Report: Andrei Arlovski Signs With Affliction
Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski (13-5) has signed with Affliction and will be officially introduced during tomorrow’s press conference with Donald Trump. Additionally, Trump will be announced as a “significant” equity partner in the upstart organization, which is set to host its debut event in Anaheim, California on July 19th.
The latest developments were reported earlier today by MMARated.com.
Arlovski will face IFL standout Ben Rothwell on the main card of the July 19th pay-per-view event. He last fought for the UFC in March, defeating Jake O’Brien via second-round TKO at UFC 82.
Headlined by top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko taking on another former UFC heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia, the event also features Pedro Rizzo versus Josh Barnett, Matt Lindland versus Fabio Negao, Renato “Babalu†Sobral versus Mike Whitehead, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira versus Vernon White, Paul Buentello versus Aleksander Emelianenko. In addition to the pay-per-view card, three of the event’s bouts will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net.
There is also speculation that, based on Trump’s soon to-be-announced involvement with Affliction, Tito Ortiz may also sign with the promotion in the near future. Ortiz, a former UFC light heavyweight champion who fulfilled his contract with the UFC in May, recently starred in a celebrity edition of “The Apprentice” reality show, which is hosted by Trump.
For the latest Affliction rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
Tags: Andrei Arlovski, Tito Ortiz
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This promotion sure is going all out to make an impact from the start.
Older MMA athletes don’t retire – they join Affliction.
That is gonna be a great card. Cant wait to see this one
Affliction is a much bigger problem to the UFC then EliteXC. I dont really think its a problem to the UFC. I guess what I mean to say is UFC will always be the top promotion but Affliction is really making their mark. Im excited.
FiXeR… i agree with what you are saying . The UFC is top dog, Elite XC is bottom feeding and Affliction is somewhere in the middle
Affliction is set to have the best hw division in mma. since people love the hw’s, its only expected for this to take off big.
My major fear, is having refs mess it all up like xc, it just goes to show you how important the third man is.
also Vinotaster, your a tool. most of these guys are 30 or younger, most of them are in there prime, maybe you need to retire eh?
Oh and Trump being a part of the Affliction team has got to put a bit of a scare into the UFC, that man knows how to run a business and I’m sure it will only help Affliction to become a great organization and provide top rank fighters, which they have already begun to collect. I’m looking forward to watching Affliction, I hope to see the old pitbull come back, if he does than he will be a contentender again. So much of this game is in their heads and it’s true when you get knocked out it rattles you for a bit but I hope Arlovski manages a come back!!!
Hey Tell me what u all would think about Arlorvski vs Fedor
Their first card is going to be huge! People will buy it just to see Fedor fight someone that isn’t a chump.
I only worry about after this card… Then what? Are they putting too much into it, who will they have left?
With Trump comes money. Money will be able to lure fighters from the UFC…
I think Affliction will do fine. They are using a lot of big names, and big name HW’s at that. But not just that they are signing HW’s that come to fight (sept Sylvia but he fights Fedor so we’ll see).
I think people that talk about the “old pitbull” are completely out of their minds.
2 borring fights in his career and people want to call it quits with him? He fought injured against Sylvia for the 3rd time and that was a borring fight, and then he out pointed Werdum (after just losing to Sylvia) and Werdum was a top 10 HW that he didn’t want to lose to, but inbetween those borring fights he KO’d Marcio Cruz from his ass! he was sitting and KO’d the guy! and he made quick work of Jake O’Brien. What else can the guy do? Fly in wearing a red cape and use lazor eye vision to beat his opponents? AA is still the same aggresive amazing striker that we all loved to see.. just let the man fight some top guys even if it does go to a Dicission.
From T-shirts to possibly the best MMA card of the year and now Donald Trump as well as Arlovski? Affliction gets the executive of the year award hands down – if one existed.
Larry,
You’re trippin’. Affliction is a roster made up of former champs and guys out of their prime. Yes it looks good on paper but the overall conditioning, endurance and stamina may make the fights in this promotion a little slower paced. Donald Trump knows how to run a business but it doesn’t mean he can run an MMA promotion. Personally, I think he is in it to make a quick buck and get out. The guy is a business man. Why would the UFC be scared when they have the vast majority of talent under contract still? There will not be a point in time where the UFC loses 5+ stars off their roster to help another promotion build. All other promotions will have to wait for the talent the UFC has to lose or be released.
I think the card looks great. But I won’t spend any more money on PPV than the $50 I have going out the door to the UFC. The only way I’ll watch any of these other org’s is if it’s free and I have nothing else going on.
Ouch,
I’m not trippin, and I’m not even going to attempt an arguement on this one, time will tell and that’s the only way to find out what Affliction is going to do, with or without Trump. Trump isn’t going to let an opportunity to make money, in an up and coming industry that shows such promise as MMA. We’ll just have to see. I’m not saying what you say is an imposibility regarding Trump but he’s not stupid, and his name alone will have people watching just to find out what Trump could be seeing that they’re aren’t.
He’s not going to get involved in something he doesn’t think will be a success, he won’t want his name to be synonomous with “Another Failed Attempt at a Fight Organzation TRYING to be competitive with the UFC.
Ok Let’s have it,
And the UFC is giving away enough fighters for Affliction to collect a nice little pool, and if they pay better or make life outside the octagon a little easier for the fighters, (and I’m sure they know how to play the game with Trump at the table) more fighters will come. The UFC is releasing soo many fighers it’s not going to be hard to put together great fight cards.
Affliction’s got some serious exerienced people around them … Randy Couture is involved, Tito Ortiz ( and all the other so called ” has been ” fighters ), then you’ve got funding from Trump, when Trumps around, hes sure to consult with his long time buddy Vince Mcmahon……
This promotions got some serious TOP guys all around, UFC is still the most recognized and elite promotion, probably always will be but former Hotel Bell man Dana White better get ready because now the big boys are in town and the days of being competition free in North America are over !!!
i am not impressed wit there talent pool its nothing that wows me. unless its Fedor v Randy then i dont care about fedor. y would anyone care bout a fight wit tim “big doofy sloath” sylvia in the main event. pedro rizzo vs josh barnett… uh yea ill watch the ultimate knockouts instead cuz that fight wouldve been cool a couple of years ago not so much now. mike whitehead vs babalu i mean really wat the **** the only interest id have is if mike whithead called him a mother****er at the weigh-ins but i mean mike whitehead was on the ultimate fighter when pretty much everyone got a contract and he didnt so that says something to me. u gotta really step up ur game affliction cuz right now ur card should b called “Affliction: Sloathfest 08″
Did some of you people come here by accident and decide to type some words into the “Leave a Comment” cool little box at the bottom of the page????
Holy Crap am I hearing you right? Affliction has no talent? Listen people before you really look foolish take some time, do a little research, here’s an idea WATCH A FIGHT OR TWO OF THE PEOPLE YOU INSULT!!!
I can’t believe some of the asses in these forums. I’m not one for bashing anyone but I’m so tired of listening to the ignorant say their opinions based on what the arse before them had to say. I’m not saying anything about any one person, there’s a lot of people who have so much to say about how this should be or how that should be, SHUT UP AND GO FIX THE PROBLEM IF YOU’RE SO CERTAIN YOU KNOW IT ALL!!
Most of us come here to interact with other people who enjoy the sport, not those who hate it and only want to see it fail. There’s a place for you o go as well but I can’t mention it here!!!
Affliction is jumping in with Both feet so to speak, huh? I hear that have Donal Trump backing them financially (so it on Sherdog.com). No wonder they were able to sign so many big name Heavy Weights all at once. I also hear Tito and Courture may be the next to fighters to join the promotion.
After loosing 2 of they star HWs (Sylvia and Arlovski) they really better focus on treating their fighters better because fighters now have with Elite and Affliction other option with out having to go over seas. There will be alot of temptation for fighters to jump ship.
The best part about the organization is that they are willing to work with other groups to co-promote events. This could be huge, especially if the UFC is the only one who wont…
The fighters will go where the money is. Eventually the Rich Franklin’s and Matt Hughes types that are loyal to Dana will be gone, and possibly resulting in a free agency period similar to other sports could arise (just from org to org not team to team).
Wow, Trump and Arlovski!
Affliction finally has a North American fighter with a big time name to sell tickets for this card. Tim and Fedor may be better fighters, but neither have a US fan base like Arlovski.
Trump’s involvement is huge. He could put together a TV deal with his partner NBC (CBS high MMA ratings opened the door, plus he has real fighters). The Trump brand will lure big business and advertisers. His ties with Tito and Randy, may give Affliction more star power than UFC.
If all the rumors about UFC are true than fighters will be jumping to the Affliction brand. Why put up with Dana paying you dirt, not paying on time, trash talking your talent and screwing with your contract?
UFC grossed $450 million last year, but paid a proven fighter in Keith Jardine $10k in the last fight! I think Trump can figure out how to pay his fighters a decent purse and still make a profit in multi-million maybe billion dollar industry.
Past their primes? No talent? Have you morons that have been saying this looked into any of these fighters? Most are in their early 30s and they’ve all got incredible records.
This is turning out to be an all-star MMA card. Anyone buying UFC over this is just cheating themselves out of a superior card. That’s OK though, we’ll be sure to tell you what all you missed.
from a sherdog post
group of investors led by Dana White have agreed in principle to purchase the UFC from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for an undisclosed amount. Included in this investment group is WWE’s Vince McMahon who will now own a minority stake in the company. They also have plans on taking the company public by years end.
At the press conference also expect Dana to announce that with the help of McMahon, who has extensive connections in the New York State Athletic Commission, they were able to get the UFC sanctioned in New York, and plan on having a show sometime in the winter at Madison Square Garden. That is all I have right now.