“Affliction Banned” Drawing Record Media Interest
It’s only appropriate that the greatest show in mixed-martial-arts history, “Affliction Banned,†has already set an MMA worldwide media interest record for a single event. The star studded pay-per-view, featuring the WAMMA heavyweight championship fight between the most dominating, lethal MMA heavyweight of all-time, Russian M1 legend Fedor “The Last Emperor†Emelianenko (27-1), and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac†Sylvia (24-4), will be broadcast live July19th from Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
More than 250 media credential requests were received heading into today’s deadline, 10 days prior to the event, from numerous foreign countries including Russia, Japan, Korea, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand.
“Affliction Banned,†presented by Affliction Entertainment in association with Roy Englebrecht Events, is headlined by Fedor vs. Sylvia and powerfully supported by four other incredible bouts: former UFC heavyweight title-holder Andrei “The Pitbull†Arlovski (12-5) faces IFL titlist “Big†Ben Rothwell (29-5), Josh “The Baby Faced Assassin†Barnett (21-5) fights stateside for the first time in two years in a grudge match against the only opponent to ever knock him out — Brazilian strongman Pedro “The Rock†Rizzo (16-7); three-time All-American wrestler Mike Whitehead (20-5) battles Brazilian sensation Renato “Babalu†Sobral (29-7); 2000 Olympic Wrestling Silver Medalist and Oregon House of Representative candidate, Matt “The Law†Lindland (20-5), meets Brazilian favorite Fabio “Negao†Nascimento (8-3).
“Affliction Banned†became so stacked with talent that it had to be separated into two live shows produced for broadcast. The night’s activities will kick off with a one-hour, free live telecast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the United States and on The Fight Network in Canada starting at 5 PM Pacific (8 PM/ET), dubbed “Affliction Live,†featuring Fedor’s brother, Aleksander “The Grim Reaper†Emelianenko (13-3) versus Paul “The Headhunter†Buentello (23-10). Following that presentation is the five-fight “Affliction Banned†on pay-per-view starting at 6 PM/PT (9 PM/ET) via iN DEMAND, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewers Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice in the United States and Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95.
Heavy metal band Megadeth, led by frontman, guitarist, and songwriter Dave Mustaine, will be performing live at the event.
Tickets for “Affliction Banned†range between $50.00 and $1,000.00, and are on sale at Honda Center’s Box Office and also online at Ticketmaster.com.
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Can’t wait, who cares if future Affliction events don’t live up to this one. The fact is we get to see a great card on July 19th including the worlds greatest mma fighter.
sounds like a good event but we have no chance of getting it on telly in england so i think i’ll stick to ufc fight night and watch irvin KO silva
We wont get that in England at all! But, there are ways and means of getting this!
SiMonsterD
Care to elaborate ??
i wonder if this is just an intial boom for the first fight i dont see them keping that pace up.
I doubt they will keep that pace up also, but as an mma fan does it really matter. If Osama Bin Laaden started his own mma organisation at staged it in the middle of some afghanistan poppy field, as long as there were big names & big fights on the card i’d want to watch it.
well all i know is affliction is gonna be great but im definitly dvring ufc cause i cant miss one of my favorite fighters james irvin beat silva hopefully…..as long as james doesnt get knocked out….i hope he does some knocking out
I’m not buying the greatest mma card ever either. Tim Sylvia was loathed in the UFC & always considered overrated. Fedor has a lot to lose in this fight & not much to gain. A loss to Sylvia would take away all credibility to an argument of greatest mma fighter. All of the fights feature guys who have established a name but in each fight I believe there is a clear favorite & most of these fighters have proven to be past their prime. Just because you recognize a guy or because he was the UFC champion at one time does not mean that he still has it or is going to put on an entertaining fight (take Rico Rodriguez for example). Bottom line is that if these guys were all as good as they’re being made to be, some of them would have UFC contracts & outside of Fedor & Barnett, I’m not sure that the UFC really wants them. Possibly Sylvia & Arlovski also but only at the right price. It will be interesting to see though if Affliction can sustain the hype after this event. Obviously there is much riding on this PPV and considering how much they’ve invested if this one turns out to be a dud they will crash & burn.
Yea…please stop saying that this will be “the greatest show in mixed-martial-arts history”
Ever heard the saying…dont count your chickens before they hatch????
Im sorry but I think the UFC card in Dec was better with BETTER talent! Liddell vs Wandy, Hughes vs GSP alone is better than Fedor, a guy who hasnt fought in a long time (2 yrs?) vs Sylvia…a guy who is on the way down…. then Arlovski…a guy who couldnt get on the main card on a week UFC event…even if Dana had a grudge against him…and other fighters who are good but not great….I will watch this card….but I can tell you it isnt now nor will it be the greatest show in mixed-martial-arts history…but I hope it comes close…
…..also how good do you guys think these ifl and other new guys coming into the ufc are gonna be im hoping some new stars are born hopefully!….there fighting on the irvin silva undercard i think
I just read my post and apparently I cant spell.. I meant to say a WEAK ufc event….my bad…going on 4 hrs of sleep!
Dana is famous for holding grudges, which is the only reason Arlovski wasnt on the main card. Why would he promote a guy that’s going to fight for another company. Just because some of these guys arent in the UFC doesnt mean they arent good or on there way down. It means they didnt like what they were offered by the UFC and went else where. This card is definatly a couple steps above any UFC card to date. Thanks for the great card Affiction, I cant wait to see it!
@gunslinger and Johnboy
James Irvin beating Anderson Silva???? Really? That’s what you think will happen? You’d consider Irvin better than Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin and everyone else Silva has owned recently?
Personally I’ll be deeply impressed with Irvin if he makes it out of the first round.
Sylvia is on his way down…lost 2 of his last 3 fights! Sure you can say it was to Nog and Couture but outweight Randy by about 40 lbs!! But regardless .. was dominated…
I am not sure that was why Andre was not on the main card….look at Tito…it was WIDELY known he hates Dana…he HATES the UFC and wont fight after his fight with Machida…yet that was on the main card….
And true…if they arent in the UFC, it doesnt mean they are bad…but really…some of these guys arent THAT impressive!! Whitehead…HORRIBLE on TUF 2…and has lost against known fighters.. jardine, sylvia x2, Vera…and frankly the only “big name” he beat was rothwell…but not everyone has heard of him….he also beat vernon “tiger” white…oooohh BIG WIN…lets see.. others…
Rothwell..losses to Sylvia, whitehead….noteable wins…Ricco Rodriguez..thats about it…
Barnett…losses to Cro Cop x 3 and Nog…with wins over Dan Severn, Couture, Nakamura, Fedor’s bro, Nog, and Monson….which makes Barnett prob the best fighter on this card besides Fedor…
and I could go on…the point is…these fighters, besides a couple, are not impressive.. I laugh when people say Whitehead is impressive.. I think George Jurgel could beat him (kidding).. and in all honesty, some of these fighters are prob not in the UFC bc they dont like Dana, or just dont like how things are ran…but if the UFC changed, and these fighters all wanted in the UFC, do you think the UFC would take them?!?! NO WAY…they would take Fedor and Barnett…maybe Sylvia since the Heavyweight division is weak… and make Andre…but thats it….
This will be a good card, but not better than a few UFC cards…
Ryan – I do agree with the guy who thinks Irvin can beat the Spider…will he do it??? Prob not.. but can he?? Of course he can!!! Its like in poker…all you need is a chip and a chair…in UFC…every fighter has a punchers chance… and Irvin is a deadly striker…better than franklin, way better than henderson….but would Ace and Hendo beat Irvin? Yes, prob….but to count out Irvin is ridiculous…he could easily land a hard shot…flying knee…etc…Spider wont be taking him lightly…so no one else should either!!
I agree with the others in please don’t call this compilation of fights the greatest show in mixed-martial arts history. I don’t think many people think it is.
Anyone see Arvloski’s last undercard fight at UFC 82? It was boring as hell as hell just like his fight against verdum. That’s why it was on the undercard.
Since everyone is casting their vote I’ll be watching the Spike event with Anderson Silva (considered by many pound for pound #1) for free on Spike.
That article is full of ****! First off, all of the Europe/Asia interest is due to many of the fighters on the card being from those parts of the world. This is not the greatest card in MMA history. That statement is just crap filled with maggots and SARs. I’ve yet to hear or read one media source provide me with any MMA knowledge or decent points of view aside from MMA sites themselves. The sport is still young and misunderstood by most people including the media. I also find it extremely hilarious how Affliction said they had to split their show into TWO shows because the card is so “stacked” with talent. HAHAHA! Tell the truth you f-n liars. The first part is being aired for free in hopes of getting a few more PPV buys at the last second. It is completely stupid to think the UFC’s free show did not hurt Affliction. It nearly crushed them. Affliction added MegaDeth and is airing part of show early as a direct result of the UFC’s free event. It’s a nice rivalry but Affliction needs to stop hyping their card up so much because they are becoming liars. At this point Affliction has lied so much through their promo/hype I feel they are trying to outsmart me….the fan. Affliction lied to me and all of you. The fight card should be “ok” but by no means the best card ever. Why is it the biggest/best card ever? A bunch of big names from over the last 15 years on the card?
Just to be clear, this is a press release, not something written by myself or the other MMAFrenzy.com staff.
There’s definitely an over-the-top bias in the release and I personally wouldn’t call anything the greatest card in MMA history until AFTER it happened, if ever.
Just wanted to make sure everyone understood that as it seemed like some people thought MMAFrenzy.com wrote this.
Frankly, I’m just excited to see Sylvia get his head bashed in by Fedor. Hopefully!! Isn’t that enough for everyone?? Judging by these comments, its like we’re forgetting that marketing is the stepping stone to profit. Of course they’re going to hype this crap up. These big time events need hype or they ain’t sh*t to the average joe. I know you all know to judge it for yourselves because you aren’t mickey mouse fans. If anything, Dana White has taught us that A) he’s a dink and B) don’t believe one word out of his mouth. Dana White is the king of horse sh*t. “I’m gonna make an announcement that will rock the MMA world”. Blah blah blah shuuuut uuuuuuuup. Everyone just follows suit to the UFC, which is what Affliction is doing. Can you really say that in terms of names, just pure names, there has been this big of an event in North America? It would be tough to match it. Although i do agree, what the f*ck is Whitehead doing on this card? Punching bags are for training. HA! enjoy the fight..
I didn’t debate buying the Rampage vs Forrest PPV….i knew i wanted to see it. This PPV, i’m not feeling it as much…….
I am tempted to buy Affliction Banned but it is mostly due to Fedor vs Sylvia. I want to see how Fedor does against Sylvia.
The other fights are interesting but where will a win take them ? We knew Thiago Alves vs Hughes pushed Alves very close to the title, we knew Machidas win over Tito put him near the title……. If Barnett wins, what happens ? If Babalu wins, what happens ? If Arlovski wins what happens ? ……… and who really even cares ??
I guess I should give them a chance to build up …..
Dirty I think were all more interested in just the fights themselves rather than what happen’s to them afterwards….I mean this is probably the best heavyweight card ever put together…
I am just thrilled that 90% of the fights on Affliction’s card aren’t involving TUF reality show bums! =)
Should be a good night for MMA. I will have two TV’s going to get both events…
I admit this press release is over the top but like Kris Karkoski said you can’t really judge if it sucks or not until it happens and I’ll be there first hand to see so on the 20th I’ll give you my honest opinion on how everything went down.
Fedor and Tim is the only fight on the card that really interests me. All the hype is making me sick. I’m watching UFC live and Affliction later.
IM NOT EVEN GONNA WATCH AFFLICTION… ILL JUST LOOK AT THE RESULTS… AND YOUR GUYS COMMENTS… ILL BE WITH UFC…
Fedor will lose to Tim Sylvia. I think Tim’s loss to Nog will teach him to avoid ANY ground game at all, and Fedor will not be able to out box Sylvia. It’ll go 4 rounds at least and possibly 5 assuming that Fedor doesn’t get cut to the point of a stoppage. Fedor will lose, sucks too cause I hate Sylvia.
Barnett is a fantastic fighter and AA is always great. I can’t remember who said his undercard fight was borring as hell and compared it to his Werdum fight, but that poster MUST have been high on crack. He KO’d the guy in round 1, how borring can that fight be?!
I think this card is great. I’ve always thought Fedor is SUPER overrated and it’ll take a UFC reject to prove that. Fantastic to me.
Brandon,
That’s an interesting theory for sure considering most people on this site are already writing Tim off, and I hope he learned from the Couture and NOG fights because when you think about it combine Couture’s grappling and NOG’s Submissions/Pain threshold and you got a rough version of Fedor…
I HATE TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT BUT DOES ANYONE KNOW WHEN KIMBO IS FIGHTING AGAIN. I WANNA SEE HIM FIGHT BRETT ROGERS…
I don’t understand all the hate for this affliction card…for $5-$10 less than ufc charges, we get a card that on paper is more entertaining than the last few UFC events. Of course we’ll have to see if it holds up, but IMO that rampage v griffin ppv was really boring and didn’t have the big names, and it cost me $45. Plus Fedor is gonna kill Tim as Tim is unable to deal with anyone that actually tries to kick his ass, and is over 5′10″ (sorry monson).
“Affliction Banned†Drawing Record Media Interest
By: Press Release | Jul 10, 2008
-by “press release” — LOL
IOW, written by affliction staff fluffers.
kimbo fights rogers in Oct…
I dont know who to pick with fedor and tim…I think Fedor will win by submission….sure, sylvia had to learn something from his 2 recent losses….but that doesnt mean he will be ammmune to fedor and stuff fedor when he shoots…i say by maybe round 1 or 2…fedor wins by submission.. as for the rest…i guess i would like to see AA fight…and see Barnett fight..thats about it…the rest dont warrent enough interest from me personally to pay $40 to see…I will just view the results, and maybe check online to see if anyone puts up a fight or 2…
Sounds like PR BS.If it really mattered we would have updated rankings on PR.” #4 Valor Fighting with three Media requests from the Weekly World News…”
THANKS JASON…
LETS SAY SYLVIA WINS WILL THAT MAKE TIM THE NUMBER 1 HW… OR WOULD THAT PUSH COUTURE TO THE #1 SPOT
I would think that a win over Fedor would move him up but he’ll need one or 2 more to hit #1 heavyweight in the world…..just my opinion.
If anything, last time i checked the Sherdog rankings, Randys time off has effected his ranking and he got pushed down quite a bit unfortuntely
In my eyes, if tim wins..he is #2 then…because time off or not…until randy says he is retired forever, he will ALWAYS be ahead of tim…he dominated him and shouldnt be below tim unless tim gets a rematch and wins or again..he retired…so if tim wins, then the #1 HWYWT guy will be Kimbo…uh..i mean Randy
anderson silva will ko irvin. yes irvin is a good striker and has a chance of landing a big blow that could rock silva and end it but it wont happen. silva ko before the third
and for pound for pound best i’d have to go with silva and bj penn as the two best.
ha…sorry to laugh…but i hate it when people put BJ Penn that high…come on…
But to say Silva will win via KO is about as bad as saying Irvin wont win by KO…really…who has the spider KO’d? (besides leban and Ace) He is known more for his submissions…but to say he wont KO him is wrong on my part…he def can…i just dont see it simply for the fact that for him to KO Irvin would mean he would actually stand and bang with him…and I think Silva will want to take it to the ground…
By the way…best 3 pound for pound fighters in the world…in MY EYES… #1 GSP #2 Spider #3 Couture
Reason I say GSP over spider…look at the list of people GSP has defeated..its basically a who’s who of MMA…but again…my opinion…i dont expect everyone to agree
“EXACTLY” JASON FOR THE BEST P4P… THATS EXACTLY HOW I SEE AND THAT IS WHY I HAVE GSP FIRST ALSO. GOOD CALL
how is bj penn not that high on the list? now that he is in the weight class that fits him he is definetly up there for pound for pound. gsp is great but did you see his fight with bj? an out of shape bj to. gsp got the decision but many (including me) think bj won that fight. gsp got a late takedown in the third so the judges handed it to him. and you dont think irvin is going to trade? thats both there styles, thats where i think it will go but if irvin does take him down i’m not to worried about anderson. this fight will end with striks, tko or ko, with silva’s hand being raised
oh yeah, and awesome typed fake laugh. classic
Kris,
I knew you didn’t write that non sense. I hope I didn’t come across that way when I said that article was BS! I’m just beyond irritated with Affliction’s promo hypes. They’re annoying, stupid, childish and full of lies.
Nah it wasn’t yours in particular as I thought you knew given how much you’re around here but I read over the comments and a lot of people seemed to think I/this site was calling it the greatest card ever.
It’s just PR trying to generate interest and buys. I agree that its over the top bordering on excessive but it may be effective. We’ll know on July 20th.
classic fake laugh….responded by a classic misreading of a comment…
Did I say Irvin didnt want to stand?! If so.. please copy and paste it and show me… my quote was…”i just dont see it simply for the fact that for him to KO Irvin would mean he would actually stand and bang with him…and I think Silva will want to take it to the ground…”
So if you read that correctly, that is me saying SILVA wont want to stand and trade….IRVIN WANTS TO STAND….
And why is BJ Penn not on the list? Well for starters…he lost to GSP…i dont care if he was out of shape…i dont care if it was a decision… all that matters is where that X is in the column….in the win or loss…and that X is in the win column for GSP….just like i disagree with the forrest decision..but at the end of the day…Forrest won..plain and simple…
Maybe BJ Penn, when retired, will be the best P4P but right now..he isnt…I think Tyson Griffin will beat him…I think he has alot of tough fights…as does GSP…so right now, im sticking with GSP #1..Penn is possibly top 5 .. but again.. my opinion
HaHAHAHA…..I just read the funniest thing I’ve read in the last two days. The Donald said, “Affliction is a threat to the UFC.” MORON! The Donald doesn’t know the first thing about MMA. F-n investor POS c**k monger. He should stick to flirting with Rosie O’donnell.
Affliction is a tax deduction for Trump nothing more.
True, but Trump can throw all the money in the world into the org…
Lets just hope they are still around next year at this time.
no jason i was saying that silva and irvin will likely being standing and throwing alot but if it goes to the ground i’m not worried to much about anderson. he’s got those long limbs and all. and i dont think anderson would be worried about standing with anyone, he’s probably the best striker in the game and i’ve heard his natural weight is over 210. irvin will have size on him but silva’s a big guy himself.
again, did you see the gsp vs. bj fight? just curious bc if you saw that fight you would think different about a motivated and in shape bj penn. everyone is entitled to there opinion, thats what makes the p4p argument, there are so many good fighters that there are a bunch of them that can be thrown in the mix. i’d put gsp in the top five of course but i still think bj is ahead. its him and anderson as the 1-2
and why do you think tyson griffin will beat him? just wondering. would like to see a different take on it because i see bj waling right through him. bj’s a better striker, has the crazy submissions on the ground and he just beat down another tough-guy wrestler type in sean sherk
and that was supposed to be walking right through him. my typing could use some work
Cincy,
Yeah Tyson Griffin beating BJ is a stretch right now, I like Griffin and everything but let’s call like it is Penn would DESTROY Tyson right now no problem.
i like griffin to but he’s not up to bj yet. who do you think would next in line after florian/huerta? 155 division is good but there’s not really anyone that could threaten bj right now i think
It is very difficult to catch Fedor, Nogueira couldn’t do it 3 times. Randy Couture might have a 5% chance if he can get him cut or maybe go thru 5 rounds of torturing(needs tremendous stamina from 32yo and a 46 yo) and get a decision like Rampage vs Griffin. Or the Russian Mafia suddenly kidnapped Fedor’s wife and daughter and threaten him to take a fall becas the odds is going to be high and there is money to be made??
Other than that, I think “The Natural” needs to be a bit supernatural and perform some sort of miracle for the victory.
Even if Fedor was victorious, I think some people would still deny by saying the age difference and other excuses. Truth is, He is the best I have seen and people should look at the fighter not where he is from or whether he got some fat padding on him or not. The guy is so tough even other pro fighters attend his master class around Europe to learn MMA and Sambo. Thats commitment and love for the sport for yah. One more thing Fedor dominates his weight class in any organization he is in, so other HW will move weight class or go to other organization to get a championship belt on their waist. They know they got no chance of the belt if Fedor is there. Now he just signed with Affliction in the US and everyone wants to fight the best but after a while, you’ll see. THe Maniac got it bad and soon many HW fighters will feel the same like Tim Silvia. Shameful to lost 6 months of training in just 36 seconds.