Andrei Arlovski swiped the UFC heavyweight championship belt Frank Mir never got a chance to defend more than a decade ago.
Mir, perhaps the most accomplished fighter ever out of Las Vegas, and Arlovski, who’s originally from Belarus, were widely considered the world’s two best heavyweights in 2004. Fans never got a chance to find out who was superior, however, when Mir got into a nearly fatal motorcycle accident months after becoming the champion.
Arlovski won the interim title while Mir was out and the UFC eventually promoted him to champion. Eleven years later, the memory looms large at UFC 191.