[MMA] Arlovksi vs Barnett for Affliction PPV

[Rappy Veteran]

Longtime PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) and former UFC heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski (13-5) -- the biggest winners and clear-cut fan favorites at this past weekend's "Affliction: Banned" event -- will headline the rookie organization's next show on Oct. 11.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports was the first to confirm the date and heavyweight main event.

As we previously reported, a Nov. 8 date and Atlantic City location had been under consideration, but instead, Affliction will head to Las Vegas for a show at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus.

Formal announcement of the show is expected on Tuesday, according to Yahoo! Sports.

During this past weekend's event, Atencio never tipped his hand about a possible trip to Las Vegas when asked about a second event.

"When? The beginning of November," Atencio said. "Where? We haven't finalized that yet. We're still looking at a couple different locations."

It'll now be Las Vegas, which is home to the world's top mixed-martial-arts promotion, the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Affliction debuted July 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., with "Banned," an event that drew 14,832 attendees for a live gate of $2.1 million (though Affliction purchased $500,000 worth of the tickets).

On Wednesday, Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that the debut event garnered "well over" 100,000 pay-per-view buys, which if true, would be a major accomplishment for a non-UFC promotion.

However, given a hefty fighter payroll of more than $3.3 million, Atencio said things will be toned down for the second show.

"I'm going to make some adjustments in the next fight, and we'll take it from there," Atencio said. "If we want this to be a viable business, we have to make some changes."

At "Banned" Emelianenko scored his biggest win in three years with a 36-second drubbing of Tim Sylvia. Arlovski, meanwhile, needed nearly three rounds to score a stunning KO a resilient Ben Rothwell.

/source

That is going to be an insane fight!

Edited August 4, 2008 by Rappy

[digipoi]

Alright Fedor, lets get rid of the next boring heavyweight.

[TheElite]

Damn, I was just thinking of this yesterday. When my brother told me today I was very surprised.

I can't wait.

[Matrix XII]

I'll take Fedor in this one as well.

[Rappy Veteran]

I'll take Fedor in this one as well.

Yeah I am taking Fedor, I am hoping in a way they can bring Randy into Affliction at sometime that would garner insane ppv revenue.

[Matrix XII]

I hope Affliction beats UFC down. They think their such hot ****, but Affliction is going to rise in popularity real quick. Especially with the smart big wigs they have behind the scenes.

[digipoi]

I'm all for uniting MMA.

[Zoom7000]

As much as I wanna see Fedor vs. Randy, I really wanna see it happen in the Octogon. Randy has made the cage his own over the years and as far as I'm aware, Fedor has never fought in one (correct me if I'm wrong here!)

Either way, it just showed on Affliction: Banned, the crowd were surprisingly quiet that night, yet when Fedor mentioned (in Russian) that he wanted to face Randy, the crowd suddenly erupted like it hadn't all night.

[Schultzy]

I don't think this will be a good fight. Fedor will submit him in the first round. Bring on Randy!

[digipoi]

Randy vs Fedor is really the only match up in the heavyweight division. All others are back seats.

[Rappy Veteran]

Randy vs Fedor is really the only match up in the heavyweight division. All others are back seats.

Yeah but can we see that theoretically happening? if there's the money there I suppose it could.

[Dev Null Zen]

I honestly found MMA in a ring to be terrible. It's just not conducive to the style of fighting, as they showed with all the falling through the ropes at Affliction. This should indeed be a better fight than Sylvia ever would have been. The worst part for me about Affliction, was that they just invented a new belt so they had one to give to Fedor.

[digipoi]

Yeah but can we see that theoretically happening? if there's the money there I suppose it could.

The money is definitely there, the problem is with the politics in sports.

[Rappy Veteran]

Affliction Entertainment's next event, dubbed "Day of Reckoning," will take place Oct. 4 and feature a main event between Andrei Arlovski (13-5) and Josh Barnett (23-5), according to afflictionclothing.com.

Barnett replaces top-ranked heavyweight and WAMMA title-holder Fedor Emelianenko (28-1), who was scratched from the pay-per-view event due to a hand injury.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) couldn't immediately reach Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio for confirmation, and messages left with Emelianenko's management weren't returned.

As previously announced, the event will take place at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas.

After Affliction's July 19 "Banned" debut at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., Atencio was originally mum on the following event's headline bout. However, Emelianenko and Arlovski were reportedly set to meet at the October event. But, as MMAjunkie.com previously reported, Emelianenko was issued a 180-day medical suspension due to a hand injury. He can be cleared early by a doctor -- but only if the injury isn't serious.

Emelianenko defeated former UFC champion Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds at "Banned." Likewise, Andrei Arlovski defeated Ben Rothwell via knockout. The two clear-cut fan favorites were then expected to headline the second show for what would likely be Affliction's most marketable bout to date.

Instead, Barnett, who defeated and avenged a previous loss to Pedro Rizzo at "Banned," will get the fight instead.

No other bouts have been confirmed for the event, though a number of fighters -- including Sylvia, Rizzo, Aleksander Emelianenko and others -- have publicly stated that they plan to be a part of Affliction's second event.

"Day of Reckoning" tickets are available as a pre-sale for previous Affliction customers beginning Wednesday (Aug. 6) at 10 a.m. PT.

/source

[digipoi]

/source

Aw, shetty.

[Zoom7000]

In which part of the 36 seconds did Fedor injury his hand? :laugh:

[LRoling]

He popped his thumb out of joint during the fight. It was probably during the :36 seconds of his fury of fists landing on Sylvia's chin consecutively, and then the earhole booms from the shots reigning down while he was down as well. Just a guess.

Barnett vs. Arlovski could potentially be a decent scrap if... Barnett is a moron and tries to stand. Rothwell actually landed some mean elbow strikes on the floor during his fight with Arlovski, and Arlovski looked absolutely horrible when he was controlled from the top. Surprising considering he was once a junior Sambo champion.

Barnett should use his catch wrestling to submit Arlovski on the floor. Arlovski's crutch during all this time off was that he was heavily tuning his striking skills, which looked crisp and technical, but he sure didn't look great on the ground at all. Barnett by submission.

[digipoi]

Barnett by submission.

I can see that.

[Rappy Veteran]

As expected former UFC light heavyweight champion and recent free agent Tito Ortiz has agreed to a contract with Affliction -- a deal the 33-year-old called a "ground-breaking record contract."

Ortiz broke the news to si.com.

Ortiz, who hadn't signed the deal at the time of the report, said he planned to and that his first fight would be against Renato "Babalu" Sobral at Affliction's second show, which takes place Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas.

[digipoi]

Talk about recycle.

[Matrix XII]

I'll I can ever remember about Babalu is that kick he took to the mouth ;)

[Rappy Veteran]

The winner of the Oct. 11 "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" main event between Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett will, in fact, earn a title shot with WAMMA heavyweight title-holder Fedor Emelianenko later this year.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio hinted at the possibility ever since Barnett replaced Emelianenko at the upcoming event, and the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts today issued a press release confirming that the Arlovski vs. Barnett bout will be a "WAMMA Elimination fight."

Arlovski is currently WAMMA's No. 3-ranked heavyweight. Barnett is ranked No. 4.

[Zoom7000]

Arlovski is currently WAMMA's No. 3-ranked heavyweight. Barnett is ranked No. 4.

Not according the the official rankings on the official WAMMA page.

WAMMA Rankings

WAMMA Rankings are released on the 15th of each month (with slight variability depending on fight schedules) and compiled by the WAMMA Rankings Committee. The committee is chaired by Sam Caplan.

Released July 21, 2008

WAMMA Undisputed Heavyweight Champion

Fedor Emelianenko

1 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

2 Randy Couture

3 Josh Barnett

4 Andrei Arlovski

5 Fabricio Werdum

6 Tim Sylvia

7 Gabriel Gonzaga

8 Ben Rothwell

9 Mirko Filipovic

10 Frank Mir

Also Receiving Votes

Heath Herring

Cheick Kongo

Alistair Overeem

Roy Nelson

Aleksander Emelianenko

Cain Velasquez

So, it seems Fedor is ranked Zero! :laugh:

Anyway, according to that list Barnett is ranked above Arlovski. For me the most shocking ranking is CroCop at 9.

Anyway, just for the record here are the rest of the rankings.

Light Heavyweight

1 Forrest Griffin

2 Quinton Jackson

3 Chuck Liddell

4 Lyoto Machida

5 Wanderlei Silva

6 Mauricio Rua

7 Thiago Silva

8 Keith Jardine

9 Dan Henderson

10 Rashad Evans

Also Receiving Votes

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Vladimir Matyushenko

Renato Sobral

Middleweight

1 Anderson Silva

2 Rich Franklin

3 Paulo Filho

4 Robbie Lawler

5 Dan Henderson

6 Yushin Okami

7 Matt Lindland

8 Kazuo Misaki

9 Nathan Marquardt

10 Michael Bisping

Also Receiving Votes

Thales Leites

Patrick Cote

Frank Trigg

Yoshihiro Akiyama

Gegard Mousasi

Cung Le

Jason Miller

Denis Kang

Martin Kampmann

Jorge Santiago

Ronaldo Souza

Welterweight

1 Georges St. Pierre

2 Jon Fitch

3 Jake Shields

4 Thiago Alves

5 Josh Koscheck

6 Matt Hughes

7 Diego Sanchez

8 Carlos Condit

9 Matt Serra

10 Karo Parisyan

Also Receiving Votes

Nick Thompson

Jay Hieron

Mike Swick

Marcus Davis

Lightweight

1 B.J. Penn

2 Takanori Gomi

3 Shinya Aoki

4 Gesias Calvancante

5 Sean Sherk

6 (Tie)Eddie Alvarez

6 (Tie)Tatsuya Kawajiri

8 Joachim Hansen

9 Gilbert Melendez

10 Josh Thomson

Also Receiving Votes

Kenny Florian

Mitsuhiro Ishida

Joe Stevenson

Roger Huerta

Hayato Sakurai

Vitor Ribiero

Caol Uno

Mac Danzig

Featherweight

1 Urijah Faber

2 Norifumi Yamamoto

3 Masakazu Imanari

4 Akitoshi Tamura

5 (Tie)Jens Pulver

5 (Tie)Mike Brown

7 Takeshi Inoue

8 Jeff Curran

9 Hatsu Hioki

10 Wagnney Fabiano

Also Receiving Votes

Dokojonsuke Mishima

Antonio Carvalho

Hideki Kadowaki

Rafael Assuncao

Leonard Garcia

Yoshiro Maeda

Hiroyuki Takaya

Micah Miller

Interesting that all the UFC champions are on top. Except for the WAMMA HW Champion (For obvious reasons!)

[Matrix XII]

Yushin Okami is only ranked 6th in middleweight? I thought he was higher than that.

[TheElite]

I would change two things on that list.

I think Lyoto Machida should be third. He's better than Chuck Liddell. And secondly, put Henderson second, I think he's better than Franklin.