Affliction and Trump: The New HW’s in MMA

Posted on | June 7, 2008 | No Comments

By: Holli Yargo Hearne

One of the most exciting things to happen in MMA, short of Randy Couture coming out of retirement to win and successfully defend the UFC heavyweight title, is Affliction’s expansion into fight promotion. As if signing most of the world’s cream of the crop heavyweights wasn’t enough, they have also partnered with none other than Donald Trump. With a checkbook and business savvy like that behind them, it is difficult to see how they could fail.

The Honda Center in Anaheim, CA (otherwise known as “The Pond”) is the chosen venue for Affliction’s debut event, dubbed Affliction: Banned. No doubt, the title is a pun on the fact that UFC has been banning all Affliction products from its own events for over a year (and some of its fighters are banned from the UFC, as well). Not to be outdone but its nemesis, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the show will also be broadcast live on pay-per-view, July 19.

The debut card is no joke, either. Not only have they locked in the best heavyweights from UFC, Pride, and the IFL, they also did something the UFC failed miserably to do. They signed Fedor Emelianenko, who is without question the number one, all time greatest heavyweight in the world.

The line up, as it is currently scheduled, features a main event fight between Fedor and former UFC HW champ Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia. While Sylvia has much better game than most give him credit for, I still have trouble wrapping my head around him not being outclassed. That’s no slam against the giant, either. I have difficulty wrapping my head around anyone not being outclassed by the Russian, except for perhaps Couture. I see Fedor winning by murder.

A grudge match between Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo is also on tap. Rizzo already has a win over Barnett in UFC so it stands to reason the latter has a lot to prove. Nevertheless, the Brazilian is not likely to take his opponent lightly.

IFL’s Big Ben Rothwell is set to fight the newly signed and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Rothwell, a really big man, performed nearly flawlessly in the IFL but I see him getting his backside handed to him by The Pitbull.

The main card rounds off with Paul Buentello vs. Aleksander Emelianenko, Matt Linland vs. Fabio Nascimento, and Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead. While all are undeniably great contenders, my picks are Emelianenko, Linland, and Sobral. Sobral chose wisely not to wait for the UFC to forgive him for unsportsmanlike behavior.

The under card pits Ray Lazama vs. Justin Levins (I pick Levins), Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young (Young), J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight (not sure if Ambrose’s skills are honed but he’s a really strong wrestler with heavy hands on the ground), and Brett Cooper vs. Mike Pyle (Pyle).

In all, this promises to be an amazing card and I, for one, am very excited. There is no doubt that on July 19, you will certainly find me at my local wings and beer sports pub watching this fight. Or maybe Affliction could hook a sister up with a press pass so I can be there live….