Andrei Arlovski Meets Stipe Miocic In UFC 195 Co-Main Event

When top-ranked heavyweight Stipe Miocic was pulled out of this weekend’s (Sat., October 24, 2015) UFC Fight Night 76 co-main event against Ben Rothwell with an undisclosed injury, fans were left wondering when the Croatian Sensation would return to the octagon on his quest for a title shot.

Today, we have that news, as the Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire just confirmed that Miocic will take on No. 4-ranked Andrei Arlovski in the co-main event of January’s UFC 195 pay-per-view (PPV) from Las Vegas:

Andrei Arlovski versus Stipe Miocic is co-main event of UFC 195 https://t.co/okMzmRAOCW

— Lance Pugmire (@latimespugmire) October 21, 2015

Miocic was last seen defeating Mark Hunt with a brutal five rounding beating last May in Australia, rebounding from his thin split decision loss to former champ Junior dos Santos in the main event of last December’s UFC on FOX 13.

Arlovski, meanwhile, was last seen winning a very lackluster co-main event bout against Frank Mir at September’s UFC 191. ‘The Pitbull’ has sandwiched two insane losses between two duds since returning to the octagon, however, knocking out Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva before finishing Travis Browne in one of 2015’s “Fight of the Year” candidates at May 23’s UFC 187.

With four straight wins in his recent resurgence, Arlovski would put himself in position for a title shot at the winner of the upcoming Fabricio Werdum vs. Cain Velasquez rematch for the belt. The same could be true for Miocic; although he’d only have a two-fight win streak intact.

In a division as shallow as heavyweight, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will get the next title shot. We could see a trilogy between Werdum and Velasquez if the former champion was to regain the belt.

Scheduled to go down on January 2, UFC 195 features a welterweight title bout between surging champion Robbie Lawler and stalwart title contender Carlos Condit.