The fight card for Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning’ has yet to be finalized and Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio is already making plans for his third event, according to MMAnews.com.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, especially when you’re throwing around names like K-1’s Jerome LeBanner and former PRIDE warrior Sergei Kharitonov.
LeBanner has not competed in mixed martial arts since 2006. And although his MMA experience is limited, his kickboxing resume is not. In fact, he’s been in against the best, including Ernesto Hoost, Semmy Schilt, Mark Hunt and others.
However the real appeal of having LeBanner under the Affliction umbrella, at least for many fans, is a potential bout against current Affliction heavyweight Tim Sylvia, who LeBanner calls in an interview with Fight Hype a “big sausage” and a “conservative motherfucker who just wants to win without giving a good show”.
Despite losing three of his last four fights, “The Maine-iac” is still a draw based on his days as UFC champ and his ability to generate fan interest, both positive and negative. And in Sylvia’s defense, losing to the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture is not exactly shame-worthy.
Sergei Kharitonov on the other hand has been homeless since pounding out Alistair Overeem at K-1 Heroes nearly a year ago. At 15-3, the Russian Regulator has defeated some of the bigger names in MMA, including current UFC title contender Fabricio Werdum.
If Kharitonov and LeBanner want another shot at MMA greatness, signing with Affliction isn’t such a bad choice. Actually, Afflcition 3 (scheduled for early 2009) may be the only non-UFC option, especially the way things are going in the world of MMA promotions.
39 Comments »
I love seeing Big Dumb Tim lose to anybody. Big sausage, so simple yet so so funny.
I would have to say that I’m always interested in seeing Tim lose. I’m one of Tim’s negative fan draws. I never have seen Sergei fight, although I’m impressed with what I hear and wouldn’t mind seeing how he performs.
Let me guess this one will go mmmm…. 1:30 this time.
You guys got to be kidding right? Tim losing to who? (LeBanner) Who??? You guys may not like Big Tim, but theres not alot of HW’s out there that can f*ck with him!
I have respect for Tim, he has a great record and for good reason. But, his style and approach in achieving victories are all but impressive. Here is a couple facts about Timmy:
1. He defended his title without any hopes of finishing fights. He fought to win decisions, very passive and boring.
2. Even when he does fight aggresivley he looks horrible doing it. His form is loppy, and he is very one dimensional. I guess he is just using the best advantage that he has, his height and reach, which seems to work for him most of the time. But keeping out of the pocket and never going for a takedowns or subs makes me yawn thinking about it. This is mma and I don’t see any mix in his martial arts.
3. This one seals the deal for me: when he had the belt, this douche wore it everywhere. I mean, everywhere. No need to explain how rediculous that is. And he wonders why people hate the big headed giant.
…However, he’s beaten opponents that I thought he couldn’t. No matter how poor or weak his performance is, all that matters is getting the win. And, he has proven that, adding dissapointment to all the haters. It’s soley the only reason why I tip my hat off to Tim.
“No matter how poor or weak his performance is, all that matters is getting the win”
This is not true and something that makes me think you meant to say something different. Fighting to win and fighting not to lose are two entirely different things that and which one a fighter chooses to fight like shows his quality and worth as a fighter. I’m not saying go Chris Leben on a guy but push the pace, if your winning by using a jab to keep the guy away from you please go fight in Elite XC or somewhere other than an elite org like UFC, WEC, Dream or Affliction. Tim on his last few fights showed what kind of fighter he is. I’m sure Fedor punches hard but Fedor by no means knocked Tim down, Tim layed down and then rolled around like a little girl, gave Fedor his neck and then tapped as quickly as he could to prevent getting punched anymore. Seriously, I don’t care if he can beat Lebanner, he doesn’t deserve to be on the main card nor does he belong in Affliction.
Timmy just lost the fighting spirit! He is a Bitch anymore!
He fought like a bitch against Randy and Fedor!
I wont be surprised if Lebanner lights him up like a christmass tree. Tim might be BROKEN Mentally! Put a fork in him!
Yea you’re right, that statement potrays a different point than that of what I was trying to make. I agreed with your point on the worth of a fighter when a fighter fights to decision besides fighting to end the fight. I mentioned that in the first fact.
But, to reiterate what I was saying in the last paragraph: even though his fights haven’t been that impressive and his “worth as a fighter” is constantly jeopardized, he still remains a top heavywieght contender because he , in fact, does manange to come up with a win, an unimpressive win at that, but still, a win. It is the only reason he is still in the loop of top mma fighters. Because, you know he’s not here because he is an exciting fighter. It’s only because he manages to win. That’s what I meant when I said, “No matter how poor or weak his performance is, all that matters is getting the win.”
I figured you didn’t mean that the way it came out, makes sense and I can only agree with you on that. He wins and you can’t take that away from him so thats why he’s a top level HW.
LeBanner would eat Sylvia alive, only hope timmy has is to get the take down and lay n pray, theres no cage this time to do what he did to brandon vera
My prediction here is that Sylvia will be swingin’ for the fences and try to come out aggressive, just to shut his critics up. But still, I ain’t a fan of Sylvia, so nothin’ wrong with seein’ him lose!
I win. I like Turtles
Big Timmy would lose if that fight happens
My prediction on Affliction 3:
Fedor vs. Barnett
LeBanner vs. Sylvia
Arlovski vs. Kharitonov
Babalu vs. Nogueira (because tito is scared!)
you know i really thought Kharitonov had died or went on a wild adventure with tanner in that desert.
John, I’m not putting Rothwell on the same level as Barnett, but dont you think AA has a good chance of beating Barnett if he comes out as the same AA that showed up against Rothwell?
depends on his take down defense. Barnett is a really big dude and he has very good wrestling. if he gets the fight to the ground which I think he wil he will ground n pound away or submit Andre
If DRe can keep the fight standing then he has a great chance
are there betting lines for affliction 2 yet?
good call john. affliction 2 is a weak ass card, I won’t be getting sucked into an over hyped ozzy concert
If you call Affliction 2 a weak ass card what do you call your average ufc ppv? ROFL!
Anyways Barnett should tko/sub AA then fight fedor. Hopefully doh for Affliction two they will have timmy fight vs someone id love to see him fight either of the two mentioned above. IF overeem dont get a fight in dream vs crocop they should have him come in and whoop timmy!
The Affliction card is weak and nobody said that all UFC cards were not weak. Assumptions. Anyway AA is going to use Barnetts head as a punching bag, I’ve said my peace.
what about the Medical Test Results of the first show????? come on am I the only one who thinks that its ridiculous that there’s no sign of them and they are talking about the 3rd outing…we know about Dewees getting positive…lets hear about the rest of them already.
i sorta get the feeling that not all fighters were tested. i did read somwhere that fedor and a.a. tested clean, but no mention of any others. ive asked this question several times to diferent people to no response.
Babalu fights at 203 for LHW, he is noticeably leaner. I would tend to think he tested clean for any bulk products or steriods.
i would’nt think babalu would ever test psoitive either. he’s not perfect, but seems like a man of honor.
WAR SERGEI!
sergei would destroy tim!!!!!period!!!
I didnt watch the first Affliction show live, I watched it the next day but I’ll say it was an Ok effort. The best part was seeing Fedor demolish Timmay. Im sorry buy Arlovski as the main event of teh 2nd show is kinda Lame to me. Affliction really needs to get rid of that ring. It just seems like they’re trying to be reminiscent of Pride. Dont get me wrong, Pride was pretty good in its hey day but the people they are going to attract with this is just the “hardcore” MMA fans who enjoy bashing the Evil Empire of the UFC. This isnt a good way to help your promotion grow. You need to try to appeal to a larger fan base. Pride fans alone aren’t going to get you 100,000 PPV buys. They need to get rid of the ring and put out some better production quality if they hope to have a chance of surviving. The 2nd show’s gonna bomb so they have to hope that Fedor will be back for the 3rd show and that they’ll have Tito on that card.(I hate Tito but his starpower and name alone are something they really need to get PPv buys) If not, then Affliction will be done in less than a year. Business men dont make a lot of money by constantly losing money and the Affliction backers will soon see how much money they’re losing on “The Fedor show”
That would be a bad fight for Tim Sylvia. Jerome has great stand up and I think he would put a hurting on Tim. Also take into the consideration the fact that Jerome LeBanner has been fighting huge guys a lot lately. His last 7 fights include 3 against Semmy Schilt and 2 against Hong Man Choi. He is definitely going to be prepared to fight a tall dude.
Love him or hate him, Timmay is easily 5 times the fighter hong man is.
Sergei is on the DREAM.6 poster, so chances are, he is in Dream.6
it would be awesome to see these 2 guys in Affliction.I was hoping that they going to sign Karitonv for the 1st show but they didn’t.a fight against LeBanner would be an awesome stand up war.
Jerome LeBanner would KO Tim so bad that he will be brought out on a stretcher… “Despite losing three of his last four fights, “The Maine-iac” is still a draw based on his days as UFC champ and his ability to generate fan interest, both positive and negative” .. lol what is this? the guys that Sylvia fought were the one’s with fanbases, there is no need to try to be nice to Tim Sylvia he is no Tito when it comes to that!
that’s cool lebanner and sergie
LeBanner would have destroyed CroCop had they fought at one of the previous DREAM events. I’ll give LeBanner the nod to win this math-up. I read CroCop was offered Semmy Schilt for DREAM.6, but declined the fight, maybe he didn’t want to be annihilated by the best heavy/superheavyweight kickboxer on the planet.
Sylvia is gonna try to strike against a guy with far more experience and technique than him (when it comes to the stand up part of the game). It’s a very dangerous fight for Timmy. I think LeBanner takes it just because he can easily outstrike Tim Sylvia
Me too. Sylvia = 1 dimensional striker. Lebanner = even better striker.
Sorry tim its gonna be another tough night for ya mate.
I want to see Semmy Schilt KO Tim’s ass.. they should bring him over too!
sylvia cant get his head in the game.
if hes tested with a good shot, he rolls over and waits for a sub and taps.
did nog even really apply anything to tim? i think he was just getting position to really do something when tim tapped.
fedor kicked his ass, but rolling around like a jackass waiting for the opportunity to tap doesnt really further the image of a solid fighter.
he is halfhearted in his trade.
Ill go ahead and take lebanner in this one.
beautiful stand up fight. i think it will be good, but lebanner will be more explosive and quick. Sylvia is more well rounded, lebanner just being a kickboxer. sylvia has far more experience. but Sylvia will stay on the feet and eventually get taken out in a highlight real.