MMA-Boxing Hybrid PPV Update

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

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 ...

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

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

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?

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

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."