his handlers had envisioned, but the Belarusian bounced back with three straight wins before landing in the UFC. He established himself as one of the most exciting offensive fighters in the sport, as he won the interim heavyweight championship with an Achilles lock submission on Tim Sylvia at UFC 51 in 2005 and was later promoted to undisputed champion. Arlovski has fought through extended periods of failure to resurrect his career upon returning to the UFC after a six-year absence in 2014, putting together wins over Brendan Schaub, Antonio Silva, Travis Browne and Frank Mir.

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