Ex-UFC champs, 3 Pinoys spice up ONE FC tonite

MANILA, Philippines - Three former Ultimate Fighting Championship title-holders, three brothers out to preserve family tradition and three Filipinos out to make their country proud will highlight the action and drama-packed ONE Fighting Championship 5: Pride of Nations unfolding tonight at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

Man mountain Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski, who both reigned as heavyweight champions and fought so many battles in the UFC, will go at it for the fourth and perhaps the last time as one of the many featured fights as the two seek no less than knockout victory.

The 36-year-old Sylvia and the 33-year-old Arlovski both made the weight in yesterday’s open weigh-in ceremony in front of the green gate of the Big Dome with the former tipping the scales at 120.5 kilograms and the latter at 111.8 kg.

And there’s a lot of bad blood between these two fighters.

In their first clash at UFC 51 eight years ago, Arlovski, a Belorusian, forced Sylvia, an American, to tap out following an ankle lock at 47 seconds in the first round that made the former the interim heavyweight titlist and eventually the undisputed champion after winning some more fights after this.

Sylvia got his dose of revenge after he connected on a short right uppercut to Arlovski’s chin that sent the latter to mat where he got pounded with a barrage of haymakers to win 2.43 minutes in the first round of UFC 59 in April, 2006.

Sylvia, who once defeated Fil-Am Brandon “The Truth” Vera a few years ago, won their rubbermatch three months later at UFC 61 in a five-round battle of attrition that he won via a unanimous decision.

They got on each other’s nerve during the open workouts at the Discovery Suites Wednesday and on each other’s face during the weigh in the day later.

And tonight’s match should end it.

“I’m looking for the KO. I fought Tim a few times before. I know his strength and his weaknesses. But, I’m looking for an early KO,” the 33-year-old Arlovski told The STAR during some open workout sessions a couple of days back.

“I’m in great shape. I worked hard for this fight. I’ve been in the gym three times a day for the past eight weeks. Trust me when I say that MMA fans can look forward to a great fight on Friday,” added Arlovski.

“I’ll let my fist do the talking,” Sylvia, for his part, said.

Also expected to generate attention is the match between Jens Pulver, the UFC’s first lightweight champion, and up-and-coming Filipino fighter Eric Kelly, who is undefeated in three fights since he was taken in by ONE FC.