One FC CEO Victor Cui anticipated there would be some brushback to the notion of adding former UFC champions Andrei Arlovski and Jens Pulver to the company’s next event.
After all, the most recent memories most North American fans have of the former titleholders involve both combatants suffering a string of high-profile losses.
But the founder of the Singapore-based company ultimately decided to give both Arlovski and Pulver fights at One FC 5 on Aug. 31 in Manila, Philippines.
Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champ, will meet Soa Palelei. Pulver, the UFC’s ex-lightweight king, takes on unbeaten Eric Kelly.
“I understand why fans might be concerned,” Cui said Tuesday in a telephone interview from Manila. “But I wouldn’t have put them on the card if they haven’t demonstrated they can still fight.”
The 33-year-old Arlovski was knocked out three times over the course of four fights in recent years. He suffered flash KOs against Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers, then took a brutal beating from Sergei Kharitonov last year in the Strikeforce Grand Prix.
For his part, the 37-year old Pulver is 5-10 in his past 15 fights.
But Pulver has won four of his past six, and Arlovski has rebounded to win his past two, which was enough for Cui to give the veterans a look.
“We’ve got some of the strictest safety measures in the industry,” Cui said. “They’ve gone through all their proper testing, all their medicals. It’s not just enough for them to say that they’re OK to fight, they’ve got to show it. Andrei has won his last couple fights and Jens has been competitive. If they weren’t up for it, we wouldn’t have signed them.”