Andrei Arlovski could sign with Affliction on May 19 and fight Ben Rothwell at ‘Banned’
By: MMAmania
The Affliction: “Banned” poster in its current form looks incomplete, but perhaps not for long.
May 19 to be be exact, which is just four days from now.
Former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski could ink a deal in this time with the new promotion and take on Ben Rothwell at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on July 19, according to SportsIllustrated.com.
Here’s the snip:
“May 19 is the day when Andrei Arlovski could sign with Affliction, SI.com has learned. That is, assuming the UFC declines to match what is believed to be a deal that pays the former UFC champion in the low-to-mid six figures for the first of three non-exclusive bouts…. Should Arlovski and Affliction complete their deal, the Belarusian is expected to appear at next Tuesday’s press conference at the in Century City, Calif., to announce a fight against former International Fight League heavyweight champion Ben Rothwell.”
This speculation has been swirling for some time; however, now with this report it appears to give it a little more substance, and at the very least, provides us with a timeline of when we can expect an official announcement regarding the future of “The Pitbull.”
If indeed accurate, the addition of a bout between Arlovski and Rothwell will make this one hell of a fight card.
Stay tuned.
May 15th, 2008
94 Comments »
oooooohhh yeahhhhh
I’ve been praising Gary Shaw for a few months now…
A fan of MMA should automatically be a fan of Gary Shaw. (with what he’s been doing as of late)
A fan of the UFC should hate Gary Shaw because he is stealing Dana’s business.
At least that’s how I see it once its all boiled down.
What does Arlovski probably signing and fighting Rothwell at the Affliction card have to do with Gary Shaw?
what does gary shaw have to do with this?
LOLOLOL, WRONG THREAD!!!!
I meant to put it in the thread about the “merger” between EliteXC and DREAM.
My bad
he’s starting to act and sound like dana as of late. still praise him?
“Tyson has tentatively agreed to fight Kimbo under the EliteXC banner.”
i guess eliteXC would make a lot of money with this. new mainstream fans would surely buy this circus of a fight. it really sucks on how shaw markets kimbo by giving him retired boxers and turning MMA into a circus..
but i got to be honest its still a fight that i would watch.
Gary Shaw is a shady, opportunistic douche bag.
Exactly! Gary Shaw is a piece of shit!!!
The contrission Shaw has shown has been unbelievable. I am a fan Violent Mike.
Hop on aboard the back of the bandwagon!
man!! you gotta give tim credit for wanting to take on fedor and prove hes is the best! but i wonder how long they will be able to afford these big purses for fighters continuously! specially if they are lack luster. i dont like fact that a fight agent is using his signed fighters for his organization…just seems a lil shady to me you know…conflict of interest, in the future i see!
This is a bad matchup for Arlovski. It’s good for us fans, but for him to get his confedence back, maybe a lesser threat than Rothwell. Arlovski has been gun shy and I don’t think Rothwell will miss this opportunity to beat a man of AAs caliber.
I would be surprised if Arlovski didn’t take this fight. He should be a bigger threat to Rothwell than Rothwell is to him. Who has Rothwell fought outside of IFL’s mediocre stable of heavyweights? He has yet to be tested by someone of Arlovski’s caliber. That being said Arlovski has looked a far cry short of the fearsome ‘pitbull’ he once was. Seems a little worried about getting knocked out.
Thats what I mean about AA, that he’s not the same guy. Thats why I believe Rothwell has got a big chance at defeating AA. Rothwell is a big guy and has KO power. Thats what AA had problems with when he fought big TIm.
Rothwell is the perfect opponent for Arlovski…It will basically sink or swim for Arlovski becausae Rothwell is a hard hitting, mean, agressive striker who is going to attack Andre the whole fight leaving Andre with 2 choices:
1) Get KTFO by Rothwell
2) Fight back and turn back into the old PitBull
This is the perfect fight because if the Andre of old doesnt show up to fight, Rothwell will destroy him
Rothwell destroying AA is exactly why AA shouldnt be thrown into that fight. As a fan, ofcourse I want to see that fight. But if Ben does destroy AA thats it for him, where does he go then?
I am a huge Arlovski fight but lets be honest, its been years since he looked like the champion of old…Rothwell will put him through the fire, make no mistake about that and if Andre can survive the fire it will man that he is back to the old nast pitbull we all fell in love with!
If Rothwell destroys him, we can all stop wasting our time worrying about Arlovski because he will never get back to his old self…This is do or die for Andre.
The Question is….Does he want to be the Pitbull, or the puppy? Us fans have supported him through some really crappy fights….If he gets destroyed by Rothwell, I will stop worrying about him and expect to never see the great fighter of years ago!
Time to find out what he is really made of!
Awesome poster……I want one…Hook me up mania!
I promise u all That Arlovski will fight Rothwell at Affliction. We will not see Arlovski fighting in the UFC. Eventually, Arlovski and Sylvia will return to the UFC, but not anytime soon.
I absolutely LOVE Andre Arlovski, but I am going to keep it real:
It has been a long time since Andre looked like the pitbull that once terrorized the UFC. Can he get back to his scary form? Absolutely! I am so happy that he is fighting Rothwell because Ben is a very agressive, mean, Heavyhitter that will leave Arlovsi 2 options:
1. Fight like the pitbull of old times or
2) Get destroyed by Rothwell
IMO Rothwell is the perfect opponent because if Andre fight like he has fought since being KO’ed by Sylvia, he will get destroyed…. The gunshy Arlovski will get killed by Rothwell. The old scary Andre would destroy Rothwell….which Andre will show up? who the hell knows! What I do know is if andre shows up gunshy, He will get destroyed and if he gets destroyed, I dont think Andre will ever return to the form that scared the crap out of all his opponents.
This is a Do or Die fight for Arlovski
This is one fight that is impossible to predict…I would never bet on this fight. But if you held a gun to my head forcing me to make a prediction….I would have to pick Rothwell by KO.
I know Rothwell will come to fight, because a win over Andre catapalts him into the top 10. On the other hand no one knows what Arlovski will show up!
I know Pedro Rizzo hasn’t fought in a while but if he comes prepared he could knock Barnett out again. That is if Barnett decides to stand with him like he did last time. That would be amazing.
No worries MMAFan1981! I promise you that Josh Barnett will not loose this fight. He has improved so much since his loss to Rizzo, while Rizzo has been inactive and getting older. Josh’s stand up has improved a ton, but Barnett will take Rizzo to the ground and submit him easily.
I will be betting big bucks on Barnett.
This fight is a mismatch: A top 5 heavyweight vs. An old inactive Rizzo….M y suggestion: Bet Big $ on Barnett
cant wait. hope it clears up the arlovski rumors.
if this happens it will be the angriest i have been at Dana since he let Randy walk away. AA and RC are my two favorite fighters.
randy walked away man….randy is two sided to me…he left cuz he said the amount they were willing to pay fedor was unfair yet..he wants to fight fedor…dana tried his hardest to make it happen in the ufc. if randy really wanted the fight he would complied happily to the deal dana and the UFC had offered fedor. i think randy is shoopting himself int he foot constantly…let him live the tito ortiz life…sylvia and noguira were able to swallow their pride to fight for the title at their pay and still sylvia i know is no where near purse fedor is getting. yet he puts that aside and want to prove he is the best. F*** YOU RANDY!!!
No doubt, Randy beat Sylvia and Gonzaga and he’s making the claim that he’s number one? What bull is that? Even though he couldn’t get the fight with Fedor, what he can’t fight any other legitimate contender, is everyone else beneath him and Fedor? Just a total bull headed arguement from Randy, I really lost some respect for him when all of this happened, keep in mind I lost some respect for the UFC in how they handled the situation as well.
dana was just quoted saying how he is trying to get arlovski and how he appreciates him and the ufc and dana are doing the exact opposite of letting randy “walk away”.
its great but i cant fucking watch it! put it on uk television people! id love to see this more than anything
just download it dude, i dont even bother watching the ufc on bravo lol its not live and so many adverts, its norm online within a few hours of the event finishing
can you imagine these two big strong strikers banging it out? it would be a great fight! i give the technical strikers edge to andrei and the raw strikers edge to rothwell. if it came down to it i believe andrei would put him away in the 2nd round with fireworks in the first and fireworks until he stops him in the second ! would be a great fight to watch !
Arlovski should do this, screw what the UFC has done to him. He should have been fighting his was back to the top, he would have kept the division alive. I can’t stand Tim he’s a total slouch and lost to Randy! I know Randy is good but give me a break. Arlovski would pick Randy apart and I don’t care what anyone else thinks its completely true. Does anyone think Randy can beat Rampage? Chuck? so why do they think he can beat Fedor? or even Arlovski. If Sylvia beats Fedor I’ll stand corrected but that isn’t going to happen. I want to see AA fighting with fire and I want him to face Fedor and Tim to prove his dominance as the number 1 heavy weight in the world. No doubt in my mind that AA is the man to do this!
Smokes,
I think AA can beat Tim, if, and only if, AA fights to his (AA’s) game plan. The last time Tim and AA fought AA fought to Tim’s game plan and lost.
Well put
I can’t understand where this overblown opinion of Arlovskis abilities comes from. I like him a lot, but he has no fights on his record that suggest he is elite enough to challenge Fedor/Randy etc, he was beaten twice by Tim ‘total slouch’ Sylvia and was booed from the octagon in his last few fights.
People like his story, are carried away with his image and want him to be better than his record backs up.
Did you happen to watch the two fights he lost. I think you’ll see it different, alot of people even though AA won the third fight. I think he lost it but he didn’t lose it by much and like Jeff said he didn’t fight his own game plan he fought to Tim’s. Second now he was Champion any previous Champion has legitimate reason to believe he can beat another champion that has never faced him. He is more than elite enough to fight Randy and Fedor. Randy moved up to HW for one reason, he thought he could out hustle the much slower heavyweights. Well AA isn’t slow, he’s got amazing strinking skills and is very well versed on the ground. He’s bigger stronger and faster than Randy, and more technical than Tim. Randy would not be able to stand up with Arlovski and would a small advantage on the ground. As for Fedor he’s getting older and I don’t think AA could have beaten him in his prime but AA could take him now. He may of been booed but it wasn’t by me, I’m a respectful fan and you can only fight as hard as your opponent is willing to fight. Randy is not the number one heavyweight and shouldn’t even be calling out Fedor himself. So far he beat a slouch called Sylvia who he couldn’t finish but mind you AA finished him the first fight rocked him hard the second, and went the distance with him the third. Randy against Sylvia again I’m not sure Randy would win, I think it was a one trick parade. As for Gonzaga, he’s not as big as the UFC made him out to be. Have Chuck face some top Heavyweights and see how he does against them, he’ll win some but he’ll lose some because he’s not the best in the world. AA has the potential to be the number one in the world if he fights like he fought the first time he faced Tim, and I’ll bet money thats what hell do to Rothwell. You should ask yourself why you have Randy on such a high ladder.
Also since losing to Sylvia AA has won three fights, which is usually more than enough to get another title shot with a decision win like the one he had against Sylvia. Note that he faced Jake O’ Brien, Fabricio Werdum, and Marcio Cruz (none of these guys are noted for having exciting fights) secondly note that he tko’d Jake and KO’d Cruz, only going to a decision against Werdum.
This is great for AA, I’m so glad he’s being appreciated as he deserves. This should be great leverage for negotiation with the UFC… Great position to be in!!!!!!
If AA inks the deal with Affliction, UFC realllly needs to step up there game. You have Affliction with great salaries then you have Elite XC joining forces with DREAM to co-promote events with cross over fighter and Elite XC is has a primetime show plus there on demand video is only a buck. I know all this is great for the sport of MMA and MMA is in the uprising and every orginazation is hungry and competitive but I would love to see what the billionare Fertitas brothers and Dana White have in for retalliation again these organization…
The UFC needs to retaliate nothing. Once Affliction blows its wad on this one show, they will realize that the UFC is bigger than Tim, Arlovski and even Fedor combined. Remember when K-1 tried to make a big splash in the American market? It flopped and they lost money big time. Remember WFA? They could hardly sell tickets for Rampage vs Ortiz in one of their first two events; they ended up bankrupt by the way…
Probably 80% of the UFC’s fans are fans of the UFC and all this Afflication stuff is flying under their radar. When the pockets funding this thing cut and run when they lose money, all these fighters will come crying back to Zuffa.
This card is going to be sick.
This is a sick ass card.
“if this happens it will be the angriest i have been at Dana since he let Randy walk away.”
It’s good for the sport in the long run. I could see Arlovski signing with Affliction on a hurry-up, one-fight deal. If he KO’s Rothwell, Dana might be willing to put up more money to get him back in the UFC. If not . . . well, at least the competition is good for fighter salaries (and I’ll never complain about too many MMA shows).
true. this co. could fold after one show(hope not) and dana could sign alot of em.
For the betterment of the sport, I hope AA fights here and the card is a HUGE success.
I just hope that Affliction can put up enough money to keep their promotion going. According to Affliction, they believe that they can be operating in the black by the third fight. That is a very tall order. Best of luck to the Affliction promotion.
WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOW WOOOOWWWWYYYYYYY WOW WOW.
Good god would that be the sickess card in MMA history perhaps? Comes close at least.
Hate to see AA leave the UFC but he hasn’t been the same since he lost to Tim. Hope he gets back on track where-ever he fights. He has the tools to be one of the best, it just seems he needs to get his mind right and start fighting like the AA of old.
Hm, Rothwell was under the impression the fight is already a done deal, at least thats what he said a few days ago.
Well, I guess he thought Dana would not be willing to match the rumored 200-300k offer Affliction made Arlovski. I thought DREAM 5 would be the baddest card this year, but Affliction would take that one home if they come thru with all promised fights.
When PRIDE died I seriously thought thats the end of (competitive) MMA, but all those new promotions are like a second coming for MMA. Sure you got the greedy guys like Gary Shaw around, but even such types can’t spoil the fun for me right now.
Dana White is the greedy one. Gary Shaw is one of the major players in making MMA much better. Gary Shaw “loans” his fighters to other promotions and now there’s a deal between them and Dream to cross-promote. Sounds to me like the man just wants to make good, enjoyable fights for the fans. Sure, he wants to make a lot of money, but at least he’s willing to look at the big picture and not just keep all of his fighters locked up in exclusive, below market value deals like Dana does.
It’s esay for Shaw to loan fighters out to other organizations. He has done nothing to find, promote and develop his fighters. His fighters are either UFC cast-offs or no-name fighters, and Kimbo already had a huge following because of his internet videos, not because Shaw did anything. The UFC, on the other hand, spends a ton of money promoting and developing fighters to fight in the UFC, not to risk injury somewhere else or line some other promoter’s pockets.
I don’t have much to add that hasn’t already been said, but yeah it looks like it’s shaping up to be a fantastic fight card.
I’m happy for Andrei too, I think he deserved a lot better treatment than he got after the two losses to Sylvia.
uh-ho Dana and the Ferietta bros are getting jealous.
a phat card! better than anything the ufc has put on in a while. AA should have a top 3 guy to fight…i mean come on he will kill rothwell in the 1st - i guarantee it
Dana White should figure out if he wants to keep a Heavyweight Division in the UFC. 3 of the Top 10 Heavyweights in the world (Arlovski, Sylvia and Couture) are/have left the UFC building. That’s bad for Dana. And, shame on him for not trying to make it work with these guys.
AA and Timmy are in no way shape or form top 3 HWs. How can you possibly even say that. Tim lost to Randy and Big Nog in 2 of his last 3 fights, both of whom are in a different league to him. AA has never really fought anyone from the elite group(except Timmy)whom he lost to. I would also put Josh Barnett, Mirko and a few others above either of these.
did you say mirko? as in crocop?
This should be a great card, but I highly dought that they can afford to stay affloat after this show. It’s crazy to be paying out as much money as they are for a start up org. They are pretty much betting there future on PPV numbers for a card that is headlined by a guy that is relativly unknown in the States, and the casual fan will not appreciate the depth of this card. I personaly will be shocked if Affliction MMA isn’t out of business by the new year (if not sooner).
They’ll be ok money wise. I mean look at the prices that people are paying for their clothing and look at how much of that is out there! My guess is that they’re going to be around for a while and be players in the HW game.
Yes they are making money on the clothing side..but that is a different issue! They need to get massive PPV sales period! If they don’t then this will be the last afflicfion event.
Affliction clothing is a business. Not a source to fund MMA events.
exactly. the vast majority of people that buy UFC ppvs have never even heard of fedor, lindland, rothwell, or even barnett for that matter.
This summer is going to be a good for the fans but there is no reason to put the American and Russian flags opposite each other! I mean come on now! MMA fans love Fedor because of his fighting. Don’t make this a United States vs Russia thing, nobody cares! All we care about is good solid matchups.
I will not order this. It will be on the internet 10 minutes after the show
I just uploaded the Trailer to “Affliction: Banned” if someone hasn’t seen it yet:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5frt2_affliction-banned-trailer_shortfilms
Dunno if you can conclude production value from it or not, but it looks good to me.
wow that gave me chills
that gave you chills? that was the crappiest promo video ever.
I’m a self-admitted UFC nuthugger, so this news kind of sucks. But, as a fan of MMA, I will definitely be watching this PPV.
I just wish all of the best fighters could be in one organization. Ah, what can ya do.
Its a competition, and you will never see the best fighters squaring off underneath one octagon or ring. Just like baseball, you have other promotions trying to get the top people.
Affliction right now is looking great, but yet it seems to be that they are stacking all the talent they have onto one card, so lets see how it plays over a longer period of time.
Right Now Affliction looks incredible, but in 8 months lets see how marketable they are, lets see if the fighters are still there, lets see if they bring up new stars, or acquire other stars like a Tito Ortiz, Bobby Lashley (who will be fighting MMA more than likely who trains at AKA who has HUGE draw) or possibly fighters that need more chances like a Lutter, Starnes ect. that can get recongition.
I like it thus far, but lets see where it goes.
My hope is that Dana/UFC will put on a massive New Years eve show to blow this affliction card out of the water.
BJ vs GSP II
Anderson Silva vs Rampage
Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck II
Big nog vs Mir
Leben vs Bisping
Florian vs Huerto
Hendo vs Franklin
Hughes vs Serra
Its only a dream……but imagine?
BJ vs GSP II (155 and 170 are too stacked for that)
Anderson Silva vs Rampage (dont see that happening)
Wanderlei Silva vs Chuck II (definetly needed)
Big nog vs Mir (yawn)
Leben vs Bisping (yawn II)
Florian vs Huerto (gonna happen sooner)
Hendo vs Franklin (actually never thought about it)
Hughes vs Serra (gonna happen sooner)
Tripleainto vs. Brittney Skye (not gonna happen)
Tripleainto vs. Lanny Barbie (not gonna happen)
Tripleainto vs. Nikki Benz (not gonna happen)
Tripleainto vs. Eva Angelica (not gonna happen)
It’s only a dream…but imagine?
I’m guessing those matches would consist of wrestling them to the ground, mounting them, and submitting them by choke out with your cock in their mouths.
I like that fight card
That’s nothing but a pipe dream. You should know by now that Dana isn’t one to put together a card full of headliners, some cards even seemed to lack one matchup worthy of headlining.
Go check out the Shogun/Liddell thread a lot of smart ideas for stacking the DEC card, you would enjoy it.
oh oh and add bob sapp vs a starved gorilla and id give up ufc altogether!
how can i watch this i have direct tv?
This is the best news I have heard in a long time
I HOPE SI IS TELLING THE TRUTH!
If Dana was willing to pay $65 million to remove PRIDE as a competitor, I’m sure he’ll cough up a lousy $300,000 to keep Arlovski on the UFC roster and toss a monkey wrench into Affliction’s card.
Dana’s busy counting pennies when he should be counting dollars…
I can’t wait until fedor breaks Timmy’s good arm!
ANDREI, go with the money! go with Affliction!@!!
Dana match Affliction’s offer, bring him back to the UFC
Gotta like the direction Affliction is headed. They just really needed to get Fedor a quality fight for a good headliner, from there this ogranization can eventually prosper. I’ll be sure to watch it on PPV.
is alexander emelianenko still on this card
I have a feeling a some of these fights haven’t exactly seen ink to paper yet, haven’t heard about emelianenko since the last blog, sounds like it was just in the works at that point.
Unless you’re really into MMA the Affliction card has no marketing appeal. No one on this card is a big draw with the non-hardcore fans.
To hell with the non-hardcore fans.
Hopefully their market will increase following this and future PPV’s.
The UFC took years to develop into a profitable business and have now opened doors for more organisations as long as they keep the quality consistent.
As much as I look forward to all UFC shows there are quite a lot that are completely LAME from beginning to end.
UFC 84 seems to be the first one in ages that has some consistent quality for most of the event.
MORE COMPETITION IN THE LONG RUN MEANS BETTER STACKED EVENTS.
This is a must for all serious fans. Support AFFLICTION on a job well done.
Man some of you fanboys who just hate anything that isn’t UFC no matter how good the card is make me laugh. Just enjoy the good cards and quit worrying about what promotion its under.
This card is 10 times sicker than anything the UFC is going to have out so I know where my July PPV dollars are going.
Fedor by armbar
Barnett by kimura
Babalu by guillotine choke
Lindland by UD
Arlovski by TKO