Affliction Announces FSN Deal, Signing of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
![Affliction](http://www.mmafrenzy.com/files/2008/05/affliction-banned-fighters-200x132.jpg "Affliction \")
Teams of people swarmed the Westfield Mall today to attend a public press conference hosted by Affliction Banned, the new venture by Affliction Clothing, the premier fashion label for men who love hard rock and fast living, that will bring a new era to MMA.
With eight MMA superstars seated at the dais, Tom Atencio, Vice President of Affliction Banned announced to a packed crowd of MMA fans, a star-studded fight card that will feature the much-anticipated return of the Russian heavyweight superstar Fedor “The Last Emperor†Emelianenko pitted against the 6′ 8†American, Tim “the Maine-iac†Sylvia, supported by an All-World caliber undercard, July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
“Affliction’s emergence into MMA is a milestone event and we are proud to be at the forefront of a new era in MMA, when promoters and fighters can come together to produce the fights that people most want to see,†stated Atencio.
Word of Affliction’s entry into the MMA arena was circulating the internet for months with much speculation about the fight card and location, but today’s announcement put all rumors to rest as the crowd was introduced to Fedor “The Last Emperor†Emelianenko, Tim “The Maine-iac†Sylvia, “Big†Ben Rothwell, Fabio “Negao†Nascimento, Mike Whitehead, Renato “Babalu†Sobral, Pedro “The Rock†Rizzo, Josh “The Baby-Faced Assassin†Barnett and Vice President of Affliction, Tom Atencio, in a conference led by sports analyst, Jay Glazier. Said George Greenberg, Executive V.P. Programming and Production at FOX Sports Net “ These are the A-Rods, the Kobe Bryant’s and the Michael Jordan’s sitting before you and they’re going to put on one hell of a fight!†Greenberg also announced an exclusive deal between Fox Sports Net and Affliction to air the undercard fights live on Fox Sports Net television leading up to the pay per view on July 19th. This stacked non-pay per view undercard includes a newly announced Antonio Rogerio Nogueira plus Fedor’s brother Aleksander Emelianenko to name a few.
The fighters each took a turn at the podium with Josh Barnett speaking first. “This collection of fighters proves there isn’t just one name in the industry. There is no closed door. These guys [Affliction] are going to blow the door wide open and it’s up to the fighters to do their job and put on a great fight.†Barnett stated.
Representing the main card, Tim Sylvia spoke first. “Fedor has destroyed everybody that I look up to, said Sylvia. I think it is a good test for me. If I stay standing up, I’ll have won,†said Tim Sylvia.
Fedor’s appearance was met with resounding applause from the crowd. “I am honored to be in a program with such great fighters. Thank you Mr. Sylvia for taking this fight. I know him [Tim Sylvia] well, I have tremendous respect for him, and I look forward to meeting him in the ring,†said Fedor, assisted by an interpreter.
Executives from The Honda Center, Fox Sports Net, and Roy Englebrecht Events, all spoke regarding their involvement with “Affliction Banned”
Tickets for “Affliction Banned†broke at the box office today and generated more than $250K in ticket sales within the first thirty minutes, according to Tim Ryan, President and General Manager, Honda Center. Tickets to the event are currently available online at Ticketmaster.com. “Affliction Banned†will be distributed on Pay-Per-View and air live (9 PM/ET, 6 PM/PT) on cable and satellite viewing in the USA and Canada via iN Demand, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewer’s Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice for a suggested retail price of $39.95. The telecast will be available in both standard and high definition television. The fist hour of the event will be broadcast LIVE on FOX Sports Net.
True to its foundation in fashion, Affliction passed out more than two-thousand t-shirts and posters to the crowd and the eight fighters, including Fedor and Sylvia, were able to meet and greet fans and sign shirts following the press announcements and introductions at the podium.
“Affliction Banned” will hold another public press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan, NYC on Thursday, May 22nd at 10:30AM.
Tags: Aleksander Emelianenko, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Ben Rothwell, Fabio Negao, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Mike Whitehead, Pedro Rizzo, Renato Sobral, Tim Sylvia
Loading ...
“ These are the A-Rods, the Kobe Bryant’s and the Michael Jordan’s sitting before you and they’re going to put on one hell of a fight!â€
hahahahaha…ok…maybe I could see Arod=Fedor since he is ranked #1 at Hvywght…but who would then be the kobe and the jordan? Sylvia and Barnett? PLEASE…You have the #1 HW…you have a name in Sylvia who is declining big time… you have Babalu who is a name, thats it…couldnt beat anyone in UFC anymore…until they get more fighters, this is an avg roster at best… but I could see them signing Couture..and Tito….THEN you can maybe through out that comment…but until then…sign some more fighters!!
Ya definitely Couture, Tito to WWE or TNA !!!
You’ve got all these other organizations out there …Cage Rage – Elite Xc – Bodog …..etc etc and then you’ve got the private UFC company. Weird situation in MMA …I wonder how all this will evolve ????????????
do they really think they can get the PPV buys they want with that price. $20 would have been fair — $40 is rediculous!!
All things MMA is turning into mush. K-1 is still the best solid fighting competetion around. The rest is a boat load of wishy washy, anyone can join bull****.
Gentlemen the UFC demands that for every event and most of their cards are watered down (not this weekends as all the cards in Vegas are always stacked for the UFC).
Josh Barnett is the former UFC Champ and he beat the current UFC Champ, now I am not personally a big fan of his but if not for inactivity he would be in the top 5.
Tim Sylvia as we all know is a boring fighter but he wins and is it wasn’t for him choking under the pressure of fighting one of his idols Nogueira he would have won that fight, I say this and I am a Nog fan.
Then you have Ben Rothwell the IFL Heavyweight Champ, Fedor’s brother Alexander who is an excellent striker, Pedro Rizzo another striker who has gone down in form but is still winning fights for other organizations.
Not to mention the rumors about Ben Rothwell’s opponent which is tentatively rumored as Arlovski.
The only reason Couture is not on the card is because of the court wrangling which the other day took a huge jump forward with the announcement that there would be a summary decision on his contract June 2nd.. Affliction has stated that Randy would fight later on in the year if cleared to fight, and this is basically a Heavyweight tournament to crown a king, if that doesn’t excite you then I am not sure what will.
This is the cream of the crop of the heavies.. the only one that might not participate that should be the is Nog.
Finally we will get an answer to who are the best heavies out there since Rothwell won a decision with Big Country Nelson, and all of the others have been Champs of the UFC and of Pride.
The Heavy and Middleweight Divisions are the weakest in talent for the UFC. Look who they pitted Nog for the next title Mir who to his credit has rehabbed his injury but a win over a rookie should not catapult you to a title shot after you lost two fights to others already in the UFC that was definitely a Homer decision.
Except for this weekends card which is stacked with Light heavy goodness and excitement all the other UFC cards are weak.
Any card outside of Vegas is a hoax.. look at Montreal behind the headline fight there was little although to their credit many put on a great show..
look at the card in the UK.. it would have been Liddell vs Rua then what Matt Hughes pummeling Alves?
UFC puts out one or two good fights a card the others are all the guys fighting for scraps.. why because it is highly profitable that way..
Besides this UFC 84 the only other two good cards of the year except for possibly December UFC will be Affliction shows..
The money that they are forking out for this show Fedor, Sylvia, Barnett, Rothwell, Arlovski, Lindland they could hold 3 UFC cards.. Affliction I don’t think stands to make allot from this event but are hoping to sell the merchandise to take a strangle hold on the market..
Next time you are looking at a T-shirt rack remember that because they are giving you what the UFC wouldn’t a stacked card.. and you can count on a Fedor/Couture fight which the UFC refused to pay for.
Maybe some of you gentlemen don’t appreciate that part of this event..
Gotta say I agree with Orlando. People would pay 40 dollars to see Fedor fight Sylvia and call it that, But Barnett is a top HW and has always been. Having him fight on the same card is great. Bed Rothwell is a fun guy to watch also and you know there are going to be some Ko’s, some Submissions and some back and forth action in the HW division (which is the most borring division in all of MMA) so as far as HW’s go it’s a fantastic card.
That being said I think Tim Sylvia is going to beat Fedor. And that makes me sad because I really wanted to see Couture fight him. I think Fedor hasn’t fought a top contender since he faced a very game Cro Cop and Fedor will have to battle a striker in Sylvia thats just as dangerous as Cro Cop but heavier and harder to out muscle. And seeing Timmah beat the #1 HW in the world is going to stir up the HW division like the LHW division has been, leaving all sorts of questions as to who really is the best.
I think it’s going to be $40 well spent, even more so if Arlovski ends up on this card.
they are going to need alot more fighters if they plan on doing more than 1 or 2 shows. unless they plan on having these guys fight each other over and over. they need guys that havent been let go by the UFC maybe someone like Shields, Melendez or even Marcelo Garcia & Jacare.