ounds per game. "Hes one of those players with a tremendous amount o

Its been a long and, at times, bumpy road back to the UFC for Andrei Arlovski. Following a seven-plus year stint that saw the dangerous striker capture the UFC heavyweight championship, Arlovski opted to part ways with the worlds largest MMA organization after fulfilling his contract in early 2008. His strategy was simple in theory, but tough in execution: dispatch the top heavyweights outside the UFC and return to the negotiating table with increased bargaining power. Arlovskis new beginning got off to a hot start when he picked up consecutive knockout victories over Ben Rothwell and Roy Nelson. Unfortunately for the Belarus native, his plan soon took a sharp nose dive. After a disastrous outing against Fedor Emelianenko in 2009 that saw him swatted out of mid-air like a fly during an ill-fated flying-knee attempt, Arlovski went on to lose his next three fights. In MMA youre often only as good as your last fight and Arlovski had now dropped four straight for the first time in his career. In the eyes of many, The Pit Bull was done. But Arlovskis fortunes would change once more, as he returned to the win column with a TKO victory over Ray Lopez in mid-2011. Since his skid ended hes now netted an impressive 6-1 (1 NC) record and subsequently earned his way back onto the UFC roster. On the cusp of his promotional return, Arlovski said his slump was an important learning experience. “I think everything happens for a reason,” Arlovski said. “Right now I have a lot of energy and fire in my eyes. Im just ready to fight hard and train hard. “If youre on top of the world, you have to train even harder than before because you can lose it in one minute. It was definitely a good life experience for me. Like I said, I have a lot of energy, Im still young and Im ready to start everything from the beginning again. “I knew I was going to be back in the UFC sooner or later. Im very excited its happened now.” Arlovski gets to reintroduce himself to UFC fans when he battles Brendan Schaub on the main card of UFC 174 in Vancouver Saturday. The show will be headlined by a flyweight championship bout between Demetrious Johnson and Ali Bagautinov. Not only does Arlovski have the opportunity to pick up his first win inside the octagon since UFC 82 over six years ago, he also aims to knock off a top-15 ranked heavyweight. With Schaub currently sitting in the No. 14 spot, Arlovski is determined to send a message to the rest of the weight class. “Its very important for me to have a very good start in my second debut in the UFC and I will do everything possible to beat Brendan,” Arlovski said. “The best thing about Brendan is that hes in front of me. Hes top 15 and Im not even top 25. So everybody whos in front of me is a very important fight for me.” A win over Schaub will certainly put Arlovski back on track in the ultra-competitive heavyweight division. Though he once wore UFC gold around his waist, hes not about to get ahead of himself. As much as Arlovski would love to fight for a belt again, he admits he has his work cut out for him before he can re-enter the title picture. “One step at a time,” Arlovski said. “I have to face Brendan Schaub and then afterwards its definitely going to be up to the UFC (who I fight next). “(The heavyweight division) was tough then and now its even tougher. Definitely the UFC has the best heavyweights in the world. Its awesome.” As with most heavyweight tilts, Arlovskis bout with Schaub carries the potential for a thrilling finish. In 45 combined fights, the two have only reached the judges scorecards a total of eight times. Though both fighters have excelled at putting opponents away, theyve also suffered their share of knockout losses over the years, causing some to question the strength of their respective chins. Arlovski immediately dismissed the notion, stating that one top fighter can put another to sleep on any given night. “If you land a good right, a good kick, or a good punch in the right place, anybody can be knocked out,” Arlovski said. “I think its all b------- about a weak chin or a glass chin. Its all about landing a hard punch in the right place. Definitely, I wont count on Brendan having a weak chin. “Brendan, hes definitely a very tough fighter. He has good jiu jitsu and is very dangerous on the ground. I just need to be ready.” Though Arlovski carries no illusions about how quickly a fight can turn sour, hes also no stranger to dishing out highlight-reel knockouts. If things go according to plan, hell be adding another to his resume this weekend. “I think its going to be a very exciting fight for the fans,” he said. “Especially for Arlovski fans.” Zach Parise Jersey . -- The Orlando Magic finally are showing the patience in critical moments that coach Jacque Vaughn has been waiting for all season. Jason Zucker Jersey . Maricopa County spokeswoman Cari Gerchick says thats the finding from an autopsy conducted Thursday by the county Medical Examiners Office. http://www.authenticwildpro.com/Luke-kunin-wild-jersey/. Coming off a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea on Saturday, Arsenal endured another demoralizing result after rallying for a 2-1 lead -- only to concede a fluke equalizer. Ryan Suter Jersey . The biggest shock of this seasons competition was on when Watford took a 2-0 lead after 30 minutes at Etihad Stadium, only for a remarkable Aguero-led comeback by City in the final half-hour. The Argentina striker produced clinical finishes in the 60th and 79th minutes to level the score before Aleksandar Kolarov put City in front in the 87th. Eric Staal Jersey . - Diego Fagundez scored his team-leading 13th goal of the season in the 76th minute to lift the Revolution to a 3-2 victory over the Columbus Crew on Saturday night that kept New Englands playoff hopes alive. TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors shocked many on the draft floor by going off the board and selecting Brazilian forward Bruno Caboclo with their 20th selection on Thursday night. But Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri said the pick didnt come out of nowhere. Ujiri said he had been tracking Caboclo since the 2013 Basketball Without Borders tournament, where he was named tournament MVP. "Bruno was one of our next guys and we decided we lost one (Tyler Ennis), were not going to lose the second one. We jumped on it," said Ujiri. "We felt like hes second on our board so lets get aggressive. "Hes a few years away, but hes a talent that I think, at the end of the day, we will be happy that we picked. Well develop him and were excited that we got a talent like that." Head coach Dwane Casey said that budding talent was something the team simply could not pass up. "There were some other guys on the board, but still with this young mans potential, I dont think the other guys on the board have the potential as high as Bruno and that was the deciding factor for us," Casey said. The Raptors, who had been linked to Ennis -- a point guard from Brampton, Ont. -- had to quickly shift their focus once the Syracuse product was selected 18th overall by the Phoenix Suns. With Ennis no longer available, Casey says Caboclo became Torontos clear choice. "(Caboclo) is one of those guys that we had to move and get him at 20 once we didnt have a chance to get Tyler Ennis," said Casey. "We had a program in place where we were going to try and get Tyler and Bruno. Once we couldnt move up and get Tyler, Bruno was the guy." Casey said Toronto was one of just three or four teams who knew of Caboclo, a native of Sao Paolo, but Phoenix was also in the mix. With the Suns holding the No. 27 pick, the Raptorss didnt feel Caboclo would drop to the 37th pick, where Toronto selected second.dddddddddddd "When you start to hear that the guy could be gone at certain places, we started to hear in the late first round," Ujiri said. "Sometimes it gets frustrating where you dont get the picks that you want and you lose a guy and that happened to us earlier." Toronto also picked DeAndre Daniels, a six-foot-nine forward out of UConn, with the 37th overall selection. The Raptors ended their draft by taking 6-4 guard Xavier Thames with the 59th pick, but quickly dealt him to the Brooklyn Nets for cash considerations. Caboclo, who will turn 19 in September, is a 6-8 swingman with a 7-7 wingspan. He spent the 2013-14 season with Pinheiros of the Brazilian league and played 16 games last year, scoring 4.9 points and grabbing 3.1 rebounds per game. "Hes one of those players with a tremendous amount of potential: athletic, wingspan, same wingspan as JaVale McGee," said Casey. "Hes raw, but again hes going to be a guy that develops in our program and grow and do a lot of things for us." The plan for Caboclo, who was en route to New York from Houston at the time of the Raptors pick, is to have him go to Los Angeles and work out with Raptors veterans DeMar DeRozan, Amir Johnson and Terrence Ross before heading to Las Vegas to participate in summer league action. "I think this development is important for him where hes getting used to the facilities, used to the training," Ujiri said. Caboclo is expected to fly to Toronto Friday. This isnt the first time Toronto has selected a Brazilian in the first round. In 2004, the Raptors used the eighth overall selection on Rafael Araujo, who spent two seasons with the Raptors from 2004-2006, averaging 2.9 points per game. ' ' '