Jon Jones watches on as 46-year-old UFC legend Andrei Arlovski brutalizes rival to win first fight in three years

Jon Jones was ringside to watch the return of a legendary former UFC heavyweight champion to the winning column.

Andrei Arlovski was kept on the books at the UFC until last summer, when a fourth straight defeat at UFC 303 saw him hang up the gloves. He has continued to train and is reportedly set to fight for the GFL, with his return to combat coming on Saturday night in Miami.

With Jones and a host of other celebrities watching on, Arlovski took on journeyman Terrance Hodges, and butchered his face in a two-round massacre. Doctors had to stop the fight due to excessive bleeding, marking the UFC legend’s first win since 2022.

HUGE KO: Yoel Romero viciously knocks out 6’6 giant in main event of Jon Jones’ debut show for Dirty Boxing ChampionshipAndrei Arlovski forces doctor’s stoppage in Dirty Boxing winIt was a night of heavyweight action at The Hangar in Miami as Andrei Arlovski rolled back the years to land his first victory since leaving the UFC. His fight was the co-main event of Jon Jones’ first show since announcing his part-ownership of the Dirty Boxing Championship.

Arlovski took on the little-known Hodges and showed that even in his late 40s that he is a class above the level of opponent he was facing. He never looked in danger throughout the first, and in the second opened up a gruesome cut on his rival’s forehead.

The former UFC champion looked almost perfectly suited for the hybrid ruleset of the Dirty Boxing Championship at times, mixing his elbows with punches perfectly. And Hodges was eventually forced to stop by doctors as his cut continued to gush blood.

DBX 1 delivers huge knockouts and exciting momentsThe prelims for Saturday night’s DBX event kicked off at around the time that UFC London was ending, and many fans noticed the disparity between the two events. On a night with no knockouts and just four submissions in the octagon, something else was badly needed for combat fans.

In the Dirty Boxing Championships, almost all of the fights were stoppages, including the main event where Yoel Romero had to overcome a giant heavyweight to land his latest win. There were stoppages aplenty, including Ulysses Diaz who went on to call out promotional boss Mike Perry.

With fighters all competing for a cryptocurrency bonus payout of $10,000 for KO of the night and $20,000 split for the fight of the night, action was intense. It resulted in a fun, if at times farcical, night of fights with a number of big knockouts.