That's how much this one costs at Affliction. I like a lot of their styles, and I've given them a lot of support on this blog, but that's just outrageous. Oh, well, guess you gotta sell a lot of T-shirts to afford Fedor.
from M-1's Web site about a press conference held today:
A long-term cooperation between M-1 Global, Affliction, Golden Boy promotion and Donald Trump was announced earlier today. Also it was revealed that the "Fighting Fedor" reality-show is going to be produced in cooperation with Affliction and Donald Trump.
M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelstein told at the conference that negotiations with different TV-networks about broadcasting the show are ongoing. 16 heavyweights from all over the world will come to St.Petersburg to participate in the project.
During the show they will train and live in the famous Red Devil FT. Once in a while well-known fighters will visit them to share their skills. Eventually only one fighter will survive and win an opportunity of fighting Fedor Emelianenko in the finals.
Affliction has extended the contract with Fedor. Also Donald Trump plans to come to St.Petersburg: ""I really believe, in its own way, this (show) will be a great success."
Arlovski
Fedor
MMARated has learned that WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will face Andrei Arlovski at the upcoming Affliction show tentatively scheduled for January 24th in Anaheim, Calif.
Affliction Entertainment VP Tom Atencio confirmed the news with us earlier today.
Finish reading 'Fedor vs. Arlovski Jan. 24 for Affliction' »
Hosts Tiffany Simons and Mike Chiappetta talk about Kimbo vs. Ken, Andrei Arvolvski, Dana White and Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson.
Gegard Mousasi with his new DREAM gold and silver
by John Joe O'Regan, Fighters Only:
DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi expects to face Vitor Belfort on Affliction's next MMA show in January.
Speaking to Fighters Only this week, he revealed that the US organisation wants him to fight the Brazilian, while Red Devil team mate Fedor Emelianenko may face Josh Barnett.
"I'm going to train with Fedor in preparation for Affliction in January," he said. "I think it is Fedor against Josh Barnett and they want me to fight Vitor Belfort."
Mousasi is part of the Red Devil International team and he shares a manager with Fedor in the shape of Vadim Finkelstein.
As well as training with Fedor, he will continue to train in his own gym in the Netherlands.
"[I have] some very good friends who each has a specialty - wrestling, judo, jiu jitsu and so on," he explains. "If I need extra training I sometimes to go to other gyms in Holland."
Josh Barnett seems to be a popular name in the Emelianenko household - earlier this week, Aleksander told Fighters Only that he wanted a rematch with the American catch wrestler.
Affliction has yet to reveal a line-up for its January event but Vitor Belfort has told Brazil's Tatame magazine that he has been contacted and offered a fight.
According to Sergio Non from USAToday, here's more on the Affliction-Golden Boy alliance, which now, based on the loaning of Arlovski and Nelson, now includes EliteXC:
Under a deal worked out to co-promote bouts with Affliction Entertainment, Elite XC has added a fight between Affliction fighters Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson to the Oct. 4 show that will air on CBS. Arlovski-Nelson will is currently slated to be the third of five fights planned for the live broadcast, said Michael Cohen, chief operating officer of Affliction.
Elite XC and Affliction will also co-promote Affliction's next event with Golden Boy Promotions, now scheduled for Jan. 24, Cohen said. That fight will air either on CBS or Showtime, he said.
"We truly believe this co-promote will help the sport to become more mainstream," Cohen told me on Wednesday. "Fans should certainly look forward to seeing more fights on primetime television and Showtime."
Arlovski: the call of the wild
Nelson: rub the Buddha
from sherdog.com's Loretta HUnt:
At least two fighters will not sit on the sidelines following the postponement of Affliction's Oct. 4 "Day of Reckoning" event in Las Vegas.
Former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski (13-5) and IFL kingpin Roy Nelson (13-2) have been offered a heavyweight bout at EliteXC "Heat" Oct. 4 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The event will be aired live on CBS.
Arlovski's management team would not comment Wednesday on the proposed bout, while Nelson's attorney, Rod Donohoo, also refrained from remarks. However, Sherdog.com has learned from separate sources that both fighters have agreed in principle to the match and that contracts have been issued for review.
Finish reading 'Arlovski-Nelson to take place on CBS' »This week, Tom and I talk about Afflcition partnering with Golden Boy, the possible Silva vs. Rampage fight and my recent trip to LionHeart Fighters.
from mmaweekly.com:
The worlds of mixed martial arts and boxing are about to collide.
Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio on Saturday confirmed that his company has entered into an agreement with Golden Boy Promotions, the boxing promotion led by Oscar De La Hoya. The two will co-promote a hybrid evening of boxing and mixed martial arts to be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 17.
"It's very good news," Atencio told MMAWeekly.com. "It's good for the company, and it's good for the sport."
Ted's Take: I've got mixed feelings about this one. I can appreciate boxing; I can remember years back ordering the Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis fight. I loved watching Micky Ward vs. Arturo Gatti on HBO. But I prefer MMA. When it comes down to it, I would rather see a card full of MMA fights than half-MMA, half-boxing. I'm not sure I'm going to buy the PPV at this point. Not to sound like a frickin' baby or anything ...
The bigger deal here if is I don't think Afflcition would be doing this if they didn't have to. Boxing's popularity, from all that I've read, is down. Why attach yourself to a sinking ship? But I guess Oscar de la Hoya's company, however, has scratch to spare. So it works out for de la Hoya, because he's attached himself to something on the rise.
Finish reading 'Affliction and Golden Boy join forces' »
Mike Chiapetta from nbcsports.com:
Affliction has postponed their planned Oct. 11 show in Las Vegas.
After a heavily promoted event last July drew almost 15,000 fans, the second promotion from the California-based group was to be held at the Thomas & Mack Arena and highlighted by a heavyweight tilt between Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett.
Last week, reports surfaced that Affliction was debating a postponement after running into many issues with the show, with the company saying that UFC has put roadblocks in its path.
Affliction COO Michael Cohen told NBCSports.com that the company is expecting to run the show in January, and that they would also make a major announcement in the next two weeks that would "change the dynamics of mixed martials arts. Not just nationally, but globally."
The October event was initially expected to feature a main event with current WAMMA champ Fedor Emelianenko against Arlovski, but the former broke his hand in defeating Tim Sylvia and would not have been ready in time for October, necessitating an opponent switch.
Cohen said that Emelianenko will fight on the new January card, but an opponent has not yet been decided.
Finish reading 'Fedor to be on January Affliction card' »
from Loretta Hunt, sherdog.com:
The Oct. 11 Affliction event scheduled for the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas has been postponed, Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer confirmed Wednesday to Sherdog.com.
Affliction contacted Kizer on Wednesday morning to inform him that the event would be moved to a January date at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Advertising for the Oct. 11 pay-per-view event had already begun, including in New York, where scheduled headliners Andrei Arlovski (Pictures) and Josh Barnett (Pictures) were featured on a billboard in Times Square.
Finish reading 'Affliction postpones Day of Reckoning' »
By Chris Howie, mmanews.com
Forced out of a WAMMA Heavyweight title fight with Andrei Arlovski that was set for Affliction: Day Of Reckoning on Octocter 11th due to a hand injury, Champion Fedor Emelianenko has had his sights set on a New Year's Eve fight in Japan against an unnamed opponent followed up by a date with the winner of the WAMMA heavyweight elimination bout on the October 11th card between Arlovski and Josh Barnett.
Tom Atencio, Vice President of Affliction, told MMANews.com this week that the company has just extended their current contract with Fedor and will look to have the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship fight in January or February when they intend on holding their 3rd show.
"We've just extended our deal with Fedor and we are very happy about that. We absolutely want to put that fight on our third show." Atencio stated of the title fight "We are looking at the Arlovski/Barnett elimination fight right now with the winner fighting Fedor for sure in January or February."
Finish reading 'Fedor update' »
Affliction Entertainment and Michael Waltrip Racing on Friday unveiled Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" #00 Toyota. The race car will be operated by veteran driver Mike Skinner, as he competes in this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway.
Affliction Entertainment is the first mixed martial arts organization to sponsor a car in NASCAR. Fully wrapped in Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" graphics promoting the upcoming Oct. 11 MMA Pay-Per-View event from Las Vegas, the car driven by Skinner will compete in Sunday's 250-lap event set to start at 5 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 31 from Auto Club Speedway in San Bernardino County, Calif. and will be shown on ABC TV via ESPN-ABC Sports.
Finish reading 'Affliction aligns itself with NASCAR' »
LeBanner, a world-class, veteran kickboxer in K-1 (6'3", 265) has been talking for a couple years about getting inside the Octagon and beating up Tim Sylvia. Well, he might get one of his wishes, as mmanews.com breaks the story, er, rumor ...
By Chris Howie, mmanews.com:
Although the second Affliction show is still over a month away, future plans include a third show that will most likely take place in January of February 2009. One fight that Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio is looking at is one that some fans have been talking about for quite some time.
"In terms of fighters we are looking at Jerome LeBanner, he is interested in doing MMA and apparently him and Tim Sylvia have some history between them so that is something that we are looking at right now."
LeBanner has been very critical of Sylvia going back a few years now when he stated that he wanted to fight Sylvia and he did not think Sylvia was any good. He has called the former UFC champ out numerous times in interviews.
Finish reading 'Jerome LeBanner vs. Tim Sylvia for Affliction 3???' »All right, things are looking great - at least on paper - in the world of MMA for the rest of the year. Here are just some the major match-ups I've heard about, most confirmed, some still just rumor, but probably will happen:
-- Matt Lindland Vs. Trevor Prangley at Affliction 2 - Day of Reckoning.
-- Jay Hieron vs. Drew Fickett, also at Affliction 2.
-- Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley at EliteXC's Oct. 4 show on CBS.
-- Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn on UFC's Jan. 31 show.
-- Also upcoming on a UFC event is Brock Lesnar vs. Cheick Kongo and Joe Steveson vs. Kenny Florian.
-- Also on the CBS show, Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald and Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson vs. Brett Rogers.
-- And finally, another Affliction match-up, former IFL lightweight champion Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon.
Holy crap! That's a lotta MMA.
He was slated to appear at the first event, Banned, but for some reason couldn't make it, so Affliction got Megadeath. Well, looks like the Prince of Darkness is ready to ride the crazy train for Day of Reckoning.
That is an absolute SICK flying knee Arvolski dealt Rothwell, and then the finishing combo was amazing too. I know I picked Barnett a while back, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts. It could be anyone's game, depending where it ends up: Standing up is Arlovski, the ground is Barnett's territory.
powered by ODEO
Tom Joyce and I give our picks for the upcoming UFC 88 - Breakthrough event, discuss the KJ Noons- Nick Diaz-EliteXC feud and break down steroids in MMA.
The California State Athletic Commission has issued Affliction fighter Edwin Dewees a one-year suspension and $2,500 fine for alleged use of Nandrolone, an anabolic steroid.
The CSAC today sent news of the punishment to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) via email.
Dewees failed a drug test administered by the CSAC during Affliction's debut event on July 19. Dewees, a replacement for Vernon White, suffered a first-round TKO to Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at the event.
Nandrolone can be found in small quantities in the human body -- usually no more than 0.5 ng/ml. However, Dewees tested positive for 499 ng/mL, according to the CSAC's Bill Douglas.
Independent tests were conducted by Quest Diagnostics for the "A" sample and by Laboratoire De Controle Du Dopage for the "B" sample.
Dewees was a late replacement for Vernon White, who was forced off the Affliction card after the Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for failing a drug test of his own.
Dewees will have the opportunity to file an appeal with the commission.
The good people at Affliction tell us that Fedor Emelianenko, the reigning WAMMA heavyweight champion, visited Affliction Clothing's new store at 7811 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles on August 12, to meet and great a large crowd of fans and sign autographs.
from Josh Gross, si.com:
Fedor Emelianenko, Mixed Martial Arts' most formidable heavyweight, won't be sidelined long with his hand injury.
"I think definitely by New Year's Eve I'll be ready to go," the 31-year-old Russian told SI.com Sunday.
Emelianenko said the sharp pain and swelling that followed his 36-second destruction of Tim Sylvia on July 19 have begun to subside, but it will be several more weeks before he feels comfortable enough to get back into the gym. In the meantime, Emelianenko (28-1, 1 NC) has returned to Southern California -- the scene of his violent stoppage over two-time UFC heavyweight champion Sylvia.
For a look at who Fedor might be fighting next, click here.
Affliction Veep Tom Atencio talks with MMAnews.com. Here's line-up he gives (so far) for the organization's second show, Day of Rekoning:
Paul Buentello Vs. Roy Nelson
Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Mike Whitehead vs. Jason High (sp?)
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ben Rothwell
Chris Horodecki vs. ???
Renato Sobral vs. ???
Looks like another stacked card. Contrary to earlier reports, Atencio says no one at Affliction had even spoken with Tito Ortiz about a contract, so we'll see if that changes in the near future.
From fiveouncesofpain:
Following up an exclusive story we first reported yesterday, former IFL lightweight wunderkind Chris Horodecki has officially signed a contract with Affliction.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com confirmed the news earlier this afternoon with one of his agents, Matt Stansell of North County Fight Club. According to Stansell, Horodecki has inked a three-fight deal.
MMAjunkie.com is also reporting that Horodecki will debut for the promotion during its next card on Oct. 11 in Las Vegas. An opponent has yet to be named.
Just talked with Mike Lynch from WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts), who said Affliction is having a press conference right now in Las Vegas.
Here's some of what he told me: The Andrei Arlovski/Josh Barnett fight in October at Affliction's second event will be for the number-one contender slot to Fedor Emelianenko's WAMMA Undisputed Heavyweight belt:
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Although nothing is solid yet, WAMMA would like to see other WAMMA belts contested soon, for example: Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Lindland for the middleweight belt or Takanori Gomi vs. Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight belt, Lynch said.
Mike "The Rocker" Lynch - any relation to George Lynch from Dokken?
Lynch did dispel rumors - which I contributed to - that the alleged upcoming Matt Linland/Vitor Belfort fight would be for the WAMMA middleweight belt.
"Not to take anything away from Matt or Vitor ... (but) We could never sanction that as a championship fight," he said. "Lindland is ranked seventh and Vitor is unranked."
Lynch added that the fight may be a possibility in the future if both fighters move up in the rankings.
Ortiz with gf Jenna Jameson.
From si.com:
Tito Ortiz is set to become the highest paid MMA fighter in history when a "ground-breaking" deal between the free-agent fighter and Affliction is announced as early as Wednesday during a press conference for Affliction's next card, which will be held Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
"I guarantee you that my contract will be like no other," said Ortiz, stopping short of giving away the specifics of a deal that could include responsibilities outside of the ring. "It will be a ground-breaking record contract for sure, without a doubt. There's so much money to be made right now in mixed martial arts and it's all about the fighters trying to make that money. It's going to be a long-term deal where I put my heart and soul into the company and help build them. That's something I'm interested in doing. They're going to bring me on, not just as a fighter but also doing some of the back work also."
Ortiz, who became a free agent on Monday after an 11-year career with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, met with Donald Trump on Tuesday to finalize the deal and is expected to be at Wednesday's press conference where his first opponent will be Renato "Babalu" Sobral.
Finish reading 'Tito Ortiz signs with Affliction' »
Looks like it's set for Oct. 11 at the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV.
Here's what's been rumored on the card:
Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski
Jay White vs. Roy Nelson
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Plus possibly Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo and Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Vitor Belfort knocks Terry Martin through the ropes at Affliction: "Banned."
I'm wondering if they mean the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts' middleweight belt, since, as far as I understand, Affliction doesn't have its own belts, but recognizes - and promotes - WAMMA champions. And pardon the translation - the Web site is Brazilian, so they do the best they can with English.
By Guilherme Cruz, tatame.com
The knockout over Terry Martin at Affliction's first edition didn't only put Vitor Belfort back to victories, but can get him a title fight. Belfort's broken hand might not be a trouble for his next fight. "The doctor will analyze it, but I may stay four weeks out. I'll come back in October 11th to fight Matt Lindland for the belt", told the athlete, that will face the Fábio Negão's opponent on Affliction's first event.
"It'll be a great fight, we'll see who is the best of the world there", said Belfort, that guarantees his style will be a problem for Lindland. "I saw his fight with Negão and he's a warrior... He comes be over you, but I don't think he has the strength to stay over me", analyzes Vitor, that wants another knockout on his career. "I'll go to knock him out... My punches are well-aimed and when it hits he won't stand", guarantees Belfort.
Found this at sherdog.com, just wanted to share. This is that wicked flying knee The Pitbull threw on Ben Rothwell at Afflction.
What does Affliction do for an encore? Just get the guy that drew some of the largest PPV numbers for UFC, Tito Ortiz. No big whoop.
From Yahoo! Sports:
Sources have told Yahoo! Sports that free agent Tito Ortiz will fight Renato "Babalu" Sobral in the co-main event at Affliction's next fight card, on Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas. The main event will feature a heavyweight bout between WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.
Affliction vice president Tom Atencio would not confirm the Ortiz-Babalu fight. He said details for the fight card will be released during an Aug. 6 news conference that most likely will be held in Las Vegas.
Atencio also indicated that he didn't think Affliction could speak with Ortiz until Aug. 4 because of a 60-day non-compete clause in Ortiz's UFC contract. Ortiz's last fight for UFC was on May 24 at UFC 84. If the 60-day clause is accurate, the deal ended last weekend. Atencio said the biggest stumbling block for an Ortiz deal would be the financial terms.
Finish reading 'Tito vs. Babalu' »This episode features recaps of the recent Affliction and UFC cards and a preview of Saturday's EliteXC "Unfinished Business" event.
Arlovski
Emelianenko
From Kevin Iole, Yahoo! sports:
LAS VEGAS - Fedor Emelianenko will defend his newly won World Association of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight championship belt on Oct. 11 against Andrei Arlovski in the UFC's backyard.
Affliction's second MMA promotion will be at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus, in the shadow of the UFC's corporate offices, according to a venue official.
Affliction made its promotional debut last Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with Emelianenko submitting ex-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds.
Affliction vice president Tom Atencio said Wednesday an announcement on its next show would come Tuesday. But arena director Daren Libonati, who is a big MMA supporter, said he was excited to have Emelianenko back in his building.
Libonati was instrumental in bringing the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championship to the U.S. for the first time on Oct. 21, 2006, with a show at Thomas & Mack that featured Emelianenko defending his heavyweight title against Mark Coleman.
"We're really excited to have Affliction in the building and particularly to have Fedor and all those other great names," Libonati said. "I remember working so hard with all those people at PRIDE and the ultimate goal was to put on a show (at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV's football stadium) where the PRIDE champions would have defended their titles against the UFC champions.
"That's what we were working toward in those two (PRIDE) shows we did back then, but it never worked out. We always want to bring big events here, and any time you have Fedor in your building you have a big event."
Arlovski is a former UFC heavyweight champion who was impressive on Saturday's Affliction show in stopping Ben Rothwell.
From mmanews.com, by Chris Howie:
This past weekend Aleksander Emelianenko was scheduled to face Paul Buentello in heavyweight action during the FSN portion of Affliction: Banned but due to medical complications the fight was cancelled.
A source close to the situation spoke to MMANews.com's Michael Moody on a condition of anonymity and explained that the blood tests came back right before Aleks and Buentello were scheduled to weigh in and that is why there was so much confusion around the stage and why the fighters did not weigh in. Gary Goodridge ended up stepping up on extremely short notice and filling in for the Russian heavyweight.
The tests were positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in the CSAC cancelling the fight. Hep B is the result of transmission from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood. Possible forms of transmission include (but are not limited to) unprotected sexual contact, blood transfusions, re-use of contaminated needles & syringes, and vertical transmission from mother to child during childbirth.
A positive Hepatitis B test is no laughing matter and this could spell the end of Aleks' fighting career as many of the people close to the situation pointed out. I can't imagine many fighters willing to step up to fight Aleks with the possibility of catching the disease. He most definitely will not fight in the United States again and it will be interesting to see if this positive test results in organizations from all over the world black listing the brother of heavyweigh king, Fedor Emelianenko.
MMANews.com will have more on this story as it develops as we imagine a second opinion will be taken to make sure the test wasn't flawed.
Seems like every MMA pundit on the Internets has a radio show, so I figured what the heck. Here's the first edition of The MMA Explosion Radio Show. Took me a while to think up that title ... Anyway, I'm joined by Tom Joyce, my co-worker here at The Daily Record and videographer/producer virtuoso. Have a listen.
Well, it was truly an amazing weekend. Fedor Emelianenko destroyed Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at Affliction: Banned and Anderson Silva made short work of James Irvin in just more than a minute.
If anything, it proved that MMA fans can't get enough ... MMA. UFC's ratings were high, and Affliction's attendence was somewhere aroudn 14,000 and their gate was over $2 million. Of course, they had to pay their fighters more than $3 million, but so what, right?
Seriously, I think everyone at Afflction, M-1, AdrenalineMMA and WAMMA should be very happy with the way things turned out. There's already talk of the second Afflction show - could we see Fedor vs. randy at that one, or maybe Arlovski or Barnett, fresh off their devastating wins over Rothwell and Rizzo, respectively, might step up to take on The Last Emperor.
WAMMA exec Michael Lynch - he was the guy with the rocker long hair in the ring, handing the belt over to Fedor - told me a few weeks back WAMMA woudl like to offer a lightweight belt, possibly in the fall. Sounds good to me, let's have Takanori Gomi vs. Joachim Hansen II ...
I was going to post photos and videos of the Affliction Banned and UFC weigh-ins, but we're having problems with posting media ...
But, there is some late-breaking news out of Affliction - instead of scrapping the A. Emelianenko-Buentello fight when Emelianenko had paperwork problems, Affliction match-makers picked up the phone and called UFC/PRIDE veteran Gary Goodridge.
I applaud Affliction for this - they could have given viewers one less fight - I mean, fights have been canceled without being replaced. But to get Goodridge at the last minute - fan-freakin'-tastic.
Aleks
Buentello
From sherdog.com:
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The heavyweight bout between Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) and Paul Buentello (Pictures) scheduled for Saturday's Affliction debut event has been cancelled.
According to Bill Douglas of the California State Athletic Commission, Emelianenko did not meet his licensing requirements.
According to mmajunkie, the latest with Affliction Banned is that the entire card will be televised in one form or another. In other words, teh first three fights will be on Fox Sport Net, starting at 8 p.m., and the rest of the card will be on Pay-Per-View, starting at 9 p.m.
That's great news. This show just keeps getting better and better, the closer it gets to bell-time.
The other thing about the event is that it is nearly sold out. With a couple days left, they've sold more than 10,000 tickets ofor an arena that holds between 12,000 and 13,000.
Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello
Aleks says he will fight to the death, if necessary.
If you're a top heavyweight - or even a LHW or middleweight, and you're not employed by the UFC, chances are you're on this show.
Fedor always seems to nullify any height advantage his opponents may have. I mean, look at him, does he seem worried that Tim Sylvia is 6'8"?
Don't know if I posted this before, but the UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy site can be seen here.
It breaks down the fights, give some clips on each fighter, and all that good stuff.
What I find interesting is that they are billing it as "The Most Explosive Fight Card of the Summer." Hmmm, wonder if they tacked that on there after everyone realized what a great card Affliction Banned is, at least on paper.
One correction, Brock Lesnar was fighting MMA legend Mark Coleman, who is now injured and has been replaced by tough competitor Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring.
Oh, and the main event is for the welterweight title: Georges St-Pierre vs. Jon Fitch. Well, UFC is right - sure does sound like an explosive card.
Afflction news release:
Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Megadeth's Dave Mustaine and Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett got together at Eric Paulson's CSW Gym in Fullerton for some time on the mat and to discuss their performances at Affliction Banned, this Saturday at Honda Center.
Featuring the biggest fight card ever, Affliction Banned will feature Fedor Emelianenko vs. tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo, Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Nascimento, Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead and Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello with a special performance by Megadeth. Tickets for "Affliction Banned" range between $50.00 and $1,000.00, and are on sale at Honda Center's Box Office and also online at Ticketmaster.com.
"Affliction Banned," presented by Affliction Entertainment, became so stacked with talent that it had to be separated into two live shows produced for broadcast. The night's activities will kick off with a one-hour, free live telecast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the United States and on The Fight Network in Canada starting at 5 PM Pacific (8 PM/ET), dubbed "Affliction Live." Following that is "Affliction Banned" -- five incredible fights on pay-per-view starting at 6 PM/PT (9 PM/ET) via iN DEMAND, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewers Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice in the United States and Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95.
Josh "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Barnett had a blog exchange on his myspace a while back that I just found. I think it's pretty interesting, so I'll give you the quick an' dirty:
About his upcoming Affliction fight with Pedro Rizzo:
"I know Pedro is no joke. Nothing to it but to hit the gym, crank the metal and prepare for war."
Then about the subject of "biting," where in pro wrestling (of which Josh is a huge fan and competitor):
"It seems after seeing the latest UFC and a few recent fights that since my prescence isn't in the octagon a couple of fighters have decided to showcase my gimmicks. We got BJ Penn licking blood after fights (See me vs. Semmy Schilt UFC 32) and Thiago Silva doing the throat slash post fight celebration (You can see that as far back as me vs. Chris Charnos at AMC). I'd like to hear what these fighter's thoughts are on this as it could just be a form of respect/dedication and not straight out biting. But I hope its the former and not the latter. In Pro Wrestling using another's gimmick to get over is highly frowned upon."
"Joe" then wrote to Josh: "I love your throat slash and the blood licking (you do the slash better then anyone). The thing is this isn't pro wrestling so it doesn't matter who does it, they can rip it off all they want if that is in fact what they are doing. With that said, BJ I know does it because he has always done it, not because of you. But the Silva thing was lame and he is not the showman you are, again who knows if it is because of you. I wouldn't worry though, you are a better showman then both of them."
Josh says in return: "Well I can't I wouldn't stop anyone from doing anything they want and I wouldn't jump the gun either on whether they are straight biting but I dare you to prove BJ did that before I did. I can assure you he didn't In fact when I did 8 years ago at UFC 32 people freaked out about it.
Maybe they think what I did was cool and just want to show love. That's cool by me.
Josh
PS. And this shit IS pro wrestling and all rules apply. Kayfabe, gimmicks, catch phrases, costumes, etc. Gotta have your own stuff."
Katja "The Knockout" Turner weighs in: "Wow Josh, I've always respected you as a fighter, but I think you are a little hasty to say that BJ Penn is biting your moves for licking the blood of Sean Sherk. Yes, true you did it to Sammy Schilt at ufc 32, but you are by far not the first to attempt such a thing. Plus BJ has been saying he was going to do that since the fight was set up. ... And come on, the neck slashing gesture, I've seen that at every fight i've ever been to by many different fighters. Even people in the crowd are making those gestures to the fighters. No offense, but I highly doubt either of these fighters saw you do it and decided that was what they were going to do the next win just because you did it first. They are both pretty common things you see at fights... It's hard not to use someone else's "gimmick" as a fighter because most likely it's already been done before. And if someone did do it to copy you, you are right, generally mimicking someone is a sign of admiration, so maybe, just maybe, you should rethink that one... I will check out your interviews, maybe that will restore my faith in you.
To which Josh says: "I think if anyone is being hasty it would have to be anybody who would say I am talking shit or dissrespecting other fighters here. Re-read what I wrote and don't lock on to the one part about "stealing my gimmick" but notice that I made first mention of it being in homage or respect to me and that I just wanted someone to ask them to here what they said.
No one can claim to be the first to do ANYTHING in this sport but, in terms of modern MMA I have made the throat slash gesture as my calling card. The licking the blood thing? I didn't say I was gonna do it, brag it up, or pre-plan it. It was completely spur of the moment and all from the gut. It wasn't a true "gimmick" but none until BJ have ever done it on the big stage since."
After all that - there were plenty otehr people who posted in his blog that I didn't reprint here - it makes me wonder ... did Barnett have 'em all snowed? He's so big on pro wrestling, was he "in character" or "kayfabe" as they say, the entire time, making people think he really cared that someone else was copying his gestures, just to generate hype???
A news release said fighters will be on the scales by 3 p.m. Pacific Time (it's in Anaheim, Calif.), which means 6 p.m. over here. I'll see how fast I can get pics or maybe even a video.
UFC head honcho Dana White goes off while being interviewed at Y101 in Richmond, Va. Regardless of how you feel about Dana White, he really uncorks some real gems in here. I won't spoil it; take a listen.
Juanito Ibarra talks about his fighter Rampage Jackson's loss to Forrest Griffin and Affliction's Tom Atencio discusses the clothing company's upcoming mega-card "Banned."
News release from Affliction:
SIGNAL HILL, California (July 9, 2008) - It's only appropriate that the greatest show in mixed-martial-arts history, "Affliction Banned," has already set an MMA worldwide media interest record for a single event.
The star studded pay-per-view, featuring the WAMMA heavyweight championship fight between the most dominating, lethal MMA heavyweight of all-time, Russian M1 legend Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko (27-1), and former UFC® heavyweight champion Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia (24-4), will be broadcast live July19th from Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
More than 250 media credential requests were received heading into today's deadline, 10 days prior to the event, from numerous foreign countries including Russia, Japan, Korea, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.
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BJM and Afflction: lethal combination
From Affliction:
SIGNAL HILL, California (July 3, 2008) - Former MMA referee "Big" John McCarthy may have retired from working in the UFC® Octagon but he will be a color commentator for the July 19th "Affliction Banned" pay-per-view event, featuring the WAMMA heavyweight championship fight between the most lethal MMA heavyweight of all-time, Russian M1 superstar legend Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko (27-1), and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia (24-4), live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, McCarthy refereed 535 fights during his 14 years as an MMA referee, and he operates an MMA school in Valencia, California. He started refereeing in the UFC's second show in 1994 and retired this past December. An MMA ambassador all over the world, "Big" John developed into being as much a part of the UFC as the fighters that entered the Octagon. Now, though, he is a member of Team Affliction.
Here's a look at the belt that Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia will be fighting for on July 19 at Affliction Banned:
From Affliction's Web site:
SIGNAL HILL, California (June 30, 2008) - "Affliction Banned", the greatest MMA event ever staged, hit New York City's Times Square last week, as the faces of ten of the sports biggest stars, including Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko (27-1) and his opponent Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia (24-4), filled a billboard along Broadway. All will appear on the July 19th event at Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and distributed live on Pay-Per-View.
"Considering the magnitude of this fight, and the partnership between Affliction and Donald Trump, it seemed only fitting that the huge talent pool on the 'Affliction Banned' show should be seen by millions in New York's Times Square," said Tom Atencio, Vice President, Affliction. "You know it's a big show when you have a billboard on Broadway."
"Affliction Banned," presented by Affliction Entertainment, is so stacked with talent that it had to be separated into two live shows produced for broadcast. The night's activities will kick off with a one-hour, free live telecast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the United States and on The Fight Network in Canada starting at 5 PM Pacific (8 PM/ET), dubbed "Affliction Live." Following that is "Affliction Banned" -- five incredible fights on pay-per-view starting at 6 PM/PT (9 PM/ET) via iN DEMAND, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewers Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice in the United States and Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95.
Tickets for "Affliction Banned" range between $50.00 and $1,000.00, and are on sale at the Honda Center Box Office and also online at Ticketmaster.com.
Scorching the earth since the '80s - Megadeth, led by Metallica founding member Dave Mustaine (center, front).
SIGNAL HILL, California (June 19, 2008) - Affliction Entertainment, scheduled to make MMA history on July 19th at Honda Center in Anaheim with the greatest line-up of mixed-martial-arts fights ever presented in one night, keeps building this event with the latest news -- heavy metal band Megadeth, led by frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine, will be performing live at the event.
A platinum selling band, Megadeth has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide and will electrify the audience with a special highlight performance. Known for their distinctive, in-your-face guitar solos, snarling vocal style and dark lyrical themes, Megadeth is sure to resonate with the "Affliction Banned" fan base and intensify the already action-packed event.
"Affliction Banned", a mixed-martial-arts pay-per-view event in association with Roy Englebrecht Events, features the much-anticipated return of Russian heavyweight superstar Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko, in association with M-1, and supported by an star studded undercard, July 19th at Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Line-up for Banned:
Bouts Scheduled to Air on Pay-Per-View:
-Fedor Emelianenko (#1 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Tim Sylvia (#5 Heavyweight in the World)*
-Josh Barnett (#4 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Pedro Rizzo
-Andre Arlovski (#6 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Ben Rothwell
-Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
-Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
Bouts Scheduled to Air on Fox Sports Net:
-Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (#8 Light Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Vernon "Tiger" White
-Aleksander Emelianenko (#10 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Paul Buentello
Preliminary Bouts:
-Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin
-Justin Levens vs. Patrick Speight
-Mike Pyle vs. J.J. Ambrose
-Trenell "Savant" Young vs. Mark Hominick
Michael Cohen
MANHATTAN, NEW YORK (June 10, 2008) – Last week at a press conference in New York City, Affliction, the premier fashion label for men who love hard rock and fast living, announced its partnership with Donald J. Trump. Today, Michael D. Cohen, Executive Vice President & Special Counsel to Mr. Trump, was named Chief Operating Officer for Affliction Entertainment.
Affliction and The Trump Organization, in association with Roy Englebrecht Events, will present their entry into the world of professional mixed-martial-arts (MMA) with its first event, “Affliction Banned,” scheduled for July 19, 2008 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
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