Andrei Arlovski set for BKFC debut in June at BKFC 76

Andrei Arlovski is making the move to bare knuckle.

On Saturday, Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship announced that Arlovski will make his promotional debut when he takes on Geronimo dos Santos at BKFC 76 in Fort Worth, TX, on June 21.

The 46-year-old Arlovski is a former UFC heavyweight champion, having won an interim title at UFC 51 in February of 2005. Arlovski was later promoted to undisputed champion after a successful interim title defense against Justin Eilers at UFC 53. After losing the belt to Tim Sylvia, Arlovski had an up-and-down career, leaving the UFC in 2008, but returning six years later, where he finished out his MMA career. Arlovski left the promotion again in 2024, following a four-fight losing streak. “The Pitbull” then made his Dirty Boxing debut earlier this year, stopping Terrance Hodges in the second round back in March.

A longtime MMA veteran with a record of 45-26-1, dos Santos made his BKFC debut back in April, stopping Aleksei Oleinik at BKFC 41.

*Update* An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that this would be Arlovski’s retirement fight. The story has been updated to remove that.

MMA Fighting – All Posts