Affliction: Trilogy has officially been canceled! Tom Atencio has called all the fighters and managers as of this morning to announce the bad news. Josh Barnett’s recent failure of his steroid test, has launched a large volume of criticism under the assumption that his failure CAUSED the cancellation. Surely this contributed to it’s cancellation, but not the only reason.
Said Affliction Entertainment VP Tom Atencio:
“”Finding an opponent for the number one ranked MMA heavyweight champion in such a short period of time was a huge endeavor and I’m thrilled at the amount of fighters willing to take on this challenge. But in the end, we just didn’t have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards.”
www.mmaweekly.com has reported that Showtime played some part in ultimately contributing the show’s cancellation.
UPDATE: Bobby Green (7-1) is replacing Chris Horodecki to fight Dan Lauzon.
Until the vent kicks off, feel free to browse our categories to your left that include not only the previous Affliction event, but MMA, Boxing GIFs, articles and videos. Also hop on to our forum and start chatting today. Here is a promo for the Fedor documentary on 01/20 on FSN’s best’Damn Sports Show Period’.:
AFFLICTION 2 “Day of Reckoning” takes place on Saturday, January 24th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The 2nd installment is headlined by the much anticipated match between Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski and 10 other bouts. The card kicks off live on HDNet beginning at 7:00 P.M. ET/4:00 P.M. PT with 5 bouts, and then followed by the PPV telecast which consists of 6 fights beginning at 9 P.M. ET/6 P.M. PT
Pay-Per-View Bouts
HWTs: Fedor Emelianenko (29-1) vs. Andrei Arlovski (14-6) wins by LaLa Land in RD1!
HWTs: Josh Barnett (24-5) vs. Gilbert Yvel (35-13) wins by TKO in RD3!
205#S: Matt Lindland (21-6) vs. Vitor Belfort (18-8) wins by BRUTAL KO in RD1!
205#s: Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-7) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-4) wins by Anaconda in RD2!
155#s: Bobby Green (7-2) vs. Dan Lauzon (12-2) wins by RNC in RD1!
HWTs: Paul Buentello (27-10) vs. Kiril “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov (5-3) wins by Doc Stoppage in RD3!
HDNet Bouts
205#s: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (16-3) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (21-4) wins by TKO in RD2!
170#s: Jay Hieron (17-4) vs. Jason High (6-1) wins by TKO in RD1!
145#s: L.C. Davis (13-1) vs. Bao Quach (15-9) wins by UD!
145#s: Antonio Duarte (11-2) vs. Albert Rios (11-3) wins by UD!
170#s: Brett Cooper (8-4) vs. Patrick Speight (7-2) wins by TKO in RD2!
Spladdle Undercard Summary! Brett Cooper is a well rounded, aggressive, and dangerous fighter that has strung together 4 wins in a row finishing all 4. His biggest wins are against Conor Huen Jason Von Flue and Rory Markham. Garnering a close decision against Conor and finishing both Von Flue and Rory by TKO. Patrick Speight started his career out strong with 7 straight wins before bumping into and dropping a decision to Alex Cisne. His fights mainly happen in small shows against lesser known opponents and this is his first foray into a big show. My pick: Brett Cooper.
In the Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios fight, we have a dynamo of destruction in Antonio Duarte whose only defeat was by heelhook early in his career against unknown Dave Serrano in 2006. He has 7 wins by submission and 2 TKOs so has the tools to finish any fight. His opponent Albert Rios is much lesser known and has 3 subs and 1 TKO. My pick: Antonio Duarte.
L.C. Davis’ only loss (and no shame) is by armbar to the monster Wagnney Fabiano. With 5 submissions and 6 TKOs it’s obvious Davis is dangerous and likes to finish his fights. Bao Quach who also has a loss to Wagnney has quite a few decision wins to his credit, but is a salty dog with a ton of experience, having started in 2001. He has been on a win streak of 9 fights. Tough fight to pick, but my pick: L.C. Davis.
UFC and IFL veteran Jay Hieron (9 TKOs and 4 subs) who is most famous (unfairly so) for being on the bad end of a GSP highlight, is a SOLID fighter who seems to be finally getting his groove. Not much is known about his opponent Jason High as he has fought at small shows. He is undefeated, but has nowhere near the experience of Hieron. My pick: Jay Hieron.
Brazilian Antonio Rogerio Nogueira also known as “Lil Nog” has big wins over the likes of Guy Mezger, Nakamura, Alex Stiebling, Alistair Overeem (2x), Dan Henderson, and Edwin Dewees. Lil Nog is a copy of his brother in appearance and style and is a tough fighter, that doesn’t mind standing or hitting the ground where his dangerous subs can end the fight fast. He has losses against Soko, Matyushenko (who is his opponent, but this fight was in 2002), and Shogun. Vladimir Matyushenko is a native of Belarus who is a strong, phenomenal wrestler. Vladdy’s foray into the UFC was a bad one: losing a decision to Tito Ortiz, before getting KOed by Andrei Arlovski forcing him to smaller shows before finding a home in the IFL. After his loss to Arlovski he has been undefeated in 8 fights and beating the likes of Carlos Barreto, Tim Boetsch, and Alex Schoenauer. His other big wins were against Lil Nog, Yuki Kondo, Travis Wiuff, and Pedro Rizzo. My Pick: Lil Nog.
Spladdle Main Card Summary! Paul Buentello as everyone knows has dynamite in both hands and only needs to land a clean shot to take you out. Paul is a veteran of the sport and fan favorite for his exciting KOs and losses! With 4 submission wins and 21 TKOs, it’s obvious what Paul likes to do. Paul made in appearance in the previous Affliction with a decision over Gary Goodridge. He is taking on Kiril “Baby Fedor” Sidelnikov who mimics the unorthodox striking style of Fedor as he is one of his training partners, is an aggressive hard hitting heavyweight albeit inexperienced. Compared to Buentello, he is a complete newb. On paper this should be a mismatch, but Baby Fedor has power as well. My pick: Buentello.
IFL veteran Chris Horodecki was on a tear of destruction until he bumped into Ryan Schultz and got brutally KOed. Chris has an exciting “let it all hang out” style and is a ton of fun to watch. His opponent Dan Lauzon is super aggressive and has never heard the final bell, win or lose. This means we are going to have a WAR on our hands. Dan is most known for his loss to Spencer Fisher at UFC 64, but should be known for his 5 submissions and 6 TKOs. I am really on the fence on this one and may switch my pick by fight time, bur for now, My Pick: The Upgrade Dan Lauzon.
Babalu who got the raw end of the double standard stick by BLAF has found a home with Affliction. After a boring decision win over Mike Whitehead at the inaugural Affliction, he got a TKO over Bobby Southworth at Strikeforce. Babalu is a machine of sorts and likes to destroy. He has a tough opponent in Soko, but Soko has had miserable performances after a stellar start at Pride. After getting choked out by Machida at UFC 79, he then got an injury win over Nakamura at UFC 84, then TKOed out of the UFC by Luis Cane at UFC 89. Unless he has woken TFU, I am picking Babalu by destruction.
Matt Lindland’s resume looks like a who’s who of MMA. He consistently fights top quality opponents and beats them. He is coming off of a decision win at the first Affliction against Fabio Nascimento. His opponent is Vitor Belfort who for some reason is the most popular of all the dinosaurs. His fans still live in the ’90s and watching a HL reel of him is in technicolor as his opponents that he has finished are names like Tank Abbot, Steve Ferrozo, Jon Hess, Tra Telligman, and Joe Charles. He has the big fight curse and has been beaten when he faces top quality opponents: Sakuraba, Couture, Ortiz, Liddel, Overeem, and Dan Henderson. Vitor just doesn’t have the mentality or well roundedness for modern MMA. His opponents play the Jon Hess and Tank Abbot highlight in their heads over and over again and continue to fool themselves into believing that Vitor still fights. My pick: Lindland…Guillotine.
Catch Wrestling proponent and MMA veteran Josh Barnett is one of my top 3 favorite fighters of all time. I am a huge fan. Recently his only losses are to Cro Cop and Big Nog (in a fight where he almost kneebarred Nog). He KOed Pedro Rizzo in the first Affliction event. His opponent is the dirtiest fighter in MMA: Gilbert Yvel. Gilbert is DANGEROUS having finished his opponents in ALL 35 of his wins and is on a 7 fight win streak. He is a bad, bad man. I just think Josh is much more of a bad man. My pick: Barnett by submission.
In the final fight of the night, we have the MMA Deity Fedor Emelienenko taking on Andrei Arlovski. What I think Arlovski has going for him is his movement, KO power and hand speed. IF and it’s a big if, he can stick and move he can eke out a decision and perhaps get a KO in the later rounds. The kink in his armor is his clinch and chin. I am NOT one of those that buys the “AA has a glass jaw” theory, but 4 of his 5 losses are by TKO, some of which were done by one punch or one punch lead to the end. One thing you can bet on in a fight against Fedor: you WILL get hit. While for some reason I am nervous about this fight, I am picking Fedorto continue his reign of terror.
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski
- Josh Barnett vs. TBA
- Tim Sylvia vs. TBA
- Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
- Matt Lindland vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
- Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
- Gegard Mousasi vs. Vitor Belfort
- Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson
- Pedro Rizzo vs. Ben Rothwell
- Jay Hieron vs. Drew Fickett
- Jason High vs. Mike Pyle
Stumble it!
