Affliction M-1 Global partnership and more

According to Sherdog.com Matt Lindland vs. Renato Sobral has been proposed for the second Affliction PPV on January 24th. Sobral is expected to meet Bobby Southworth for the Strikeforce LHW title on November 21st and a victory would only make this bout that much more interesting.

Additionally MMAWEEKLY is reporting that M-1 Global and Affliction have entered into a formal partnership that will start off by making WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko an exclusive fighter for the merged organization.

The official partnership includes co-promotion of the M-1 challenge series, an international mixed martial arts tournament that pits fighters from different parts of the globe against each other. The M-1 Challenge’s next stop is scheduled for Oct. 29 in Kansas City, Mo., where Xtreme Couture light heavyweight Mike Whitehead will headline the card.

Financial details of the partnership are not known, but presumably, the companies would share production costs and split revenue from events. The union’s effect on Affliction’s recent partnership with Golden Boy Promotions is unknown.

“We're basically just solidifying our relationship,” Affliction vice president Tom Atencio told MMAWeekly.com of the Russian promotion. “We work well with them. They're one of the few companies we've worked with that if they say they're going to do something, they do it. They've stood behind us, especially with negotiations with the UFC.”

A press conference announcing the partnership will take place Thursday at Trump Towers in New York City. A likely date of Jan. 24 in Anaheim, Calif. will be the first “joint venture” featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski.

M-1 Global Chief Operating Officer Joost Raimond says a second U.S. Affliction/M-1 Global pay per view would likely take place in April or May of 2009 and would feature Josh Barnett vs. Aleksander Emelianenko. Raimond feels confident that the junior Emelianenko would be “re-certified” by the California State Athletic Commission.

M-1 fighter Gerard Mousasi is currently under consideration for an unnamed New Year’s Eve card in Japan, and is “a very feasible option” to participate on the Anaheim card.

The partnership is bad news for fans that hope to see “The Last Emperor” tussle with Randy Couture in the UFC. The new agreement makes Emelianenko an exclusive client of Affliction and M-1 Global worldwide for the foreseeable future. Previously, Affliction’s deal with M-1 Global was exclusive only to the U.S.