Belarusian becomes promotion’s oldest heavyweight champion.
The heavyweight title of the Bare-Knuckle Fighting Championship has changed hands once again, with the fight for the belt having taken place on Saturday on the BKFC KnuckleMania 6 event at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
The main event of the card featured Ben Rothwell, the reigning BKFC heavyweight champion, defending his title against Andrei Arlovski.
Once upon a time, Arlovski had been a heavyweight champion himself, but of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And during his time in the UFC, he earned the record for the most wins in the promotion’s heavyweight history.
But Arlovski has competed for various other organisations, currently being an active fighter for the BKFC. And on Saturday, he became the promotion’s newest heavyweight champion with a TKO victory over Rothwell.
This victory came just three days after Arlovski’s 47th birthday, making him the oldest holder of the title in BKFC history. However, at 44 himself, Rothwell isn’t too far behind. And in fact, Rothwell won the title from England’s Mick Terrill, who was 41 at the time of their fight.
This means that the last three BKFC heavyweight champions have all been in their 40s.
Arlovski’s title-winning victory over Rothwell is actually the third time the two men have met in a professional combat encounter, with them having fought twice in mixed martial arts. On those occasions, Arlovski won by decision and knockout, respectively.
Getting the triple over his two-sport rival marks a win in the most significant fight of the pair’s three encounters, and Arlovski can be safe with the knowledge that however old the next man is to hold the BKFC heavyweight title, it’s likely that his distinction as the oldest one to win it will stand for quite some time.
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