Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir debuted in the octagon while one of UFC 191’s main-card winners, Demetrious Johnson, was still in high school and another, Paige VanZant, had barely finished kindergarten. Arlovski was successful in defending Mir’s attacks but not enough to sustain a cut in his right eyebrow from the multiple manoeuvres near the fence. In his absence, Arlovski was promoted to UFC champ.

While there’s no animosity between the two, they’re both eager to finally get it on.

It’s true that Arlovski has compiled several impressive performances since rejoining UFC, including the aforementioned dramatic fight with Browne and destruction of Antonio “Big Foot” Silva. Mir planned to close the distance, fight on the inside, and put Arlovski on his back. He repeatedly came forward with his left heavy left hand and then immediately would tie up Arlovski in the clinch. He failed to score any points from these positions though.

That could be good news for Arlovski, who might use the chance to erase this most recent outing from our memories.

Had Arlovski starched him in the first round, there would have been a long line of observers ready to make the case he ought to be next for the Werdum vs. Velasquez victor.

In the final round, Mir landed a phenomenal blow, dropping Arlovski and following him down in pursuit of submission. It ws also unclear if the crowd in attendance was displeased with the result or the entire bout itself as it rained a chorus of boos while Arlovski was being interviewed.

“It’s been a while since we’ve trained together so the fact that we were training partners wasn’t a factor”, Mir said.

“I still have a lot of respect for Frank”, the heavy-handed Pit Bull says, recalling a bout between them canceled a decade ago.

Many have speculated on when the fight will take place since their original fight back at UFC 188.

Arlovski, 36, finds himself firmly in title contention.

The Sacramento fighter said she wanted to avoid going to the canvas with Chambers, but kept up pressure while atop her and moved quickly to grab Chambers’ vulnerable right arm, applying the decisive armbar made famous by the UFC’s better-known female champion, Ronda Rousey, 1:01 into the third. Mir had two straight first-round knockouts heading into this fight.

In his first appearance since a loss to Daniel Cormier for the UFC light heavyweight title, Anthony Johnson knocked out Jimi Manuwa with a right hand early in the second round.