Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and contender Josh Barnett have agreed to meet at Affliction's third event on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, according to MMA Fanhouse. Though bout agreements have not yet been signed, the bout is expected to be finalized and announced in the coming days.

Nick Diaz, who defeated former Strikeforce middleweight champion Frank Shamrock via second-round TKO in a 179-pound catchweight bout in April, will return to the 170-pound welterweight division following his June 6th 180-pound catchweight showdown with Scott Smith.

Heavyweight up-and-comer Chris Tuchscherer will reportedly make his UFC debut at UFC 102 on August 29th in Portland, Oregon against Gabriel Gonzaga. UFC 102 is headlined by Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and is also expected to feature Demian Maia vs. Nate Marquardt, Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva, and Matt Hamill vs. Brandon Vera.

But on Wednesday, April 29 at Differ Ariake in Tokyo, Japan, Team England will make its much anticipated debut during the 2009 "M-1 Challenge presented by Affliction."

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio on Monday revealed that the promotion's third event will not take place on July 11th, the same day as the UFC's historic UFC 100 event. "That's all rumors, and that's just what people think. In my eyes, it's not even a possibility. It doesn't make sense."

In celebration of UFC 100, Spike TV will present a 5-part special, “UFC’s Ultimate 100: Greatest Fights” highlighting the best 100 bouts in UFC history, as voted on by the fans.

The UFC officially announced on Wednesday an exhibition bout between Bruce Buffer and Joe Rogan has been added to the UFC Fan Expo. Also, the promotion has greenlight construction of a stadium in Russia.

UFC President Dana White on Sunday issued the promotion's first comments on Affliction's rumored July 11th event. "I love it. I don’t like these guys and I want to see them spend more of their t-shirt money," said White.

Affliction COO Michael D. Cohen commented earlier today on reports that Affliction could hold it's next event on July 11th opposite UFC 100. Though Cohen confirmed the date remains under consideration, he also mentioned that the promotion is not looking to directly go up against the UFC.

Affliction's third and possibly final event could take place on July 11th. If that date sounds familiar it's when the UFC has scheduled UFC 100, with Affliction potentially putting their event in direct competition with the UFC's historic card.

Kiril Sidelnikov, who was defeated by Paul Buentello at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, has tested positive for the banned steroid Stanzanol.

Rumors began to swirl yesterday that Affliction would soon be closing its MMA promotion and was actively seeking a deal with UFC parent company Zuffa. Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio quickly denied the rumors in an appearance last night on Hardcore Sports Radio.
“The rumors are just that, rumors, they’re not true, there’s no truth to [...]

Golden Boy Promotion’s Chief Marketing Officer Bruce Binkow today responded to Sherdog about HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant’s claims that Oscar De La Hoya was paid $5 million to attend Affliction: Day of Reckoning on Saturday as opposed to the Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley bout which his company was also co-promoting:
“It’s ridiculous [to say] [...]

The California State Athletic Commission today released the official fighter salaries for Affliction: Day of Reckoning and Andrei Arlovski, who suffered a first-round knockout to Fedor Emelianenko in the evening’s main event, was the card’s top earner, taking home $1.5 million. Emelianenko officially earned $300,000 for the victory, though his salary assuredly exceeded Arlovski’s with [...]

Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko cemented his status as the sport’s best heavyweight on Saturday night in front of a capacity crowd of 13,228 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, rebounding from a sluggish start to score a first-round knockout of Andrei Arlovski in the main event of Affliction: Day of Reckoning.
Arlovski’s highly-touted boxing gave [...]