A heavyweight scrap between former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski and seasoned veteran Ben Rothwell kicked off tonight’s UFC San Antonio main card.

Tonight’s bout served as a rematch, as Arlovski and Rothwell had previously met under the Affliction banner in July of 2008, with ‘The Pitbull’ emerging victorious by way of knockout.

Andrei Arlovski (27-18 MMA) entered tonight’s contest having lost three decisions in a row, four if you count his setback to Walt Harris, which was later overturned to a no-contest. Prior to the skid, Arlovski had reeled off octagon wins over Junior Albini and Stefan Struve respectively.

Meanwhile, Ben Rothwell was last seen in action this past March, where he dropped a decision loss to Blagoy Ivanov. Prior to the setback, ‘Big Ben’ had gone 4-1 over his past five fights, a streak which saw him defeat the likes of Brandon Vera, Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione and Josh Barnett.

Tonight’s heavyweight collision was seemingly dominated by the UFC’s former heavyweight kingpin. Andrei Arlovski showed off his boxing ability while landing some nasty kicks to batter Ben Rothwell for the better portion of fifteen minutes.

Despite not getting the finish, Arlovski’s performance this evening was arguably his best in years.

Check out how the pros reacted to Andrei Arlovski defeating Ben Rothwell at UFC San Antonio below:

https://twitter.com/CubSwanson/status/1152757095365672960

Wow. Respect to those two #UFCSanAntonio

— JIMI MANUWA (@POSTERBOYJM) July 21, 2019

What a fight! @AndreiArlovski looked great @ufc! #legend

— bjpenndotcom (@bjpenndotcom) July 21, 2019

Me @AndreiArlovski fought @ufc 30 together

— phil baroni (@philbaroni) July 21, 2019

https://twitter.com/Markcolemanmma/status/1152757354007601152

Who do you think Andrei Arlovski should fight next following his impressive victory over Ben Rothwell at tonight’s UFC San Antonio event? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com July 20, 2019