AfflictionGoldenBoy.com

Josh Barnett Out, Monson, Rogers, Belfort, Werdum, Lashley possible replacements.

2009-07-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

Josh Barnett failed a random drug test and is officially out of Affliction Trilogy on August 1st. This is the second drug test he has failed for steroids. He was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title and consequentially dropped by the UFC in 2002 for a similar incident.

Now the question is, who will replace Barnett to headline the PPV? Most polls demand that a suitable Heavyweight such as Brett Rogers, Bobby Lashley, Jeff Monson or Fabricio Werdum be the official replacement. Rumors are indicating though that Vitor Belfort, a 185 lbs Middleweight may get the call. Dana White and critics of Fedor Emelianenko have complained that Emelianenko has not faced top-tier Heavyweight talent since his 2004 fight against Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic. Many were especially critical against his bout versus Matt Lindland, who like Belfort, was a Middleweight moving up to fight Fedor.

Most polls suggest that Jeff Monson is the best available opponent to face Fedor. Strikeforce apparently is unwilling to lend Rogers or Werdum, while Bobby Lashley who has prowrestling commitments doesn't seem to be interested in the fight at the time.

Affliction Trilogy

2009-06-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

Affliction Trilogy, Fedor vs. Barnett, is scheduled for August 1st. The fight that has been talked about since their days at PrideFC is finally a reality. Josh Barnett (20-5) vs. defending WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) will headline the Showtime PPV event.

Champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (for WAMMA heavyweight title)
Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel
Takanori Gomi vs. Rafaello Oliveira

PRELIMINARY CARD

Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron
Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
Deividas Taurosevicius vs. Mark Hominick
Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (will not be aired)
Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs (will not be aired)

Originally Tim Sylvia was scheduled to face Buentello before Sylvia was brutally knocked out by boxing legend Ray Mercer in an MMA contest on June 13th.

In other news if Vitor Belfort can beat Jorge Santiago at Affliction Trilogy, he will then be picked up by the UFC to face Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight title, as announced by UFC promoter Dana White.

Also a possibility for the Affliction card, pending any injuries is Bobby Lashley if he can defeat Bob Sapp at Ultimate Choas on June 27th. Japanese icon and welterweight fighter Takanori Gomi has also been negotiating a possible bout on the card, although a suitable opponent has not yet been found.

Affliction has been advertising all over the place. They had huge presence during the Showtime Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields fight. They've also held a press conference in New York with Donald Trump and Mark Cuban present, advertising with billboards located in Times Square and making a strong presence at a weaker PPV with Ultimate Choas, all of which set up Affliction pretty well.

Prize Fight Promotions MMA

2009-04-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

The event entitled, "Ultimate Chaos" will be co-promoted by Prize Fight MMA and Fight Force International. It will take place at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum on June 27. Prize Fight Promotions is the boxing promotion that once promoted mega boxing bouts such as Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis. The event garnered a $17 million dollar live gate and $108 million in PPV buys. They have also promoted fights with Vitali Klitschko, Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson, Jermaine Taylor, Winky Wright and others.

In their first MMA endeavor, they've elected to feature Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Lashley as their main event. Lashley (2-0) was last seen defeating Jason Guida by unanimous decision at March Badness. The PPV was also promoted by a boxing promoter, namely Roy Jones Jr's Square Ring Promotions. Both Lashley and Sapp have fights scheduled prior to the June 27th event. Lashley squares off against Mike Cook (7-3) at an MFC event on May 15th while Bob Sapp will head to Japan to fight veteren Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30) at DREAM 9 on May 26th. In an interesting note about Dream 9, they've announced that the Sapp vs. Minowa fight is a part of a Superman Championship tournament that will also feature MLB star Jose Conseco vs. Hong Man Choi. Conseco recently has had amateur boxing experience and claims to have trained in various martial arts including Muay Thai.

Getting back to the June 27th event, Affliction seems to be making a presence at this event as well. The co-main event will feature Affliction fighters Gilbert Yvel vs. Pedro Rizzo, both who were last seen losing to top ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett at Affliction 1 and 2. Also on the card will be Affliction VP and on camera personality Tom Atencio (1-0) who at the age of 42 will be fighting his second pro MMA fight in nearly 4 years. Affliction fighters Brett Cooper, Din Thomas and Chris Hordecki are all also featured on this card.

CO-MAIN EVENTS
Bob Sapp VS Bobby Lashley
Pedro Rizzo VS Gilbert Yvel
FEATURE BOUTS
Din Thomas VS Javier Vazquez
Chris Horodecki VS William Sriyapai
Brett Cooper VS Waachiim Spiritwolf
Tom Atencio VS Randy Hedderick
Danny Abbadi VS Lance Thompson
Colby McMahan VS James Orso
Eric Bradley VS Colin Mckee

Affliction on CBS July 11th vs. UFC 100 PPV?

2009-03-18T20:03:00.001-07:00

Let's say Affliction got a Primetime deal on CBS, ABC, or NBC, so beyond Showtime, HBO and SpikeTV, Affliction MMA live on CBS featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and Tito Ortiz vs Renato Sobral going against UFC 100 on PPV? The familiar faces in Oscar De La Hoya and Donald Trump on scene and on CBS. Does it do any damage?

I am getting this storyline somewhat from a rumor that LINK: Fiveouncesofpain.com started.

UPDATE: While Affliction MMA COO Michael Cohen had indicated July 11 as a possibility and Tom Atencio was quoted by FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN saying "it could work", the latest is that Affliction has moved against the idea and will probably shoot for an event in August. No fights have been confirmed.

Additionally, rumors have been flying that Affliction may promote their 3rd event alongside the Japanese promotion DREAM, who would be launching their 10th MMA event. The rumor comes from a Mirko Cro Cop interview by jutarnji.hr and insists that Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jeff Monson, Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem 2 and Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski as bouts that are being negotiated.

March Badness

2009-03-17T19:44:00.000-07:00

Roy Jones Jr. vs. Omar Sheika
Jeff Monson vs. Roy Nelson
Bobby Lashley vs. Jason Guida

March Badness happens this weekend in Pensacola, Florida featuring a single boxing main event and a 2 fight MMA undercard. Originally scheduled fight Seth Petruzelli vs. Doug Marshall was canceled after Seth called out with an injury. Likewise the original opponent for Lashley who was Ken Shamrock was suspended for one year after testing positive for three different steroids. Hasim Rahman and Don Frye negotiated with Square Ring Promotions as possible replacements but to no avail. Jason Guida (17-19), brother of Clay Guida will instead replace Shamrock to face Lashley.

UPDATE/RESULTS:

MMA Results:
Dennis Hallman beat Danny Ruiz by first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Din Thomas beat GabeLemley by first round KO (knee)
Bobby Lashley beat Jason Guida by unanimous decision
Jeff Monson beat Roy Nelson by unanimous deicision

Boxing Results:
B.J. Flores beat Jose Luis Herrera by unanimous decision
Kieyon Bussey beat Robert DaLuz by majority decision
Roy Jones Jr. beat Omar Sheika by fifth round TKO

What Affliction should do.

2009-03-02T10:12:00.000-08:00

UFC has Brock Lesnar, EliteXC had Kimbo Slice, Japan has Bob Sapp; the idea here isn't necessarily freakshow; all three are great athletes who have dedicated serious time to training and have succeeded to a decent extent, despite whether they faced top tier talent or not. Most importantly they've been faces who get a ton of attention and a ton of attention means viewers and buyers. Even if you don't put them on your next card - casual fans will probably tune in to your next show simply because it was the stage that they saw the popular fighter on. One seriously needs to think business here for a moment and put their conservative, hardcore passion for the discipline of the sport aside for a moment - though never compromising it of course.

Hasim Rahman will be the most accomplished boxer at his age to make the transition to MMA. Rumors have it that Dave Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli have both flirted with the idea as well. On the other end of the spectrum, Freddie Roach's Andrei Arlovski, Anderson Silva, KJ Noons, Vitor Belfort, Kimbo Slice, Frank Shamrock and Tim Sylvia have or are going to switch the 5 five oz gloves for some boxing gloves. I really think the cross over has been initiated; but this is not so much about the cross over rather an opportunity to get some attention. It would be smart business for Affliction to get a big name on their card like UFC and EliteXC had done to put more people in the seats, get more viewers, more PPV buys. For example, let us use Hasim Rahman as potentially being that guy. I think Affliction can put him on the undercard somewhere and can def guide his career better then anyone else.

The other two opportunities Affliction can take advantage of from this situation is cross promoting Rahman - an Affliction fighter, with Strikeforce and eventually put him against the guy he wants to face and probably will beat in Kimbo Slice. Affliction walks away with the winner and a guy who is more legit then the street brawler. If Rahman becomes successful enough, one can flirt with having him face Fedor, if not, you got a lot of attention building Rahman anyways. Its a win win situation.

Affliction seems to be in good terms with Monte Cox and Adrenaline, and Cox's boy Sylvia is going to face Ray Mercer in a boxing match in their main event. If Sylvia wins, Sylvia can box Rahman, and if Mercer wins the boxing match, Mercer could be a fair MMA opponent for Rahman's debut.

Here is a pitch at an imaginary card:

PPV

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett
Fabricio Werdum vs. Jeff Monson - Number 1 Contender.
Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi
Renato Sobral vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Chris Hordecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paulo Filho vs. Matt Lindland

HDNET

Tim Sylvia vs. Paul Buentello
Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel
LC Davis vs. Din Thomas
Bao Quach vs. Mark Hominick
Hasim Rahman vs. Ray Mercer (MMA fight)
Bobby Lashley vs. Roy Nelson

Paulo Filho, Fabricio Werdum and Bobby Lashley would be great pickups for Affliction. I think the number one contender to Fedor Emelianenko after Barnett would be Werdum who has defeated his brother Aleksander Emelianenko, he's beaten Alistair Overeem twice, he's beaten Gabe Gonzaga ... he would be a solid pickup for Affliction.

Paulo Filho who is 16-1 was a vicious fighter that reminded people of Ricardo Arona. I think Filho would be an awesome addition and perfect opponent for Vitor Belfort or Matt Lindland.

Lashley is very popular and a good attraction. He has a fight on the March 21st Roy Jones Jr. card. He is a HW who Affliction could def use. I think he is a top prospect who can get PPV buys because of his popularity from the WWE - like Brock Lesnar was.

Din Thomas signs with Affliction; More

2009-02-28T11:14:00.000-08:00

Strikeforce recently bought out the assets from ProElite hence getting a number of fighter contracts and the TV deals with Showtime and CBS. The deal looks promising however it is obvious that their level of talent does not reach anywhere close to that of the UFC or Affliction. Realistically Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz would easily be on the undercard for any show that the UFC or Affliction would put on. There hasn't been any talk on Strikeforce doing a cross-promote with Affliction however Strikeforce President Scott Coker has indicated that they are interested in Affliction fighter Jay Hieron and that he will probably end up on one of their cards. Strikeforce has lent Paul Buentello and offered to lend Travis Prangley to Affliction.

In other news Affliction has signed former UFC standout Din Thomas (23-8). The American Top Team fighter has notable victories over Clay Guida, Jens Pulver and Matt Serra. Possible fights with LC Davis, Bao Quach and Mark Hominick look promising. Din Thomas was rumored to have been negotiating with Square Ring Promotions to fight on their March 21st card but nothing was ever signed.

Adrenaline MMA has announced that Tim Sylvia will be making his boxing debut against aged veteren Ray Mercer. Mercer (36-7), an Olympic Gold Medalist from the 88 games and former WBO champion is also known for his famous MMA loss to Kimbo Slice.

Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (45-7 boxing) the former undisputed boxing heavyweight champion best known for knocking out Lennox Lewis will be making his MMA debut this year. According to an interview with SHERDOG, Rahman has called out street brawler Kimbo Slice but is open to bouts with James Thompson, Tank Abbot, Butterbean among others. He is currently in negotiations with numerous MMA promotions.

WAMMA has named Josh Barnett the number 1 contender to Fedor Emelianenko's title. According to sources the fight is under consideration as we speak.

Alistair Overeem (3-2 kickboxing) who recently knocked out K-1 standout Badr Hari has officially signed on to fight K-1 champion and veteran Remy Bonjasky on their 3/28 card.

Roy Jones Jr. to put on Hybrid card.

2009-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:00

A lot of hardcore fans (of either sport - boxing or MMA) will dismiss the notion of any such hybrid card - always failing to realize the necessity of good business that fighters and promoters require to make good or even decent money. Hardcore fans are always a bitter minority (usually they're bitter when it comes to things like this) whose satisfaction usually comes second BECAUSE any smart businessman knows that most of the hardcore fans will buy the product anyways - and its up to them as a business to attract new and casual fans by being innovative, adventurous and attractive in some way or another.

UFC President Dana White and Matchmaker Joe Silva know more than anybody else that former WWE celebrity Brock Lesnar (2-1 at the time) was good for business and forcefully shoved him into a main event title fight - Frank Mir and many other hardcore fans baffled at the idea - and THEN, their next 'big PPV' pinned GSP vs. BJ Penn II - a match that not only had nothing to do with weight class rankings, but put number one contenders Kenny Florian and Thiago Alves on the shelf! Why? For good business. Lyoto Machida, an undefeated mastermind has been waiting for a title shot for months but has been put off because he is considered 'boring' ... even after beating Thiago Silva he has to wait to see if Rampage beats Keith Jardine or not because the UFC wants to do a mega bout between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans at UFC 100; again because its better for business. Is it really always about the best fights oh UFC nuthuggers? Nay, the answer is nay!

Come EliteXC. They get a huge TV deal and a chance to show the world the beauty and discipline and training of awesome athletes who practice a wide range of martial arts and instead put Kimbo Slice, a street brawler from YouTube in the main event against cans like James Thompson (2-8) and Ken Shamrock (a 45 year old man who needs to retire). Kimbo loses to Ken's replacement, a UFC reject - oh wait, a The Ultimate Fighter reality series reject, Seth Petruzelli (who likes to color his hair pink and dress like women for fun) and it becomes the cherry on top to a load of other problems and its over for them.

These decisions, as horrible as they may seem to the hardcore fan, were SMART business decisions by professionals who have degrees, experience and knowledge in the market of smart business. Looking back, even though they seem to be 'bad business' decisions, in reality they were not. Every business that wants to make it big HAS to take risks! Pro-Elite put on MMA events for years before they got the CBS deal - but for ratings, they knew they had to push the guy that could get them the ratings that such a massive deal required. If EliteXC put on low ratings CBS would have thrown MMA to the side and never looked back - but ProElite did something that got them ratings they needed and in turn impressed CBS so much that they've always wanted MMA back on their network ever since.

As a hardcore fan of MMA for years now - I see where Affliction has been failing. They promoted super great fights and in my opinion, the best possible fights outside of the UFC. The problem was that they couldn't really get new and casual fans interested because the guys on their card were only known to hardcore fans. Instead they get guys like Oscar De La Hoya and Donald Trump for attention. Cool.

All I am saying is that fans need to chill out .... people are trying to do business, they're trying to get attention, they're trying new and innovative things to get fans interested in their product.

NORMALLY, not a lot of boxing fans would be interested in Roy Jones Jr. vs. Omar Sheika ... why because Jones Jr. got his butt kicked by Calzaghe in a fight that should have been both of their last - according to hardcore fans. Calzaghe officially announced his retirement, and Roy instead announces a bout against a well-known veteran of the sport who has had some pretty big fights (all of which he lost - he had 4 title fights, including one against Calzaghe, and lost them all) currently holding a record of 27-8.

So how to possibly promote this fight? It's not going to anywhere near what Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao did - or even Evander Holyfield vs. Nikolai Valuev or Bernard Hopkins vs. Kelly Pavlik (the last couple of boxing events that I can recall)... its not going to make revenue anywhere close to those cards ... YET, Roy Jones Jr. - who is 40 years old, was once one of the biggest draws in boxing, he was considered p4p one of the best fighters in the world, and one will wonder if he has anything left in him. It's not as bad as Mark Coleman or Randy Couture or Ken Shamrock still wanting to fight - but it's not the fight of the year by far.

In come Bobby Lashley and Seth Petruzelli. Lashley was not as popular as Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle were in the pro-wrestling world, but he was in the midst of being pushed as the next big thing for sure. Having been tested as the "United States" and "ECW" "champion", Lashley was put in two major main events that garnered huge PPV buys ... one against WWE "champion" John Cena for the "title" and the other at Wrestlemania with Donald Trump in his corner against Vince McMahon's chosen "wrestler" ... anyways, Lashley is seriously one of the biggest prospects at heavyweight in MMA today. He is a great athlete with amateur wrestling credentials and a 1-0 MMA record from when he beat a guy in an underground promotion at 41 seconds in the first round via ground and pound. But the point is, he has eyes watching him.

Likewise Seth Petruzelli was considered the savior of MMA by hardcore fans for beating the overpaid, overrated street brawler from the internet Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson. He has a 10-4 record and is a legit contender against former WEC champion Doug Marshall (9-3). He brings in eyes for being the guy that beat the undefeated Kimbo in front of 7 million fans on CBS + 14,000 fans at the arena + the millions around the world that have seen it on YouTube ever since. His popularity exceeds Sean Gannon's - the one controversial street fight Kimbo lost.

And finally, the hardcore MMA fan that knows the potential of a great MMA fight between Roy Nelson and Jeff Monson. Monson just beat Ricco Rodriguez in December and is on a 3 fight win streak, Nelson, the former IFL HW champ lost in front of millions on CBS against Andrei Arlovski but showed awesome ground control during the fight and went on record saying that he thinks he could beat AA if they fought again. It should be a great fight, and is probably one of the better fights that could be made outside of the UFC.

In the end - all of the MMA websites, Boxing websites and WWE / Pro-Wrestling News websites will be updating their fans about the event and it should garner a revenue far better then expected. Good business folks!

In conclusion, I'd hope that Affliction would reach out to Roy Jones Jr. and co-promote this event with him. I think it would be good for business and it would give more momentum to Affliction. Affliction can help promote and produce the show and maybe even put together an additional bout on the card.

Quick Results, More

2009-01-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

1. Fedor Emelianenko defeats Andrei Arlovski via KO in round one
2. Josh Barnett defeats Gilbert Yvel via submission in round three
3. Vitor Belfort defeats Matt Lindland via knockout in round one
4. Renato Sobral defeats Sokoudjou via submission in round two
5. Dan Lauzon defeats Bobby Green via submission in round one
6. Paul Buentello defeats Kiril Sidelnikov via TKO in round three
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira defeats Vladimir Matyushenko via technical knockout in round two
8. LC Davis defeats Bao Quach via unanimous decision
9. Albert Rios defeats Antonio Duarte via unanimous decision
10. Brett Cooper defeats Patrick Speight via technical knockout in round two

Additionally on the same night Golden Boy boxer Sugar Shane Mosley knocked out Antonio Margarito via TKO in the ninth round winning the WBA title.

Attendance figures for Affliction were announced by Tom Atencio as being 13,288, PPV buys have yet to be announced

Oscar De La Hoya chose to attend Affliction DOR instead of the Mosley Margarito boxing event and was critisized live on HBO immediatly prior to the main event by boxing icon Larry Merchant. Merchant claimed that the Golden Boy was paid 5 million by the fledging MMA promotion to attend their event however according to relevent sources this is a complete fabrication.

A total of 4.6 million was given in salaries according to MMAWEEKLY to all fighting participants from Affliction DOR.

Gegard Mousasi and Fabricio Werdum are pretty much locked to be a part of the next Affliction card; Tom Atencio confirmed to FIVEOUNCSOFPAIN.com that there will infact be a third installment of Affliction MMA some time in May or June.

Showtime Promos and More.

2009-01-13T23:20:00.001-08:00

Showtime has previews up for the numerous Affliction bouts taking place January 24th, 2009. They are very well produced.

Additionally Affliction has announced that additional seating has been opened up for the event. Tom Atencio denied poor ticket sales emphasizing that that he is very pleased with sales thus far and that they are at par with BANNED at this stage.

Former EliteXC star Bao Quach (15-8) replaces Mark Hominick. Quach will fight former IFL standout LC Davis (12-1).

Currently the Affliction event is being advertised on GoldenBoyPromotions.com, AfflictionClothing.com, Sherdog.com, GoWAMMA.com, HDNetfights.com and Sports.Sho.com

Affliction News Update

2009-01-12T12:09:00.000-08:00

Gegard Mousasi who recently won his kickboxing debut against K-1 veteren Musashi at K-1 Fields Dynamite told 'Inside MMA' that he will be in attendance at Affliction Day of Reckoning and will be scoping out his next MMA opponent. He expects to fight at the next Affliction PPV. He additionally expressed his interest in boxing for Golden Boy thus joining the likes of Andrei Arlovski, Thierry Sokoudjou and Vitor Belfort from Affliction who are interested in the crossover.

Also making his appearance at the Affliction DOR PPV will be former UFC HW contender and top 10 ranked Fabricio Werdum. According to his interview with GRACIEMAG Werdum has been sporting Affliction gear and will be sitting front row January 24th.

Alistair Overeem told DreamFighters.com that his management team is currently negotiating with Affliction and the UFC.

Mark Hominick has been forced to withdraw from his fight at Affliction "Day of Reckoning" due to pneumonia. Hominick, the final TKO featherweight champ, was scheduled to face LC Davis on the undercard of the Jan. 24th event. Affliction will find a new opponent for Davis.

MMA-Boxing Hybrid PPV Update

2008-12-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

Tom Atencio announced in an interview with FightHype.com that the possibility of a future boxing-MMA hybrid PPV is still a long-term possibility and hinted that if it does take place there is a good chance that MMA faces Andrei Arlovski and Vitor Belfort might be among the ones boxing (in different weight class bouts) on those cards. Also the winner of Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel will face the winner of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski.

Tito Ortiz announced that he will be commentating for Affliction "Day of Reckoning" on January 24th. Here is the press conference with Tito Ortiz:

Affliction Card Announced

2008-12-11T19:42:00.000-08:00

PPV Card:
Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs Gilbert Yvel
Vitor Belfort vs Matt Lindland
Renato Sobral vs Rameau Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs Dan Lauzon

HDNet Undercard:
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Vladimir Matyushenko
Kiril Sidelnikov vs. Paul Buentello
Jay Hieron vs Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. LC Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight

Golden Boy vs. Affliction, More ...

2008-12-11T14:06:00.000-08:00

On December 6th Manny Pacquiao defeated Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya in a 8 round one-sided destruction that forced the 1992 Olympic Gold Medalist to throw in the towel and call it a night. After the horrible performance it is expected for the 35 year old to likewise throw in the towel on his boxing career.

Speaking of Golden Boy, the boxing promotion will be promoting two events on the same night in the same city. A world welterweight boxing title bout between champion Antonio Margarito and Golden Boy boxer Shane Mosley, previously announced for Jan. 24, will now be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Afflicition's second-ever MMA event, "Day of Reckoning," is scheduled for the same night at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

Affliction recently announced that they signed controversial Heavyweight Gilbert Yvel and set him up to fight Josh Barnett on the 24th. Additionally according to an interview with DREAMFIGHTERS.com, Affliction COO Michael Cohen confirmed that Aleksander Emelianenko will not be fighting at the event. Aleks was however victorious in November defeating Sang Soo Lee. Also, Affliction fighter Dan Lauzon was successful is defeating Justin Hammertrum at a WCF event, and Renato Babalu Sobral became the Strikeforce Light-Heavyweight champion defeating Bobby Southworth this past month as well.

Speaking of Sobral, while he is still scheduled to be fighting on the 24th for Affliction, he is no longer the opponent for Matt Lindland, instead Vitor Belfort will face Lindland. Belfort vs. Lindland was the original plan when the event was scheduled for October 11th.

Andrei Arlovski is looking to make his boxing debut soon after his fight with Fedor Emelianenko, the headline event for "Day of Reckoning". Arlovski is training with legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach who in a video intervew confirmed that Arlovski was twice supposed make his pro-boxing debut, first on the undercard for Juan Marquez vs. Joel Casamayer in September and then on the undercard for Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, however due to the rescheduling of Affliction's MMA events, both opportunities were lost. Recently UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva dropped by the Wildcard Boxing Club gym and sparred with Arlovski. Silva still has a dream to box Roy Jones Jr. and Freddie Roach has confirmed that Silva too has been dropping by on occasion for boxing lessons.

Lots of News

2008-11-14T12:16:00.000-08:00

Showtime will distribute and produce the upcoming "Day of Reckoning" PPV in conjunction with Golden Boy Promotions.

Todd Beard has officially resigned from Affliction Inc. after an outpour of criticism, a restraining order, and the exploitation of his criminal record accross the internet. Beard further apologized to the Coutures. Affliction went on to clarify that the Affliction Entertainment division is not controlled by Affliction Inc., in an attempt to distance Beard from Affliction's MMA operations.

"Mr. Beard to its knowledge, is nether an officer, director, or a shareholder of Affliction Entertainment Group LLC. as stated in several periodicals," the release stated.

Anyhow, Todd Beard is no longer with Affliction and was seen cleaning out his office on Thursday.

Tom Atencio recently confirmed a couple more fights for January 24th:

PPV Card:
Fedor Emelianenko vs Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs TBA
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs Matt Lindland
Vitor Belfort vs TBA (Rumored Mousasi)
Chris Horodecki vs Dan Lauzon

HDNet Undercard:
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Vladimir Matyushenko
Kiril Sidelnikov vs. Paul Buentello
Jay Hieron vs Jason High

Affliction/CBS/Tito Ortiz

2008-11-11T18:22:00.000-08:00

Tito Ortiz claimed in the following interview that its either the UFC or "if I sign with Affliciton, you'll see me on CBS" ... Does Tito Ortiz know something that we don't know? Does Affliction have a deal set with CBS? Nothing has been confirmed, but things should be revealed by the time Affliction 2 happens:

Fabricio Werdum is Affliction Bound?

2008-11-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

Fabricio Werdum and UFC may be parting ways making the 11-4 Heavyweight a free-agent and an easy target for Affliction Entertainment to sign. Werdum would join a Heavyweight class that includes an elite list of fighters featuring the number 1 ranked Fedor Emelianenko. It won't take much time for us to see Werdum signed with Affliction and he could even be ready to fight by January 24th.

Werdum lost his last fight in the UFC against up and comer Junior Dos Santos (7-1). Prior to the devastating loss, Werdum was in line for a title shot against the winner of the current UFC Heavyweight tournament that hopes to crown an undisputed champion.

The question on whether Werdum can officially be named as a free-agent will depend on whether the UFC decides to honor the remainder of his contract, which as of now has seen failed negotiations. They do not want to pay him as much as he'd be earning after losing to Dos Santos nor offer him a guaranteed title shot which was a stipulation of his current contract.

Affliction News

2008-11-09T23:10:00.000-08:00

Affliction general partner Todd Beard’s outburst during his appearance on “The Scott Ferrall Show” on Sirius Satellite Radio earlier this month might have caused even more harm than first thought.

In addition to ridiculing UFC owners Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White, Beard also took aim at UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture.

Couture, whose Xtreme Couture clothing label is manufactured and distributed by Affliction, is scheduled to defend his title vs. Brock Lesnar on Nov. 15 in Las Vegas.

“Randy, if you’re listening right now, I hope (expletive) Lesnar kills you,” Beard said in anticipation of the matchup.

In response Randy Couture told ESPN that he'd no longer be doing any business with Affliction. This could affect Affliction's chances on getting Gina Carano vs. Cris Santos, a fight that was supposed to be a major bout for EliteXC. Tom Atencio was quoted as having been interested in taking that fight now that EliteXC is out of business. The female fighters did the highest rating for EliteXC on CBS. Unfortunately the falling out between Randy Couture and Todd Beard may affect Gina Caronos' chances in Affliction getting that bout, Carano is affiliated with Xtreme Couture. Couture did recognize in that interview that Affliction has taken care of many of his fighters out of Xtreme Couture but Carano told Fighters Magazine:

“There’s a bit of a barrier between me and Affliction,” she revealed. “You know, with Randy and that whole thing. But if they approach me with an offer, who knows?”

Carano landing in Affliction is always a possibility, especially if Atencio opts to buyout her contract on November 17th when ProElite and its assets will be up for bidding.

"We're definitely interested (in women's MMA)," Atencio told MMAJUNKIE. "Gina Carano is a great fighter. I think Cristiane Cyborg is an unbelievable fighter. I'm definitely open to the idea of that fight."

In other news FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN reports that Tito Ortiz has recently claimed that he will either be signing with the UFC or Affliction and expects to fight by July.

Affliction was painted on the canvas for both Bernard Hopkins vs. Pavlik on October 18th and also during Roy Jones Jr. vs. Joe Calzaghe. Hopkins and Calzaghe won the main events.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (15-3) came out on top at Sengoku 6 and is expected to fight for Affliction on January 24th possibly against Vitor Beltfort. He beat Moise Rimbon. Dan Lauzon is set to face Justin “Sledge” Hammerstrom on the November 14th WCF card. Chris Horodecki will enter the Shootboxing “S-Cup 2008” same-night eight-man tournament on November 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The prospective fight between Horodecki and Lauzon at Affliction 2 is at jeopardy depending on what happens. Mike Whitehead (23-6) is back on his winning ways defeating Leo Pla on October 29th during M1-Global Challenge 8.

GracieMag is reporting that Affliction is attempting to sign Ricardo Arona. They did an interview with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who said:

“It’s not just Brazilian fans who are looking forward to a return from Arona. The folks at Affliction have already sent a message through my brother Rogerio [Minotouro]. ‘We would like to hire Arona, we want to see him fighting in our events, you may tell him that – we want to negotiate with Arona now,” the Brazilian revealed."

Affliction Golden Boy deal is very Golden!

2008-10-26T19:18:00.000-07:00

Recently some people began suggesting that Golden Boy and Affliction would no longer copromote after coming across a blog by MMAMANIA that suggested the partnership is not so "golden" because the two companies decided not to feature both MMA and Boxing matches on the same card. The blog itself never indicates that the two companies will not copromote, instead it only verifies that Affliction and Golden Boy plan on copromoting MMA-only events at this time. Golden Boy Promotions will indeed help with the production and the promoting of Affliction MMA which was the initial plan.

What fans don't realize is one major reason Affliction and Golden Boy are partnering up in the first place is because Dana White and the UFC threatened Las Vegas venues in a business move to keep them from advertising, promoting and/or broadcasting Affliction MMA or for that matter any other competitor to the UFC. Hence Affliction had to back out of their Las Vegas event on October 11th due to these dirty tactics by UFC executives. But the tables turned when Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions jumped on board. Golden Boy has had far deeper influence on what goes on in Las Vegas then Dana White ever has. De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao sold out approximately 16,000 tickets for the event set to take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas (HBO PPV) and did so for a gate of almost $17 million! Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture at best has done a $6 million gate for the UFC. In this business move with Golden Boy Promotions, Affliction is relieved of Dana White's tactics to remove any mentioning of them from Las Vegas venues. Let's just say Donald Trump and Tom Atencio did a very smart move by bringing Golden Boy on board.

Showtime PPV listed as partner on AfflictionClothing.com

2008-10-22T02:47:00.000-07:00

The official website AfflictionClothing.com lists Golden Boy Promotions, M-1 Global, Trump, and Showtime PPV as partners. It looks like Affliction Entertainment is moving into what was once EliteXC territory. Additionally the website confirms a January 24th date and a main event featuring Andrei Arlovski vs. Fedor Emelianenko.

The site also includes images of the following fighters in order at the bottom from left to right: Matyushenko, Hieron, Nogueira, Babalu, Barnett, Horodecki, Lindland, Belfort.

EliteXC folds, Affliction takes over?

2008-10-21T00:21:00.001-07:00

Jakes Shields, Kimbo Slice, Robbie Lawler, Nick Diaz, Antonio Silva, KJ Noons and Frank Shamrock can now all be considered free-agents after news broke that EliteXC has officially folded and will be announcing so by the end of this week. This also leaves free-agent Tito Ortiz two options - one being a return to the UFC the other being Affliction Entertainment.

Additionally MMAWEELY has indicated that Affliction who made its debut with Arlovski vs. Nelson on CBS may be taking over the Saturday Night Fights slot and additionally the Showtime slots that EliteXC will be leaving behind. This will mark a new era for MMA and it will beef up the UFC and Affliction rosters once every fighter gets situated with either organization.

Golden Boy Boxing for Affliction MMA fans

2008-10-19T22:23:00.000-07:00

1. Golden Boy Productions put on an excellent show on October 18th when veteran Bernard Hopkins shocked the world and upset the then-undefeated Lighweight champion Kelly Pavlik in a non-title 170 lbs catch weight bout. Hopkins was able to outbox the 26 year old who is in his prime even though Hopkins is 43. The fight ended in a 12 round unanimous decision victory for Bernard Hopkins. Scoring was 117-109,119-106 and 118-108. If anything this is an excellent demonstration of the sweet science for hardcore MMA only fans and a little look at what could potentially be added to a future hybrid card between the two organizations - Affliction and Golden Boy.

2. Tim Sylvia's manager Monte Cox confirmed to MMAINSIDER that both Sengoku and DREAM have shown interest in the former UFC champion. Sylvia currently has a non-exclusive contract with Affliction that would allow him to fight for either Japanese organization.

3. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Moise Rimbon has been booked for Sengoku 6. Rogerio is the most recent Affliction fighter to have signed on to fight with another organization after Tom Atencio announced that the October 11th card had been rescheduled.

4. M-1 Global and Affliction announced Thursday that Donald Trump will be joining them in backing a "Fighting Fedor" reality series that will pin 16 world class heavyweights in a tournament. The winner will get a shot at the WAMMA champion on a future Affliction card. It shows that they're all banking on Fedor getting past his January 24th opponent whoever that may end up being. According to a report by FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN both Arlovski and Barnett are being considered as Fedor's next possible opponent. Additionally no fight has been confirmed for the card yet including Lindland vs. Sobral or Mousasi vs. Belfort.

Affliction M-1 Global partnership and more

2008-10-15T20:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Brett Rogers vs. Paul Buentello on Nov. 8th

2008-10-15T11:01:00.000-07:00

EliteXC and Affliction will copromote their second fight when undefeated Brett Rogers (8-0) will face Affliction heavyweight Paul "The Head Hunter" Buentello (26-10) on the November 8th ShowXC card. Rogers is primarily remembered as the fighter that called Kimbo Slice out and referred to his performance as 'trash' after Slice struggled in the CBS main event against 2-7 Josh Thompson. Buentello is a UFC vet who defeated Gary Goodridge at Affliction BANNED and was scheduled to face Roy Nelson before the October 11th Day of Reckoning event was rescheduled. The card will be headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Joey Villasenor for the EliteXC Middleweight title. The bout was first reported by FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN.com who spoke to Rogers’ trainer, Mike Reilly of Team Bison in St. Paul, MN.

Affliction Press Conference this Thursday

2008-10-14T11:00:00.001-07:00

The following from M1Mixfight.com

1. M-1 Global, Affliction & Golden Boy conference. Big step forward.

"This Thursday there will be press-conference held in New York with M-1 Global's Vadim Finkelstein, Affliction's Tom Atencio and Golden Boy's representatives. Expected to be made are several statements that are going to introduce the next page of MMA history. Watch the news."

2. "Gegard Mousassi will almost definitely be fighting at the third show of Affliction due in 2009" (source)

3. Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) is set to take on Korean prospect Sang Soo Lee (9-4) at the M-1 Challenge 9. The event will take place at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia on Nov. 21 according to the promotion's official website. (source)

Additionally MMATRAINING.com writer Kage Phan is reporting that Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon is on for the January 24th card.

Affliction comes out on top

2008-10-12T00:12:00.000-07:00

Affliction fighters Jay Hieron (16-4) and Mike Pyle (18-5) both came out on top at Night of Champioms II. Jay Hieron def. Chris Kennedy via unanimous decision (scores unannounced). Mike Pyle def. Brian Gassaway via submission (arm bar) -- Round 1, 4:21.

This and That

2008-10-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

Tom Atencio confirmed today with MMARATED that Andrei Arlovski will face Fedor Emelianenko in January. Atencio further went on to say that while Golden Boy will copromote the event that this will be an all MMA card.

"We sat down with them and couldn't come up with a main event boxing match that everyone wanted," Atenco said.

The card will feature 8 MMA bouts and the remainder of the card will be announced later this week.

In other news Affliction fighter Jay Hieron was tapped to face Bryson Kamaka at Xtreme Coutures Night of Champions II event however Kamaka failed a drug test forcing him off of the card. A possible replacement to fight Hieron is being sought, one name being thrown out there is Chris Kennedy. Additionally Mike Pyle who was also scheduled for the second Affliction event and defeated JJ Ambrose at the first is set to face Brian Gassaway on the same Night of Champions II card.

Strikeforce executive Mike Afromowitz told MMAJUNKIE that they are negotiating with Affliction to pin their LW champion Josh Thomson against Affliction fighter Chris Horodecki (12-1). No further details were given. Also Renato Sobral who defeated Mike Whitehead at Affliction BANNED will face Strikeforce LHW champion Bobby Southworth for the title on their November 21st card. Whitehead on the other hand is set to headline the Affliction M-1 Challenge to take place in Kansas City on October 29th but no opponent has been announced.

On the Golden Boy side of things Bernard Hopkins will face undefeated middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik on October 18. They are copromoting the card with Top Rank promotions and will feature an undercard that will see WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano defend his title against top contender Billy Dib, undefeated NABO bantamweight champion Abner Mares battles Luis Melendez and in a WBC middleweight title elimination bout, Marco Antonio Rubio takes on Enrique Ornelas.

Top 30 fighters Affliction should be interested in.

2008-10-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

UFC has over 200 fighters under contract and among them are nearly all of the top-10 fighters in most divisions. If Affliction really wants to be the number 2 in Mixed Martial Arts they must continue to copromote and sign top free-agents. The issue is that there are multiple MMA leagues bidding for those few fighters: Affliction, Strikeforce, EliteXC, World Victory Road (Sengoku), and DREAM - they all happen to have scattered amongst them the few top fighters in the world outside of the UFC. With the UFC securing 200 plus fighters, the few top fighters scattered in the 5 organizations force the minor leagues out there to copromote - and it does seem that they are willing to do so. All 5 organizations have seen some of their fighters at some point in time fight for the other organization. Copromoting and WAMMA seem to be making a stronger presence in the MMA world - and if any of the minor leagues want to survive and not see the same fate as the IFL and BodogFight, then they must come to grips with this inevitable situation.

Affliction Entertainment is the most dominant of any other organization out there having the Trump factor and the number 1 Heavyweight in the world in Fedor Emelianenko. In their efforts to grow they should be looking to either sign the following free agents or copromote effectively with other organizations to put the following fighters in bouts against their own signed fighters. This is a shout out to Tom Atencio and Michael D. Cohen.

30) Kalib Starnes (8-3)

Canadian Kalib Starnes claims to have injured his foot in his last UFC bout versus Nathan Quarry in what seemed to be an awful fight where Nathan was constantly on the pursuit of a running away Starnes. It is his decision victory over the seasoned Chris Leben in a short professional career that screams at an MMA promoter to give him a chance.

29) Phil Davis (0-0)

The 2008 NCAA Division I champion and 4 time All-American makes his MMA debut on Saturday the 11th of October. He is 3-0 as an amateur in MMA and could be big news as a pro MMA fighter.

28) Jerome Le Banner (3-1 MMA 74-15 Kickboxing)

Tom Atencio has negotiated with Le Banner to possibly face Tim Sylvia at some point however nothing has been signed. It would be interesting to see how Jerome Le Banner, a highlight reel KO artist of amazing calibre would fare amongst the MMA elite.

27) Benji Radach (19-4)

The IFL standout just came off of an impressive victory over Marilo 'ninja" Rua on EliteXC's CBS braodcast. Bas Rutten went as far as to say that he could beat Anderson Silva - yeah right! Anywho, using Radach in an Affliction-EliteXC copromotion down the line could be something that may interest a top fighter such as Matt Lindland or Vitor Belfort.

26) Jeff Monson (25-8)

Affliction has the top heavyweight in the world in Fedor Emelianenko. Arlovski, Sylvia, and Barnett make up 3 additional top-10, arguably, top 5 heavyweights in the world. Affliction is the place for a heavyweight fighter to be right now simply because the top dog Fedor Emelianenko is there. Additionally, one can't count out the likes of Aleksander Emelianenko, Paul Buentello, Ben Rothwell, Pedro Rizzo, and Roy Nelson, a mix of great heavyweights. It would make sense for a guy like Jeff Monson to step in and try to climb the ranks against any one of these guys.

25) Antonio Silva (10-1)

After he is cleared to fight by the CSAC the EliteXC Heavyweight Champion would be an interesting opponent for any one of Afflictions' heavyweights in a copromotion. Truth be told he doesn't have much competition in EliteXC at heavyweight.

24) Bobby Lashley (0-0)

AFL said they would debut Bobby Lashley and Tara LaRossa in October but they never got to announcing a card. We find out later that LaRossa has been lended out and in an interview with MMARATED, former WWE celebrity and amateur wrestling standout Bobby Lashley was very vocal about wanting to get in there and fight and that if AFL can't put anything together he would look elsewhere. Although at this point in time its a longshot given that AFL is still around, but if they fold, it would be a smart move to sign this guy who is looking like he is going to be one hell of a fighter out of American Top Team. On a related note, WWE wrestler and Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle claims to have signed with an unmentioned MMA promotion and therefore has been kept off of this list.

23) Mohammad Lawal (1-0)

There were many rumors about at least one Olympian from the class of 2008 making a transition to MMA and it ended up being Mohammad Lawal. King Mo gave a mean TKO to the veteran Travis Wiuff (52-12) at Sengoku 5. He is a fighter that all major promotions are looking at right now.

22) Kermit Cintron (0-0 MMA 31-2 Boxing)

Kermit Cintron has compiled a 31-2 record as a professional boxer and held the IBF Welterweight title for about a year and a half before losing it in April 2008. He lost it against the only opponent to defeat him, WBO Welterweight champion Antonio Margarito and soon after he parted ways with Main Event Promotions. He currently is a free-agent with no scheduled fights. In January 2008 when UFC president Dana White challenged Floyd Maywhether Jr. to put his money where is mouth is (Maywhether made a statement that any boxer could beat a UFC fighter), it was Cintron who stepped up and accepted White's challenge - but to no avail. Cintron, who was the IBF champ at the time was ignored and the rest is history. The thing is, Cintron was an amateur wrestler in high school and was offered full wrestling scholarships to Wisconsin and Ohio State. Affliction-Goldenboy may want to give Kermit a call and sign a potential money-maker.

21) Gesias Calvancante (14-2)

Calvancante is arguably one of the top lightweights in the world. Affliction needs more lightweights to fight for them as Chris Horodecki seems to be a loner right now.

20) Mirko Cro Cop Filipović (23-6)

Cro Cop's stock has dropped significantly. After losses to Cheick Kongo and Gabriel Gonzaga in the UFC and a near destruction by Alistair Overeem at DREAM 6, the question on whether Cro Cop can hang with the top heavyweights has been questioned. There has also been a rumor that UFC released him from his UFC contract with a stipulation that he can't compete in the United States for a certain amount of time. Nevertheless he remains to be ranked top-10 on some cards, and it remains to be proven that his career is over. If Affliction can pull it, Cro Cop is not a bad gate-keeper.

19) Jesse Taylor (6-3)

Jesse Taylor remained undefeated in the Ultimate Fighter Rampage vs. Griffin series only to be kicked off of the program immediatly before he was set to face Amir Sadollah in the finale (he went on a drunken rampage the night before). The UFC ended up giving him another chance only to see the wrestler get defeated by C. B. Dalloway at UFN 14. However Jesse Taylor's stock just got boosted when he defeated veteran Drew Fickett (35-7) at Total Combat 32. Fickett was originally scheduled to face Jay Hieron at Affliction 2 Day of Reckoning before that card was rescheduled. With a big win over Drew Fickett, Jesse Taylor may be a fighter that Affliction and EliteXC are looking at right now.

18) Frank Trigg (18-6)

Dana White has gone on record saying that his favorite UFC match of all-time was Matt Hughs vs. Frank Trigg, and for a good reason. Trigg who is on a 3 fight win streak is a competitive fighter. Trigg joined the likes of John McCarthy at Affliction BANNED as a commentator, but he has not been offered to fight for the promotion. He could be a viable opponent for any up and coming Middleweight and perhaps even a contender to any top Middleweight if he continues his win streak.

17) Siyar Bahadurzada (14-3)

I considered putting Denis Kang (30-10) and Evangelista Santos (16-12) as fighters of interest for a promotion like Affliction, however both of those names can be replaced by a fighter on the rise like the Afghan Killer Siyar Bahadurzada. Bahadurzada who fights out of Japan for WVR Sengoku defeated Santos by TKO while Kang has lost 3 of his last 5 bouts to top competitors. Siyar on the other hand has an excellent MMA standing and is a world Shooto champion.

16) Yoshihiro Akiyama (11-1-2 NC)

Akiyama was undefeated in 2008 winning both of his fights at DREAM 5 and 6. Akiyama has notable victories over Denis Kang and Melvin Manhoef and two No Contests versus top contenders Kazushi Sakuraba and Kazuo Misaki. Akiyama could very well be a top Middleweight but he needs to be tested. Mousasi, Lindland, Belfort, are all excellent trials.

15) Gegard Mousasi (27-2)

Mousasi started a rumor that he is negotiating a fight with Affliction but Tom Atencio has since denied any negotiations. The DREAM Middleweight champion fought twice at DREAM 6, both times victorious over Melvin Manhoef and Ronaldo Souza. He has shot himself up the ranks and would be a massive asset to Affliction were they to sign him to a fight.

14) Kazuo Misaki (21-8)

Misaki is on a 3 fight win streak with major victories over Joe Riggs and Siyar Bahadurzada. Misaki is a Pancrase and PrideFC vet with notable victories over Dan Henderson, Denis Kang, Phil Baroni, and a DRAW versus Jake Shields. He is currently ranked as a top-10 Middleweight.

13) Alistair Overeem (39-11)

Alistair Overeem is the current Strikeforce Heavyweight champion and force to be reckoned with. He nearly destryed Mirko Cro Cop at DREAM 6 and has notable victories over Vitor Belfort, Paul Buentello, Mark Hunt, and Sergei Kharitinov. He would easily be a top contender in the UFC or Affliction.

12) KJ Noons (7-2 MMA 7-1 Boxing)

KJ Noons is on a 3 fight win steak with wins over Nick Diaz and veteran Yves Edwards. He has a contract with EliteXC but was stripped of the Lightweight title for refusing to face Nick Diaz in a re-match. The future remains uncertain with Noons but EliteXC can opt to sell his contract out to Affliction or copromote him if they choose. The move would be beneficial for all parties involved. Noons is 7-1 as a boxer and could pursue boxing and MMA under an Affliction-Goldenboy banner if it were feasible.

11) Nick Diaz (18-7)

Nick Diaz is also on a 3 fight win streak with his most recent victory over Thomas Denny. He has notable wins over Robbie Lawler, Chris Lytle, Drew Fickett, Josh Neer, and Takanori Gomi. His fight versus Gomi was ruled a No Contest due to THC from Marijuana found in his system in the post-fight drug test. Despite the ruling, Diaz defeated Gomi in a bout with nothing in his system that would give him a fight advantage. Nick Diaz would be a perfect name to copromote with.

10) Frank Shamrock (23-9)

Frank Shamrock is a name in this business, and one reason his name is out there is because of his victory over Tito Ortiz in 1999. Shamrock would put on an entertaining fight and could easily be featured in any Afflicion copromotion bout.

9) Josh Thomson (16-2)

The Strikeforce Lightweight champion is on an 8 fight win streak and is a top-10 ranked Lightweight. Strikeforce is in good relations with Affliction and is on board with WAMMA. Renato Sobral is one example of a fighter that has been shared by the two promotions. Strikeforce has also allowed Overeem to fight in Japan, and copromoted Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock with EliteXC in March.

8) Robbie Lawler (18-4)

Lawler is on a 5 fight win streak and is the current EliteXC Middleweight champion. He is a top 10 and arguably top 5 ranked Middleweight. He could easily be in line for a WAMMA bout and is an excellent fighter worth copromoting with.

7) Sergei Kharitonov (16-3)

After being absent for a year from the MMA scene Kharitonov finally made his return defeating Jimmy Ambriz at DREAM 6. His last fight before that was a victory over Alistair Overeem in September 2007. The Heavyweight could potentially face the likes of Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski or Tim Sylvia if Affliction is able to negotiate something.

6) Tito Ortiz (15-6)

Tito Ortiz is one of the faces of MMA. His name alone will put butts in the seats of arenas and sell pay per views. While he is on the verge of signing with EliteXC according to all indications the former UFC champion has given to the media, the potential to copromote with him pinning him against any top Affliction LHW would be worth the transaction.

5) Jake Shields (21-4)

Shields is on an 11 fight win streak with notable victories over Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, and Nick Thompson. Shields, the current EliteXC Welterweight champion is ranked number 2 in the world. A copromotion between EliteXC and Affliction featuring Jake Shields would be very interesting as could a potential WAMMA title fight. Shields attempted to get EliteXC to copomote a fight against Middleweight Matt Lindland but negotiations fell through and it never happened.

4) Shinya Aoki (18-3)

The nubmer 3 ranked Lightweight in the world recently defeated Todd Moore at DREAM 6. He has notable victories over George Sotiropoulos and Gesias Cavalcante.

3) Cung Le (6-0)

The current Strikeforce Middleweight champion is undefeated in Kickboxing (3-0), undefeated in MMA (6-0), and undefeated in San Shou (17-0). His last fight was against Frank Shamrock who he not only defeated but broke his arm doing it.

2) Takanori Gomi (29-3)

Ranked the number 2 Lightweight in the world, the PrideFC veteran was undefeated 2-0 in 2008.

1) Ricardo Arona (13-5)

Arona is most remembered for being the fighter that pushed Fedor Emelianenko to the limit. He has notable victories over Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem, Kazushi Sakuraba, Murilo Rua, Jeremy Horn, and Guy Mezger. He has been away from the game for nearly a year and in an interview with Sherdog has indicated that he is training and is looking to return better then ever. Arona at the point of his return may be a most coveted free agent.

Send Kimbo Slice to Golden Boy?

2008-10-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

So now that Seth Petruzelli has put an end to the Kimbo Slice mystique, where does the internet sensation go from here? By no means could one say that his MMA career is over after his first and only loss, but certainly he can not under any circumstances be the main event headliner of a card. So where does he go from here? They can try putting him against Ken Shamrock or anybody else for that matter, but no matter who they put him against the fight will not bring the mystique that once existed with Kimbo Slice. The once undefeated internet phenominon who was on the cover of ESPN magazine and featured in video game commercials simply wouldn't draw anywhere close to what he was prior to losing to a practically no-name in Seth Petruzelli. Now don't get me wrong, he'd still draw, but no where near what he did for his first three fights, and if he loses again .... well, then it would truly mark the end.

While continuing the 34 year olds growth in MMA is always a possibility, the reality of the situation is that he will never be a complete Mixed Martial Artist who is ready for this kind of game in enough time. So how about repackaging Kimbo Slice altogether as a professional boxer, since throwing punches is allegedly the strong point of his MMA game. Would he be better off in a sport that doesn't go to the ground? Probably! Even if one were to argue that it was Seth's fist that sent Kimbo to the ground, Kimbo would have easily gotten back up in 10 seconds and continued the fight - and since the heavyweight is already well known throughout the MMA world, Golden Boy could be the very savior he needs. Put him in a boxing match on a Golden Boy or Affliction card and see how it goes (think business), what is there to lose?

Affliction on CBS

2008-10-05T01:39:00.000-07:00

Andrei Arlovski's knock out victory over Roy Nelson was arguably the best mens bout of the night. The IFL champ fell to the ground at 3:14 in the second round after showing Arlovski excellent ground game in the first. The fight seems to be over shadowed by Seth Petruzelli's (10-4) shocking destruction of Kimbo Slice (3-1).

The question that now arrives is whether EliteXC can convince CBS to keep them on board and whether the company even can see a future without Kimbo Slice being the headline attraction. Will it even be worth it or should we see an Affliction takeover? The future for EliteXC may see some uncertainty at this point however if they are able to lock Tito Ortiz to a contract, as Ortiz claimed during his broadcast interview, they just might have a suitable replacement for Kimbo. Only time will tell how this ends up.

Numerous Affliction commercials for Andrei Arlovski and the return of Fedor Emelianenko were shown during the broadcast. Affliction was also painted on the canvas within the cage and was listed as a top sponsor during matches.

This and That

2008-10-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

1. Affliction fighters Andrei Arlovski (240.75) and Roy Nelson (262.75) both made weight for EliteXC HEAT to be broadcast tonight on CBS. Arlovski branded his Affliction t-shirt during the weigh in. Tom Atencio has indicated that the Affliction logo would be seen throughout the EliteXC broadcast.

2. According to a report by MMAJUNKIE Tito Ortiz expects to not only be paid as a fighter but also attain a percentage from the gate, ppv buys, merchandising, pretty much "everything" says Tito Ortiz. This is a primary reason that Ortiz will not sign with Affliction Entertainment.

"Affliction kind of dampered away just because they just want to pay for a fighter just to fight," Ortiz said. "I'm not that fighter to make a company as the UFC is now and just get paid just for the fights."

Tito Ortiz is expected to be at the EliteXC broadcast tonight and there are rumors that he could sign with the struggling company. However there is no way that EliteXC, a company who has lost millions already that they'd be willing to pay Ortiz a pertcentage of "everything" and for high profile fights and expect to remain in business. Nevertheless MMAJUNKIE reports that Ortiz will be going through lower back surgery and will be shelved for six months anyways.

3. Mike Chiappetta for NBCSports.com has learned that another Affliction fighter has been offered a spot on the November 8th ShowXC card to be broadcast on Showtime. The card will be headlined by Robbie Lawler vs. Joey Villasenor. This will allow Affliction to keep their brand in the public eye as they look to book a date for their Golden Boy co-promoted show for January. For EliteXC, it allows them to supplement their line-up without expending cash, which is at a premium at this point.

4. From NBCsports.com: Emelianenko will likely face Arlvoski, as long as he can defeat Nelson this weekend. No potential boxing matches have been reported, but Cohen says, “Whenever Mr. Trump is involved, you can expect to see only the top level of everything. These will be boxers of the highest level.”

There is also the question of whether boxers or mixed martial artists will have the main event spotlight. According to Cohen, the two organizations have a seven-person board in place to decide such issues, though he wouldn’t comment on the makeup of the board, citing the proprietary nature of their agreement.

Count Dallas Mavericks and HDNet owner Mark Cuban among the deal’s fans. HDNet has broadcast more live MMA than any other channel.

“I love it,” he told NBCSports.com in an email. “There are a lot of different ways to present MMA and Boxing. Golden Boy does a great job in promoting, particularly promoting PPV. Affliction has gone all-in… The combination could really get a strong foothold in the market.”

Arlovski, who has suddenly seen his profile increase with multiple promotion companies, also feels strongly about the deal.

“Golden Boy is one of the most successful promoters and currently the No. 1 in boxing,” said Arlovski, who still has an interest in boxing professionally. “Definitely them getting involved in MMA could bring a lot of value. Overall, I think it would be positive for Affliction and the sport.”

5. Affliction points to the Arlovski/EliteXC deal as evidence that the organization will do whatever deals it can to maximize exposure and bring about success. That pact came about in the last 2-3 weeks but was rooted in talks the two sides had just after the inaugural July 19 event.

It was unanimously approved by the Affliction/Golden Boy board, and will result in exposure for the Affliction brand on CBS, effectively functioning as commercial time.

“The team at Affliction made it clear that we’re not opposed to co-promoting events,” Cohen said. “It occurs in other combat sports as well. The reality is the UFC is taking a stand. They will not co-promote. That’s fine if that’s their business model, but I believe it’s a bad model to follow. I don’t think it benefits the sport and certainly doesn’t benefit the fighter or the fan.”

6. Josh Barnett and Affliction were unable to negotiate a fight against Fedor Emelianenko for January.. Said Barnett in an interview with MMAWEEKLY:

“There’s just some times it’s better to keep your mouth shut and just not really talk too much about things,” he said. “I’m not trying to make anybody look bad or talk about the details of it, but it’s just not a fight that’s going to happen in January. And I think that the feeling is actually mutual.

“There’s a lot of factors that go into this one. It’s not so simple…I live for doing this my way and I’m never going to take second best from anyone ever,” he stated.

DREAM Middleweight Champion in talks with Affliction.

2008-09-30T12:05:00.000-07:00

DREAM is a Japanese MMA promotion run by former executives from PrideFC and they recently crowned their very first Middleweight champion in Gegard Mousasi (24-2) who defeated Ranaldo Souza (10-2) at DREAM 6. Although they put on a very decent MMA show this past month, DREAM has continued to struggle in ratings and they've been accused of refusing to pay certain fighters ala Nick Diaz.

So what happens when an upstart MMA league begins to struggle? How about sharing fighters and copromoting with another established MMA league? That is what EliteXC is doing and it seems as if DREAM could be coming on board as well. DREAM Middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi recently told The Fighters Only Magazine that he expects to face Vitor Belfort at the upcoming Affliction PPV in January.

Additionally in that interview Mousasi indicated that Josh Barnett is being talked about as a possibile opponent to WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko, although that matchup, which has surely been brought up by Affliction executives, is unlikely given that Andrei Arlovski is fighting Roy Nelson in a contenders match and Barnett is looking to secure a fight with an unknown opponent at Sengoku 6.

It is possible however that Tom Atencio may end up negotiating the Fedor Emelianenko fight with Josh Barnett given that Barnett has been vocal about not being given the respect he deserves. He was first surpassed by Andrei Arlovski for the WAMMA title fight and Barnett complained about it. However when Fedor was forced out of the fight due to a hand injury Josh Barnett was quickly inserted as his replacement. His fight versus Arlovski was to be a contenders match only to later find out that the card was scrapped and rescheduled. He wasn't happy about that at all. Then when Atencio announced that Arlovski would be facing Roy Nelson on CBS instead of Barnett (Atencio could not get a hold of Barnett to sign the fight), well that put the number 3 ranked heavyweight in the world in a very cranky mood. It is therefore every bit possible for Josh Barnett to be granted the fight against Fedor Emelianenko if Tom Atencio can negotiate it.

So what about Andrei Arlovski? If Andrei defeats Roy Nelson and he is not granted a title shot against Fedor Emelianenko come January he may sit out the January PPV altogether whether he is injured or not. More than likely an additional Heavyweight bout between Paul Buentello and Aleksander Emelianenko would take place and Arlovski would sit out the January PPV and end up facing the winner of Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko - that is IF Affliction grants the title fight to Josh Barnett. One thing for certain is that everything in this scenario is only speculation at this time and that numerous scenarios are being negotiated with the Affliction fighters.

This and That

2008-09-29T14:44:00.000-07:00

1. In an interview with Fiveouncesofpain.com Tom Atencio announced that the January copromotion with Golden Boy will feature 4 MMA fights and 1 boxing match. No indication was given on whether there will be additional undercard MMA matches. No single fight has been announced officially for the card.

2. Golden Boy Promotions had attempted to feature Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett on their October 18th HBO card headlined by Kelly Pavlik vs. Bernard Hopkins. HBO turned down the offer and indicated that they were not interested in MMA.

3. Affliction Entertainment and EliteXC came to an agreement to feature Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson which will be a number one contenders match for a shot at WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko. If the winner of that CBS bout suffers an injury suspension Josh Barnett will be the first in line. According to an interview with MMARATED.com Tom Atencio was not able to get a hold of Josh Barnett to sign him to the EliteXC deal and due to time restraints IFL Heavyweight champion Roy Nelson was chosen to replace him (the card was scheduled for October 4th 10 days prior to Affliction and ProElite reaching an agreement)

4. Vitor Belfort in an interview with TATAME.com indicated that he would be returning for the January PPV but that an opponent had not yet been decided. Belfort was scheduled to face Matt Lindland in a Middleweight title fight on the October 11th card but was forced to back out due to a hand injury.

5. In an interview with MMANEWS.com Tom Atencio announced that he was negotiating a fight between Tim Sylvia and Jerome LeBanner (3-1 MMA 73-15 Kickboxing) for the third installment of Affliction Pay Per View. This was before the October 11th card was postponed. Plans for Tim Sylvia have not been indicated since that announcement.

6. IFL standouts LC Davis (10-1) and Deividas Taurosevicius (9-3) were signed by Affliction.

7. Tito Ortiz is having ongoing negotiations with the UFC, Affliction, EliteXC and the AFL. Should Ortiz sign with Affliction soon, it would be possible for him to fight on their January card.

8. Tom Atencio indicated that there would be changes to the postponed Affliction 2 Day of Reckoning Card. The following is what was originally confimed for the card.

MAIN CARD
Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski (changed)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Matt Lindland vs. Trevor Prangley (changed)
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Pedro Rizzo vs. Ben Rothwell
Jay Hieron vs. Drew Fickett (changed)

PRELIMINARY CARD
Roy Nelson vs. Paul Buentello (changed)
Mike Pyle vs. Jason High
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Jay White vs. Chase Gormley
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight

AfflictionGoldenboy.com exclusively covers Affliltion MMA news HOT OFF THE WIRE. This website is not associated with either Affliction nor Golden Boy Promotions directly.

Aleksander Emelianenko to fight on January Affliction Card

2008-09-28T10:11:00.000-07:00

According to an interview with Fighters Only Magazine, Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) confirmed that he will be making his MMA debut on American soil come the Affliction PPV in January.

"The Russian heavyweight revealed that he will be heading to the USA soon to film promotional videos for the event.

“I am going back to the States next week to do interviews and make some film for the January event,” he said.

CSAC never revealed a specific reason for the removal but rumours circulated that Emelianenko had been found to have Hepatitis B.

“That is not true, these rumours about medical problems are not true,” he stated. “I was removed from the card because of problems with my paperwork.”

“My visa came late for the USA, I arrived two days late and it meant that I could not complete necessary paperwork on time.

“But there will be no problem this time - everything is cool."

Aleksander Emelianenko will likely face either his original opponent from Affliction BANNED, Paul Buentello or he will face Josh Barnett who approached Aleksander backstage during the July PPV and challenged him in dramatic fashion.

Both Paul Buentello and Josh Barnett have been left without opponents after the original plans for the October 11th card that featured Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson and Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski were scrapped. Roy Nelson, who was Buetello's original opponenet, is set to face Arlovski, who was Barnett's original opponent, during EliteXC HEAT on October 4th. According to Tom Atencio the winner of that CBS Nelson vs. Arlovski fight will face Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA title come January. Stay tuned for any official annoucements concerning Aleksanders' opponent.

Fedor Emelianenko Update

2008-09-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Possible routes Affliction may be taking for the WAMMA champion start off with Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski making up 2 of possibly 4 bouts Emelianenko would take by the end of 2009. Steve Siever from MMAJUNKIE writes about the possibility of pitting the Last Emperor against Kimbo Slice in a move for exposure, and of course after Randy Coutures' 3 fight contract with the UFC is up, the dream bout just may come to fruition by years end as well.

Before Antonio Silva (11-1) lost to Eric Pele he was thought of as a possible contender to the number 1 heavyweight in the world. With his rise as the EliteXC Heavyweight champion Silva very well could be a future opponent for Fedor by 2010. Silva however is suspended for a year because he allegedly used an illegal substance but could be a prime opponent given that Emelianenko has exhausted all other options by the point of his return.

All the while Fedor Emelianenko is very much interested in returning to Japan at some point in time, possibly facing Alistair Overeem who nearly destroyed Mirko Cro Cop before the unfortunete ending of that bout at DREAM 6. Nevertheless, the options for Fedor Emelianenko who is signed to an extensive Affliction contract are endless at this point. Time will tell what is in store for the best fighter at Heavyweight in the world.

Affliction and EliteXC to copromote first fight.

2008-09-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Affliction and EliteXC will be announcing their first copromoted fight pinning Andrei Arlovski vs Roy Nelson set for the October 4th card on CBS. This will be the first of many future copromoted fights to come for the two upstart MMA leagues. Stay tuned to see who Affliction will get to feature on their January PPV in exchange for the Arlovski-Nelson bout.

ProElite and Affliction Merger on the Horizon?

2008-09-23T13:29:00.000-07:00

Just days after Affliction Entertainment and Golden Boy Promotions announced a deal that will distribute 4 events in 2009 looking to commingle professional Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts, comes a rumor that is steadily becoming an inevitable: ProElite, the parent company of EliteXC may become a third promotion to join forces with the coalition.

Steve Siever of MMAJUNKIE (a Yahoo Sports affiliate) recently blogged the situation exclaiming that ProElite has lost $55 million since 2006 and has gone on record warning investors of financial instability in an SEC filing this past August. In that filing the company stated that they did not have enough resources to function into next year without securing additional financing.

"Even a successful PPV debut isn’t enough to keep ProElite standing as an independent entity. An acquisition by Showtime makes sense, given the network’s existing ownership. However, a better long-term strategy is a ProElite and Affliction merger. The combined company would boast a strong roster of fighters and leverage the best attributes of each organization. Affliction is adept at marketing and promotion, while ProElite brings with it a built-in distribution channel in Showtime, and, potentially CBS, if the network re-ups its current deal.

A Showtime acquisition of ProElite doesn’t change the state of play in MMA. A ProElite-Affliction merger does. A union could be the type of game-changing move that finally produces a formidable challenger to the UFC, though it would still take years to accomplish. A merger would create momentum for “AfflictionXC,” which is something ProElite CEO and Chairman Chuck Champion believes a young company must have." (from MMAJUNKIE writer Steve Siever)

Indications that ProElite was looking for either a merger or acquisition partner came to light in a Sept. 11 column by CBS and SHOWTIME broadcaster Mauro Ranallo on his website for The Fight Network.

“I contacted Pro Elite head honcho (CEO and Chairman) Chuck Champion and he told me that he had held preliminary talks with a variety of promotions including Affliction,” wrote Ranallo in his blog entry.

These words make it official that Affliction Entertainment and ProElite have had "preliminary talks" about the possibility of a merger. If the two companies do end up joining forces it would undoubtedly create the best MMA product possible outside of the UFC, something that both companies should consider not only for business prosperity but for the fans of this sport who deserve to see top-tier fighters consistently battle each other.

The legtimacy of WAMMA to provide us with more undisputed champions comes to a closer reality when top 10 fighters like Jake Shields and Robbie Lawler are added to an Affliction mix of top competitors such as Matt Lindland, Vitor Beltfort and Renato Sobral. This is only the beginning of possibilities. Nick Diaz, KJ Noons, Bao Quatch, Frank Shamrock, Antonio Silva, Ninja Rua, Joey Villasenor and Paul Daley are all very much legitimate MMA competition that can be added to a mix that includes Chris Horodecki, Jay Hieron, Roy Nelson, Mike Pyle, Vladamir Matyushenko, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Drew Fickett, Trevor Prangley, Tim Sylvia, Pedro Rizzo, Ben Rothwell, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, and others. In order for top competition outside of the UFC to face legitimate opponents it seems as if this merger is a must!

Other points to condsider.

1. Fedor Emelianenko on CBS will get him the American recognition that Affliction is looking for.

2. Kimbo Slice is marketable and its probably in ProElites' best interest to pin him against Brett Rogers on PPV, given that Rogers would be the first legitimate competition that Slice would be facing and this would interest enough fans to actually buy the PPV. Affliction is already established in the PPV market and Tom Atencio wouldn't mind taking partial credit in promoting Kimbo Slice's first legit fight against a formadable opponent. Not only that, but again, boxing fans would naturally be interested in Kimbo Slice due to his celebrity status and it would continue their growth in becoming MMA fans - hence increasing sales for MMA/Boxing cards that could potentially have Kimbo Slice on any one of them.

3. If ProElite merges with Affliction, the options for Tito Ortiz will pretty much be - Affliction/ProElite or the UFC. ProElite by itself can't afford Ortiz right now anyways. If Tito Ortiz does land a contract with Affliction, yeah, he will be able to face the likes of Renato Sobral which will make for an awesome fight in of itself, but additionally, Frank Shamrock vs. Tito Ortiz II - something Ortiz has often stated he is interested in - will become a possibility if ProElite merges with Affliction. Tito Ortiz signing with Affliction will also help with PPV buys, not to mention possibly catch the attention of boxing fans during a hybrid event due to his celebrity status.

4. Freddie Roach, a legendary boxing coach trains the likes of Andrei Arlovski. Arlovski is mentioned as possibly being interested in making a boxing debut somewhere down the line, which can be set up perfectly now that Golden Boy is on board. Arlovski isn't the only MMA fighter interested in doing both sports. KJ Noons who has a contract with EliteXC is 7-1 as a professional boxer and has often expressed interest in wanting to box - something EliteXC has not allowed, however with a Affliction/ProElite merger, that could become a possibility, again, given that Golden Boy is on board.

Conclusion. All signs point to ProElite and Affliction joining forces as a good thing - for the companies, for MMA, for the fighters, for fighter rankings, for WAMMA, and most importantly for the fans!

Disclaimer - this website, this domain name, and the author are in no way shape or form associated with Affliction and/or Golden Boy promotions. This is a blog site only.