Over the weekend, The Fight Network announced that it has landed exclusive rights to air the one hour under card portion of the July 19 Affliction: “Banned” pay-per-view (PPV) event on its network. The Fight Network’s president and CEO, George Burger, made the announcement at a press conference held at the MMA Expo in Toronto, Canada.
Burger was flanked at the press conference by Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio; Fight Network Senior Vice President and founder Mike Garrow; Mark “The Machine” Hominic; as well as heavyweights, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski and “Big” Ben Rothwell, who are set to face each other on the star studded card.
Here’s a snip from Burger on the news:
“This is a stellar card, arguably the best collection of heavyweights under one roof in the history of MMA. The Fight Network is excited to be working side by side with Affliction in taking the launch of this promotion worldwide … Not only are we showing the undercard live and exclusively on our Network, a great lead-in to the Pay-Per-View event, but we are also distributing the Pay-Per-View in Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.”
Mauro Ranallo was the emcee for the press conference and revealed that both he and “Big” John McCarthy will be calling the play-by-play on July 19.
The Afflicition Banned main event showcases the return of Fedor Emelianenko against former UFC heavyweight champion, Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The rest of the card reads like a rolodex of match ups any promotion would be eager to put together in a heartbeat.
The question now remains: Do we pay to watch an absolutely spectacular card Affliction card or do we peep the best pound-for-pound fighter take a step up in weight and headline a card that is taking shape nicely for free?
Set the Tivo … it’s going to be a busy weekend. Discuss amongst yourselves.
89 Comments »
Big John..will be commentating..that’s cool.
looking better and better to me, big john knows his shit
Think they spent every last cent on the fighters and dragged the ring-girls in from the wall mart checkouts!!!!!
Doesn’t look like AA is bothered tho.
PhilQny: That awesome news! Mauro isnt bad either! they should make for a good team!
As hard as the UFC is trying, I do not think that they will be able to rain on Afflictions parade! July 19th belongs to Affliction!
I am happy that they will sell this event on pay per view in Canada, Australia and the UK because that should help pull in revenues!
Prior to what my hating colluegue Kevin may say…Affliction will Survive!!!!!!!!!
I’m getting a real bad Affliction itch by the da day my dude..this weekend..I’m getting my cable set up in my new pad..it’s a wrap. Affliction banned will be purchased and DVr’d. John:..I’m exctited more and more to see this event..They got some serious HH’s and Belfort/Babalu arew fighting..it will be a good for mma.
I feel the same way about the UFC still the best out there and Sliva vs Irvin is going to be sick! I actually think Irvin might pull this out. Great foot and hand speed and seems to be one of the stronger 205’s out there. That being said Fedor vs Tim is a solid fight and it’s my chance to Fedor live for the first time and not on delay. Now if Wandy vs Thiago gets put on card… then I have issues! Either way I record both of them… can’t wait, best night of MMA ever!!!! Forrest vs who?
lol, I want it to succeed john, just don’t see how it will happen. even if they are lucky enough to pull 50,000 ppv’s, that doesn’t pay the main event fighters! I wanna see AA/Fedor more than anything!!!
Kevin:
I think that with 2 more shows already in the works there is a big chance of seeing Fedor vs. Arlovski, IF Andre can survive Big Ben! Arlovski is obviously the better fighter but he hasnt fought like it in sime time. Rothwell isnt the most well rounded but he is mean and agressive and he will really go after Andre, which is a good thing. Andre has 2 options:
1) Return to his Scary Form and DESTROY Rothwell, which he is more then capable of doing.
2) He can fight like the timid puppy, like he fought Cruz, and Werdum, and get KTFO by Ben.
Hopefully Andre goes with option #1. Yesterday I was watching the UFC 82 DVD and I was watching the Arlovski/Obrien fight. It was an extremely boring fight, but watching reminded me of the kind of Freakish Athletisism and crazy potential that Arlovski has as a heavyweight fighter. His sprawls looked more athletic than GSP’s. For a man his size it was Damn impressive. If he can overcome his mental hurdles, I still believe he could be as dangerous as anyone.
If he can beat Rothwell, and in a nasty fashion, he will be on a short list of possible opponents for Fedor in the next few Affliction shows.
Possible opponents for Fedor in Affliction:
Josh Barnett
Arlovski
Couture (if the legal stuff straightens itself out!)
About time I get some more people for Arlovski Fedor. I know the guy isn’t as monsterous as he used to be but he is still by far my favorite heavyweight. He looks the most in shape, he has amazing athleticism, and he can take the fight anywhere. The one thing I want to point out is that after his Sylvia fights he has been fighting to his opponents level, thus making a few boring fights. I know Big Ben is no slouch so the Arlovski of old is no doubt going to be there.
Fedor- arm bar 1st
Arlovski- TKO 2nd
and hopefully in a card or two we will see these two fight
I agree AA vs Fedor is worth $100 in my mind but AA’S problem is not with himself but his nervous trainers who have elected to embed in his mind safe boxing first at all costs. I guess he does pay their salaries.
Man it’s good to have Arlovski news and pics and discussions back again. Good comment about his trainers, they have been setting these conservative gameplans for him against grapplers, so I’m curious to see the gameplan for July 19th.
I rather see him guns blazing and lose, then see him win and put me to sleep like he did against Werdum. Which was on free TV… Unacceptable! You just can’t do that! No wonder why the UFC was so pissed off at him. Will the AA of old please return on the 19th!!!!!!! Along with Belfort.
I agree with you thecloser
Its so good to see AA back in the mix with top contenders and with the prospect of a fight with Fedor.
I am a big AA fan and want more than anything else for him to unleash his old form again!
It still bugs me that he didn’t finish Timmy in the second fight, he changed after that fight.
the old arlovski is enevitable if he wants to survive this one. as far as fedor goes i think ufc is still trying to sign him so dana better be on his toes and open his wallet.
Does anyone know if the fight network is caried by Comcast??
i doubt it. i have comcast and i can’t even get pay-per-veiws in hd. I haven’t seen fight network or hdnet.
Anyone know what channel in the Uk is this on????
I knew there was a reason Big John McCarthy was calling for people to buy the Affliction card and TiVo the UFN. Big John is on the Affliction payroll and he was wearing an Affliction shirt on InsideMMA. I was going to get that card till Tom Atencio said there were in the entertainment business first, “hint the mini concert”
don’t get it your loss,to me anyone thats not excited about this card does not know mma
Why buy the card if you can see it on the net later? Ofcourse the card is sick, But it has too much bullshit. What has Fedor and Tim done lately to be fighting for a belt? What does a mini concert have to do with MMA? Shouldnt the entertainment come from the fighters?
I’m with you, I’m watching UFN live, the next morning I’ll watch Affliction on my computer and make sure not to go on any mma sites before hand to avoid any spoilers. But I do think Fedor and Tim deserve to be fighting for the belt.
as long as you watch it thats good.forget the entertainment the card still stands on its own ignore the rest.
Thats exactly what I’m talking about Haze. But one question though why should Tim/Fedor fight for the belt? Fedor fought Hong Man Choi and Tim lost to Nog. Dont you think it would have been better for the HW winners to meet in another card? And the last two standing get that shot at the belt?
I’m actually starting to agree with you, I was trying to think of a good argument on why it should be a title fight and I can’t come up with anything inteligent. You’re right, have the winners meet on another card (if Affliction isn’t bankrupt yet) and then the last two standing fight for the belt.
You people who don’t order it and talk about watching it on the net, it doesn’t magically appear on the internet. Someone who paid and posted put it there. Real mma fans need to support this to have competition and better cards everywhere. I hope no one posts the fights for you people. I certainly won’t.
Real MMA fans, thats funny. So your going to pay for it to be a real MMA fan? I dont care if you dont post it, there will be thousands more who will!!!
i think what he means is
that u guys dont buy ppv and prob dont buy ufc events either.
and then u come on here and tell everyone to bootleg it.
what theCloser is saying is we buy the ppv’s and support mma.
u just watch it free on the net.
if everyone just watched it free-like ur telling them to-
then mma would not survive .
I buy all UFC PPVs and watch other PPVs on the net. If you are more of a fan then me because you like to spend money, then good for you.
Well maybe I am more of a fan than you because I DON’T like to spend money. But I will do it to support this and hope it survives, not rely of the magic internet fairy to post the fights for free.
I don’t have an extra 45 bucks to throw at this start up to hope it survives. If you seem to care so much why don’t you just buy it two or three times to make up for me. I don’t need to buy every mma event to prove that I’m what you people call “a real fan”.
Maybe I’m just a UFC loyalist. And I was realy excited at first for this card. But the more I heard the way it was going to be, I lost interest. The only reason I want to see it realy is that, Maybe Tim will KO Fedor.
I feel the same way as you JV, and when you fill a card with HWs and guys past their prime it can easily turn out to be a snooze fest.
Don’t take such exeption to the ‘real mma fan’ comment. It’s just a way of saying not to depend on others to pay and post it for you to watch free. That is what is aggravating for someone who wants this to succeed and will pay the money. But I respect jv’s comment that he is a ufc loyalist.
what happened to it being shown on fox sports net?
the undercard is still being showed on foxsports last i heard.
july 19th belongs to the ufc im sorry but i know a grip load of people and dont know about afflictions fight card and all the bars in wisc and minnesota,mich,ill. will have ufc on i have my connects
Do you live in Wisco?
Haze how will you watch you it on your computer? can you give me the website or link to do that? thx
So you all really think that hardcore MMA fans are going to pay for two ppv events in July?
Don’t forget the Jackson-Griffin fight is on July 5th for $45. That fight card alone tops this Affliction card.
The likelihood of hardcore/casual mma fans buying the Affliction card too is highly unlikely on that premise alone? The UFN card on the same night looks good as well, but everyone is missing the fact that the other UFC ppv event in July trumps this Affliction event tenfold.
no it doesnt.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Rampage & Forrest, but no way their fight trumps that many good scraps slated for the Affliction card.
And yes, hardcore MMA fans will figure out a way to watch 2 PPVs in one month. I got $5 on it!
If the Griffin/Jackson ppv is better on paper to you, then you REALLY need to broaden your knowledge of mma fighters.
i wouldn’t pay for UFC Jackson-Grriffin, too many b level fighters on the card i’d rather go to bar and watch it. i’d rather order Affliction Banned.
So you all really think that hardcore/casual MMA fans are going to pay for two ppv events in July?
Don’t forget the Jackson-Griffin fight is on July 5th for $45. That fight card alone tops this Affliction card.
The likelihood of hardcore/casual mma fans buying the Affliction card too is highly unlikely on that premise alone? The UFN card on the same night looks good as well, but everyone is missing the fact that the other UFC ppv event in July trumps this Affliction event tenfold.
you think so, rampage vs forrest is a mismatch but even if you count that one theres about 2-3 good fights tops on that card.
vernon tiger white vs lil nog fight has been scratched because veron failed his drug after his last fight
They should call up Strikeforce and ask if they can lend Bobby Southworth to fight Lil Nog.
Really? That sux!
Vernon is a joke he’s 37 years old with a record of 26-32-2, this is a good thing because they might replace him with a better fighter which would get a better fight to see.
solution: check your local bar to see if they’re showing both & sneak in drinks. 1 eye can watch spider, the other can watch fedor.
by the way, the Affliction models in the picture above look hurt. lol
lol.
One is AA’s ex. She used to be stunning until she started messing with Sylvia.
Wait what? wich one is his ex and are you saying she is now with Big Tim?!
lol
No I was joking by saying one of them was his ex, jeez his ex is 500 times better than them.
The true part was his was /is messing, don’t know how far, with Tim.
I caught the story on mmarated i think
lol
No I was joking by saying one of them was his ex, jeez his ex is 500 times better than them.
The true part was his EX was /is messing, don’t know how far, with Tim.
I caught the story on mmarated i think
sucks if its true, to lose to the guy twice and then ur girl go with him. poor pitbull
it is, I’ve posted the link to the story but it’s in moderation.
Apparantly Sylvia doesn’t care who’s feet he treads on, I suppose he can’t be too picky lol
yea. he’s no huerta. lol. just for that, i want fedor to snap his arm off (and he will), then point to AA and shout in russian “THAT WAS FOR YOUUUU!!!!”. And I want AA to win as usual.
LMAO true that!
Look out for the post
Mania WTF!!
Why aren’t my links being posted??
This, I want to read! Mani, get his post out of blogers purgatory and post that!
LMAO @ purgatory… maybe it went straight to hell! Automation, maybe you can put the link in your URL box under your name @ email so your name will turn blue.
Good idea, try that. Have a look.
Its good to see an extract from Hughes book in there too lol.
yea. she’s definitely a pro. did you hear the interview?! BEN ROTHWELL might be next!! LOLHAHAH;lkaj;! i like the 2nd picture. WAR ARLOFSKI!!
LOL even Hughes book is in there. everybody knows he can do know wrong
HAHA!
I was thinkig the same thing… but if I saw them in real life I might not feel that?
Great move to get John Mcarthy to call this. Affliction seems to be making a lot of the right moves to be sure.
YOU LITTLE FU*KING BEAUUUUUTY!!!!! I am so excited about this event and are so glad its in Australia.
at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Anaheim, California.
California.
yo thats a pretty sick idea to air the undercard fights. it be better if i got the damn channel tho lol
Mauro FTW!! I think Arlovski has a much better reason to be fighting for the heavyweight belt… hes won his last 3 fights, sylvia has lost 2 of his last 3… does that make any sense?
Quick question, does anyone know how much the Affliction PPV is going to cost?
only 39.99, i think, what a deal.
i truly hope they succeed as affliction is probably our best bet for seeing the top HWS duke it out in the near future
id probably think their best hope is to goto mark cuban and also go to HBO and ask both of them if theyd be interested in having affliction as their mma brand
they need a channel to get behind them in the way that spike has for ufc
from a business perspective you cant blame dana and ufc for putting a free card on on the same night as its in their interest for affliction to lose millio9ns and go bankrupt…
i have direct tv and no HDTV how do i see the affliction card!!!!!!
FIGHT net is not avail on direct tv either right???
help!!!!
#1. I hope those aren’t the Affliction ring girls in that picture.
#2. I’m broke as a joke right now so I’m probably gonna end up watching the UFC that night and watch the Affliction fights on the net.
Ill be buying both the UFC and Affliction card and recording the UFN while i watch the Affliction. If i was stripped for cash i wouldnt watch the Jackson vs Griffon because that card blows giant monkey balls compared to Fedor vs Tim card. In fact Fedor+Tim+AA+Barnett could beat the shit out of everyone on the Jackson Griffon card all at the same time dead serious too.
if any non-ufc card deserves your bucks, its affliction. i mean the undercard is rediculous too. i almost wish they would haves saved some of these matches for their second card.
Better heavyweight devision than the UFC right now if you ask me. i can’t believe they landed both fedor and aleksander.. plus barnett and arlovski and big tim.
amazing. they only person it sucks for is big nog. no competition for him.
the only person i don’t like on this card is Hominic, i’ve only seen him fight twice, but both fights he was running from his opponent. And i’m not talking about Machida running, where he kinda jumps in and out, nor am i talking about Starnes where he back peddled. if you can find his fight against jorge gurrel ( idk how the hell you spell his name ) he fully had his back turned running away from him, it was pretty embarassing. hopefully he’s changed tho.
tim is supposed to leave after the fedor fight and go back to the ufc anyway that was his “deal” with dana white and arlovski is just boring who cares, aleksander runs his retarded mouth to much and fedor fights cans the only one i like is barnett and i really never seen him fight except on you tube but he seems like a cool dude in interviews..
i hope affliction goes under after this mega card of has beens
4 of the top 10 hw’s in the world are has beens
affliction has 2 big fighters ,emilienko and arlovski.ufc are mma and affliction wont come close to what ufc is acheiving.one thing they do have is captain boz-(tim sylvia).dana white and affliction should get together arrange a show to see who is the best,we could have,couture/noguira or even liddel v emilienko in hevyweight ,rampage v ?,anderson silva v ?, gsp v ?,bj penn v ?……..enough said
as far as h.w. the ufc has nog and that about it
LIKE I SAID AFFLICTION HAS 2 HALF DECENT FIGHTERS,WHO DO THEY HAVE IN THE OTHER WEIGHTS.ID PUT LIDDELL AGAINST ANY FIGHTER AFFLICTION, ANY DAY THEY WUNT LAST 2 ROUNDS.
what do you know shinbob
i think tim sylvia will bear-hug fedor to a decision. wouldnt that suck. i doubt it’d happen though, probably because he realizes that he needs to (try) to finish fedor to legitamentally get the win.
quick question: does Affliction fight in the CAGE or RING?
does anyone know what channel in the UK is this event on PPV. Many thanks.
i didnt get to see the fight but im sure that T.S just walked around the ring waiting to counter punch and tried his hardest to make it another boring fight put on by the “big maniac” lol, until fedor knocked his brain lose and made him realize that he was in an mma fight. as long as ive been watching mma, which has been a long time, ive come to know one thing there is NOONE in mma that can handle fedor emilianako!!!!!