Just hours before Andrei Arlovski and Travis Browne took the cage for one classic round of heavyweight brawling, UFC leaders nearly waved off the bout before it started.
After his stirring first-round TKO victory, Arlovski revealed he injured his calf during a training session just days before his bout Saturday at UFC 187.
"I am injured, I hurt my leg during my last workout on Thursday," Arlovski said afterward in a statement released to reporters. "We finished up training, and I told my coach I wanted to go one more round just to test my reactions. We were moving around, and he kicked me on the inside of my shin, and I got a little cocky and started dancing around, and I felt something in my leg."
But it turned out there was more to the story.
In a post-fight interview on Fox Sports 1 (per Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting), UFC President Dana White indicated Arlovski was still compromised as the card was set to begin, so much so that the UFC medical staff and White himself felt compelled to intervene:
Two hours before he came out, we didn't think he was going to fight. He popped something in his calf the night before, could barely walk, was limping. The doctors checked him out and I guarantee you, he gritted it out to show the doctors that he could fight. So the doctors said, 'It's up to you, do you want to fight?' He said, 'Yes.'
Then I had people go get him and bring him to my dressing room and said, 'Do you want to fight? Are you sure you want to take this fight? You don't have to take this fight.' He looked at me and said, 'Is this seriously why you just called me back here?' I said yeah. He said, 'I'm fighting,' and he left my dressing room. And then came out and did that.
There was no outward indication during the fight that Arlovski was injured, and the exact nature or extent of his injury remained unclear Sunday.
Assuming he was indeed injured, Arlovski's memorable victory just became even more impressive.
Arlovski rocked Browne with punches early, and during the ensuing rush to finish, he was floored by Browne. Arlovski recovered, however, and put the favorite away with punches, knees and elbows at 4:41 of the opening round.
It was the latest chapter in an unlikely and amazing career resurgence for the 36-year-old Arlovski, who is 3-0 since rejoining the UFC just a year ago. After his win Saturday, he may even be in the mix for a heavyweight title shot.
5 years ago, Andrei Arlovski was thought of as a chinless hasbeen and was playing Russian roulette after losses. Now this. It is spiriting.
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) May 24, 2015
After the event, Browne and Arlovski both received $50,000 post-fight bonus checks for waging the best fight of the night.
