Affliction: Banned Fedor vs Sylvia

The UFC has long stood as the undisputed champion of mixed-martial-arts promotion; however on Saturday, July 19th, under the lights of the Honda Center in Anaheim, California a new contender to Dana White and companies’ crown strapped on the five-ounce gloves and debuted in front of a live pay-per-view audience.

Affliction Clothing, makers of the ubiquitous t-shirt line, co-promoting the event with Adrenaline MMA, formerly known as Russian-based fight organization M-1, presented Affliction: Banned, the heavyweight rich super-card that has generated more media interest than any event outside the UFC.

The event aired head-to-head with Ultimate Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin, UFC’s counter punch programming to ‘Banned’, a free night of fights on Spike TV quickly arranged by the UFC just a month prior to airdate to dissuade viewers from paying to watch their new competitor. Current pound-for-pound top dog Anderson Silva, holder of the UFC 185-lb crown, is the main attraction, beginning his campaign for the 205 championship by stepping into the Octagon with heavy-hitter James ‘Sandman’ Irvin.

Banned

Picking up unsigned talent left in limbo after UFC purchased Japanese promotion PRIDE FC and fighters previously part of White’s stable that left due to obstacles in contract negotiating, Affliction populated their ‘Banned’ card with a mob of industry stars, even if some names are unfamiliar to the North American audience: Belarusian wolfman Andrei Arlovski, former UFC heavyweight king, Renato Sobral, banned from the UFC after declining to release a chokehold on David Heath, and PRIDE FC veterans Josh Barnet and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, twin brother of current UFC HW titleholder.

Anchoring the show is 29-1-1 Fedor Emelianenko, ‘The Last Emperor’ of the PRIDE heavyweight division. Once ruling as the undisputed best fighter on the planet, the unbeatable Russian’s name has slipped from the top spot of many pound-for-pound listings because of recent inactiveness and lack of top-flight opposition, which he intended to change by trading leather with number four ranked heavyweight and two-time champion, Tim ‘Maine-iac’ Sylvia in the main event.

Like a newborn taking its first steps, Affliction made some stumbles. The production lacked the polish viewers expect, dimmed auditorium lights camouflaged a sparsely filled arena, and consistent sound problems made the show hard on the ears. Otherwise, Affliction’s first outing went exactly as planned.

Crafted to build stars to headline future events, the card pit high caliber fighters against lesser opponents in matches where they could earn decisive, exciting victories. All stars in question came up on the positive end of match results; Barnet KO’d Pedro Rizzo in the second round, Arlovski knocked out Ben Rothwell in an entertaining bout, and Emelianenko slays the giant in a phenomenal display, tapping out Sylvia in merely 36 seconds, inciting doubters to reconsider the Russian bear’s placement in P4P rankings.

Back on Cable television, ‘The Spider’ Silva retorts Fedor with the 61-second eradication of Irvin, solidifying his ranking as pound-for-pound leader.

Who comes out on top?

It’s hard to say who won the first round between these two promotions. Both companies came out ahead after ‘Super Saturday’; Affliction successfully executed their first PPV and setup several intriguing main event options for their next excursion, Anderson Silva grew into the star his talents merit. Hopefully, this will be a long, hard fought contest with both organizations swinging at each other. Competition breeds better product, which is best for the fans.

If you enjoyed this article, click on some of the links above.

Print Article

Email Article

View All Articles

How to subscribe to feeds