Big Opportunities: Silva and Arlovski Have A Chance To Return To Fans’ Good Graces At UFC Fight Night 51

By Adam Martin

This Saturday the UFC features the latest edition of their Fight Night series, as UFC Fight Night 51 takes place live from Ginasio Nilson Nelson in Brasilia, Brazil. The card overall isn’t very good, but the main event does feature a decent heavyweight battle between Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Andrei Arlovski that should, on paper, deliver a brutal knockout for violence-hungry MMA fans. But while for the fans this fight is all about seeing two really big dudes swinging bombs at one another’s head for 25 minutes or less, for the fighters themselves this fight is a big opportunity to return to the good graces of the fans after what has been a rough patch for both men, although for very different reasons.

For Bigfoot, he’s coming off of the 2013 Fight of the Year with Mark Hunt, a fight that was scored a draw by the judges. That was an amazing, epic fight between two heavyweight sluggers, and most fans gained a huge amount of respect for Bigfoot especially from the fight, as he managed to eat a number of massive shots from Hunt over 25 minutes and last the entire time. For a fighter whose chin has been questioned by many critics, Bigfoot silenced them – at least temporarily – after such an awesome fight.

However, he immediately tarnished his image when he failed a post-fight drug test due to elevated testosterone levels. Instead of being a new fan favorite, Bigfoot became one of the scapegoats of the TRT era in MMA. He was docked his entire Fight of the Night bonus cheque, suspended nine months, thrown under the bus by UFC president Dana White, and his draw with Hunt was changed to a No Contest. All of a sudden, after becoming an overnight fan favorite, Bigfoot became a villain.

Likewise, Arlovski became a bit of a villain in his last fight, albeit for reasons out of his own control. Although fans had soured on Arlovski over the years, he did make a bit of a comeback of sorts over in the World Series of Fighting, and there was some buzz among hardcores when the promotion brought him back in the fold to fight Brendan Schaub at UFC 174.

However, he went on to put on a stinker of a performance against Schaub, a fight that was loudly booed by the fans at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, BC, as well as the fans watching on pay-per-view at home. But even worse than the fight was the decision. The judges inexplicitly gave Arlovski a split nod, prompting the boo birds to get even louder, and the fans to rag on Arlovski even more, even though he admitted in his post-fight interview he wasn’t happy with his performance, and even though it wasn’t his fault the judges were foolish enough to reward him with the decision.

And then, when it seemed like things couldn’t get worse for Arlovski, White called him out for an awful fight in a post-fight interview and on Twitter, and the fans took turns jumping on Arlovski’s back for a fight whose blame for badness should have been shared with the other fighter in the cage, Schaub. But, we all know MMA fans don’t think that way, and Arlovski has gotten a negative rap since then. This weekend he enters the fight to Bigfoot as a 4-to-1 underdog due to a down public perception of his abilities based on the Schaub fight (he was a 2-to-1 favorite in the first Bigfoot fight, by the way, a fight he lost via 29-28 decision on all three judges’ cards).

However, Arlovski has a chance to quickly turn things around this weekend and get back into the good graces of the fans, because with a knockout win over Bigfoot, fans will no doubt jump back on his bandwagon. Likewise for Bigfoot; with a big knockout win for him, he’ll jump back into the good graces of the fans, and likely the UFC as well. And I haven’t even mentioned yet that, in a shallow UFC heavyweight division, the winner of the bout will be pushing the top five of the weight class and nearing in on a title shot, even with everything that’s already been said in this article. Crazy how this sport works, huh?

MMA fans and the Zuffa brass have short-term memories when it comes to the fighters in the sport and their transgressions both inside and outside of the cage, and in the fight game it’s all about “what have you done for me lately.” And I truly believe we’ll see this phenomenon play out once again this weekend at UFC Fight Night 51, when, if a big-time finish comes in the main event, you’ll see the fans jump on the winning fighter’s bandwagon once again and, in the case of White, hype the winner up as a title contender. It’s just how MMA works, and I won’t expect anything less this weekend from UFC Fight Night 51.