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."

Affliction Golden Boy deal is very Golden!

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

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?

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.