If you didn’t think Elite XC’s third installment of “Saturday Night Fights” on CBS at the Bank Atlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla., had enough to look forward to, then you might change your tune after you read this.
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion and WAMMA number one contender Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski (13-5) has agreed to a bout on the October 4 CBS event to face former IFL champion Roy “Big Country” Nelson (13-2) in a co-promoted fight between Affliction and Elite XC.
This fight will not over take the match up between Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock as the night’s main event, but it will certainly garner more buzz and attention among the hardcores in the MMA world.
Here’s a snip from Jeremy Lappen, head of the Live Fight Division of Elite XC:
“This is yet another testament to EliteXC’s willingness to work with other MMA promotions to bring the best possible fights to the broadest possible audience. Special thanks to the hard working team at Affliction and of course our partners at CBS and Showtime.”
Arlovski defeated Ben Rothwell – the man who defeated Nelson for the IFL belt – at the inaugural Affliction event in July. Lackluster performances against Tim Sylvia and Fabricio Werdum led some fans to believe Arlovski had lost some of the intensity and killer instinct that had earned him the nickname “Pitbull” while knocking guys out in the UFC.
But those thoughts were put to rest with the brutal third round knockout of Rothwell. Besides the two losses to Tim Sylvia in 2006, Arlovski has not lost a fight in over five and a half years.
“Big Country” has also had a successful career in mixed martial arts thus far. He compiled a record of (6-1) during his time with the IFL, and is primed for a high profile fight like this one.
Despite his size and raw punching power, Nelson also brings a strong grappling and submission game to the cage. He’s finished four fights by tapout and six by technical knockout. In short, he’s a deceptively well rounded fighter.
This is a great addition to an already deep fight card, and could do wonders for the event’s marketability and television numbers.
For more on the Elite XC: “Heat” fight card click here.
92 Comments »
Nice, a fight I will actually be interested in watching.
Well as a huge critic of elite, I got to admit, this is HUGE for them. AA gets nothing with a win (he’s already the #1 contender) and gets knocked down a few notches with a loss! I think this is great fir elite, and should be the main event. Too bad AA wasn’t fighting Kimbo, then we could finally be rid of the kimbo hype train. I personally haven’t found a reason not to bet ken on this fight. The odds are great, and his chance at a submission are great!!
Does this throw them into any kind of title contention against Big Foot? Or they just being rented from Affliction. It would be crazy to showcase fighters from a different org that won’t have any effect on your stable of HWs. Makes the card way more interesting though.
just adds to the card for us (those of us not on board with the over hype of kimbo!!)
bigfoot will be getting suspended anyways. If kimbo wins, he and grim will fight for the title, lets hope kenny snaps his leg!!
after he wins, aa will get a title shot…with Fedor!!!
Their just being rented! EliteXC has talked a big game about putting any of their fighters up! If they wanted Affliction/EliteXC they could have done AA/Rogers. This is just a way for them to get more viewers. My question is: Does AA make the same amount of money as he did for Affliction 1??????
I don’t think it’s as much as Affliction because Elite XC can’t afford to spend more. But in case the payout equals Affliction’s, then I believe XC is thinkin’ AA is a huge investment for them…So, what if AA injures himself, what happens to his fight with BArnett?
They just made a definate viewer out of me. I like the idea of betting on Ken. I know the odds are favoring Kimbo, but what is the spread between the two of them. I know Shammy has to be at least +250. Shoot, that’s a good return even on a $50 bet. And, not much of a loss if he losses. So… anyone know the spread?
I dont think AA/Barnett was going to happen anymore anyway? Remember Atencio said he was going to change Affliction 2 around abit. I was gona watch anyway, this fight makes it that much better!
I think the biggest news is this co-promotion between Affliction and Elite XC.
These 2 companies are taking steps forward to stay afloat and ensure they have a deep enough talent pool of fighters for future bouts!
My only hope is they don’t screw this up and cut eachother off… I know fighters get hurt and it f**ks plans up, but both companies can’t wade in the kiddy pool anymore, sacrifices have to be made.
Kudos to Affliction for sending over Arlovski.
Wow, I have to admit I did not ever see this coming. Arlovki vs. Nelson on Elite XC sounds almost ridiculous. I hope that when Arlovski kills Nelson, all the fans start demanding a fight bewteen Arlovski and Kimbo. haha. I could almost hear the sound of shit crashing in Kimbo’s trunks.
between +250-+275, seen it as high as 275 the other day!
nelson is better than rogers or kimbo
Fact!
There are PLENTY of reasons to NOT bet on Ken. His record for one. He has nothing but a long list of KO’S in the last 8 years. The 2 fights he did win were against Kimo (who hasn’t beaten anyone since) and Adkins 7-20 (major CAN). He’s only getting older and he gets worse with every fight. His reflexes are SHOT, he doesn’t even see the punches coming. Not good against someone that hits as hard as Kimbo. I’d like nothing more than to see Ken win, but it’s VERY unlikely.
Kimbo couldn’t KO thompson (easily a top 10 glass chin) with all the “bombs” he was throwing. I seriously doubt he has the power to flatline shammy. Some people just have it and others don’t. Kimbo is not one of them (Tank doesn’t count).
nor do people from his youtube shit.
OMFG! Leaving the UFC has been the best thing for AA’s fans, we get to see him on a regular basis. Should be a good one.
fo real, friggin UFC had him sidelined forever, and then puts him on the undercard/non televised part of the night against jake o brien, what were they thinking? they should have given him the deal he wanted and kept him in the UFC to fight Kongo, Gonzaga, etc. those woulda been good match ups!
Does anybody realize that this fight is in less than ten days? WTF is that? That is seriously short notice to take a fight, my hats off to Arlovski. Although he might have still been in his training camp for the Barnett fight but w/e this only increases my respect for AA. I hope he KO’s “Big Country” in the first so I don’t have to watch that lard squirm for three rounds trying to escape the Pit Bull.
wow i like that addition…arlovski should demolish him tho
Dah-vid – Not so fast. Roy looks like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, but he fights like a mutha. I think Arlovski will do better with knees, but Roy’s very good on the ground. Won’t be surprised to see this one go to a decision.
I agree Nelson is a damn good fighter, but no way this will go to a decision. Arlovski will be too much for Nelson. First round KO for sure.
i dont see arlovski having much trouble with big country nelson. 1st or second round KO either way. much better then kimbo and ken, make it the main event!
true. but as a hardcore MMA fan, I’d still be watchin’ the Kimbo spectacle…!
yeah arlovski has ran through so many of these slow, fat, power punhers, ben rothwell, cabbage correira, paul buentello… i guess i wouldnt say buentello is fat or slow, but you get my drift… these guy that try and stand with arlovski all get owned, unless your name is tim sylvia
I remember watching cabbage in the IFL. Man he’s one fat, slow mutha, just like you said!
Another Can for AA…He will smash this guy in the 1st round…The way that he handled Rothwell, Nelson doesnt stand a chance!…Go shed some pounds big boy this isnt Brad Imes!…
Bill Espreston Esquire
And I’m Ted Theodore Logan!
WOW. talk about a godsend. huge addition to a decent card that probably wouldn’t have pulled in the necessary audience to help save this seemingly waning promotion. gonna be SICK.
I wonder if AA is gona make the money he made for Affliction? I think Nelson will be completely outclassed! So does this mean Barnett/Fedor at the Affliction 2?????
i read that elite and affliction were gonna co-promote this fight, so maybee they will split the bill. ive also read that barnett/arlovski is still on for afflictions next event, whenever that is. that could change if a.a. loses though (highly unlikely imo). im glad this is happening, but the whole thing comes across as very odd to me. oh well, im just gonna sit back and watch arlovski destroy roy “fat fuck” nelson.
“fat f*ck” LMFAO!!!! If AA/Barnett will still fight, then whos next for Fedor?
there’s a preety good chance he will be fighting a freakshow on nye in japan. after that who knows. tito maybee, thats just a rumor though. who knows when affliction 2 will happen or who will fight. ive also read that atencios plan for the next show with the gbp merger is a 1 boxing match as the main event and the rest all mma fights so it would please both sets of fans. mma fans could watch until the boxing match started and boxing fans are used to buying ppvs with only one good main event. nothing is set in stone though. who knows what might happen next in “as the mma world turns”.
affliction, elite xc, and DREAM should make an alliance and make all these big cross promotion fights happen… screw the UFC and their exclusive contracts, imagine how many good fights we could see if it werent for these nonsense contracts
brendan, EliteXC, Affliction and Dream do have an alliance lol. Elite shares with Dream, Affliction shares with Elite. I think if DREAM and Affliction did a card together my head would cave in. (can you imagine Affliction’s HWs and LHW with Dream’s LW’s and MW’s, not to mention Kid is almost healed up?)
it all sounds fine and dandy until its time to split up the money, the cut if you will. then we’ll see how great they all get along. affliction, dream,elitexc and wvr could all combine and still not put a dent in the ufc. all these companies are losing millions and combining them wont necessecarily mean they will turn the corner. it just means that they will probably hang around a little longer and lose even more money. dont mean to sound so negative, just being realistic.
How bout Jacare vs Lindland, Kharitonov vs Barnett, Overeem vs Aleksander, WOOOO my head IS caving in Bill!
B.W: Please dont ever post about the possability of a Fedor vs. Tito fight! Just dont do it! IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN! Tito isn’t one of those fighters that isn’t afraid to fight anyone….He is a COWARD who refused to fight Chuck for years and now you can’t honestly believe that he would get into a ring/cage with Fedor the GOD! NEVER going to happen!
As much of a greedy pig Tito is, all the money in the world couldnt get his bitch ass in a fight with Fedor.
If you guys ever believed a word I said, believe me when I tell you that Tito will NEVER fight Fedor…. Those are the realist words I ever typed!
Take that to the bank!
This is what I want to see for Affliction 2:
Fedor vs. Barnett
Arlovski vs. Sergie Kharitonov
Tim sylvia vs. Jerome LeBanner
Babalu vs. Tito
Nogueira vs. Vladamir
Vitor vs. Lindland
I would pay $100 to see that card!
b.w. you are right. There aren’t enough fans to fund more than one organization at this time. The hardcore fans will watch any and all MMA, the casual fans (the majority) will watch the UFC only. It’s almost like pro wrestling but even the no-name wrestling organizations can make money, the no-name MMA organizations can’t yet.
JOHN. ok, i wont bring it up again, but dont be surprised if it happens. he.he. your line-up looks great, but your forgetting about one thing……..goldenboy and boxing/mma. i still like boxing to a certain extent, so as long as they have a super-fight i,ll be fine. i dont know if everyone else will though. i dont think i would pay $100 for that event though. lol! for the record though im gonna stop being so negative about elite/affliction and just say “fck logic” and roll with it. whatever great matches they do produce i’ll be there and not worry we
i left off…worry about wether they will succede or not.
This addition is a nice one, however EliteXC will still tank. Unfortunately, this will most likely be EliteXC’s last card on CBS.
i agree. this fight will make it much more enjoyable to watch ,i was gonna watch it anyway, but its not gonna save them per se.
Actually, they have one more CBS card on their contract.
what good does that do them if proelite folds?
pro-elite is about to be bought out by Showtime, so they are not going anywhere. Also, if the next 2 shows are successes, their contract gets renewed.
Arlovski for free equals good tv ratings.
you think so? i dont believe this fight will have much effect on the ratings at all. AA is huge amongst mma fans but just drawing in the hardcore fans is not enough. Kimbo on the other hand is known by almost every young man on in the US. Ken shamrock has more of a fan following then AA, ken was a pioneer appeared on the highest rated season of tuf and was a pro wrestler. This addition does get me more excited for this card but i would consider myself a pretty hardcore mma fan. I love that i will get to see this fight for free on cbs but if elite xc cared about true mma fights this would be the main event over the side show.
In my opinion, this just shows how bad off EliteXC is. Their big stud fighting a UFC hall of famer cant get the ratings or create a buzz, so they found a legitimate superstar and rented him out to boost their ratings. It’ll work a little, but not enough.
Arlovski and Barnett are still fighting at the next Affliction event. That’s not looking to be til February, so he’s got plenty of time get ready for that. My guess, Arlovski was getting ready for Barnett in October, they pushed that back, so he’s just ready to fight anyone, anywhere.
Just a tune up for Barnett.
atencio said they might change the card around… hopefully giving us AA and fedor as previously announced now that fedor will be healed in time.
barnett has stated that he will fight in november on the next sengoku event for wvr against tba.
I bet you Tba will whoop his ass
rumor has it that barnett turned down this fight with arlovski for elite. something to do with money.
Or, it could be a strategic move to have a new partnership with Affliction while not giving the UFC enough time to create a TUF card out of no where. EliteXC is doing big things now.
Great card! Can’t wait!
ELITE XC: OCTOBER 4, 2008 ON CBS
venue: BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida
Main Card on CBS:
-Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Ken Shamrock
-Jake Shields (#5 Welterweight in the World)* vs. Paul Daley
-Andrei Arlovski (#4 Heavyweight in the World)* vs Roy Nelson
-Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald
-Benji Radach vs. Murilo “Ninja” Rua
-Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. Yoko Takahashi (swing bout; will air if time permits)
i totally forgot benji radach is on this card, sweet!
Ninja Rua FTW!!!
THat is a solid card!
Its Pathetic that Kimbo is the main event over these other top MMA fights, but whatever!
Jake Shields should just be fighting in the UFC with his talent and everything. He could definitely complicate the mix of WWs in the UFC.
He wouldn’t beat anyone in the top 5 so he wouldn’t complicate things too much. He would put up a good fight against everyone else though.
I see this fight going very similarly to the Ben Rothwell fight. Roy will eventually be overwhelmed by Arlovski’s superior hand speed and technique. Most of his takedowns will be stuffed…but he may manage one or two through out the entirety of the bout. Arlovski by TKO between the third and fourth minute of the second round.
explain this: elites first show payroll was $479,001. with kimbo making 175,00. How in the hell are they going to pay andrei arlovski his 500,00 plus 250,00 (win) payment? that is 750,000 for one fighter. thats like 4 times the amount the original payroll for ALL of their figthers on the first show. And in case you a wandering, yes elite did agree to pay the affliction fighters their salary that they receive just like the would if they were fighting under the affliction banner.
I guess the million they borrowed from showtime just went to pay arlovski and nelson.
the name gina carano means im watching, not a fan of arlovski but i dont mind seeing a highlight reel ass whoopin like he will put on a fatass,
Funny… I was in the presence of Pat Miletich and Tim Sylvia yesterday and overheard Tim tell Pat that he was offered a fight on the CBS show and turned it down. I didn’t hear who he was offered and didn’t want to pry, but it totally makes sense that he was offered another fight with Arlovski or Nelson.
nobody is going to watch unless its advertised and cbs hasn’t done shit with that.
This is going to be huge for Elite XC. I am happy Arlovski is fighting on this card, he my favorite HW. AA will brat Nelson in the first round by TKO.
it will be a travesty to miss the christine cyborg fight,cuz ths 30 sec fight makes primetime
I cant wait to see Kimbo slices fight, he didn’t win the last fight if you ask me.
Cant wait to see it kimbo vs anybody is always intresting its do or die
omg elitexc finally get a real fighter
Besides Bigfoot, Reis, Shields, Daley, Lombard, Alvarez, Feijaio, Daiz, Herman, Lawler………………..
and it should be “omg elitexc finally got a real fighter”
lol PWND! nice one bill
omg elitexc finally get a real fighter
if elite xc were serious they would turn themselves into the andre arlovski show and have him fight multiple times in the same night
this dude could take shamrock, kimbo, and nelson one after the other
im amazed they can afford him cos the pitbull wont come cheap
not sure if it would take 500k to show 250 k win bonus
but id expect it to be atleast 150 to show 75 to win
he shouldnt be in desperate need for cash with all that affliction cash in his pocket
could be a decent enough warm up fight for him before fedor
but this fight has huge risk
a loss for AA would seriously hurt his future affliction pay
he goes from being #1 contender to down at the bottom of their division
It wont hurt his future pay. He’s under a contract. Affliction has to pay them what they agreed to in the contract.
The question I have is if this Elite XC fight will count as one of the fights under the Affliction contract. He only signed a 3 fight deal. If this one counts, that’s 2. That would mean they would need to make the 3rd Fedor, cause that’s the matchup they (and everyone else) wants to see next (and I say that cause Couture vs Fedor aint happening soon, if ever).
“This is a great addition to an already deep fight card, and could do wonders for the event’s marketability and television numbers.”
DEEP??? I guess James has low standards.
Arlovski must be the baddest HW striker in the world.. he’s just amazing and i hope to see another KO against Roy “six pack” Nelson..
I think in all honesty, this card is significantly more compelling than the last 3-4 UFC events. Everything since UFC 84 (which was amazing) hasn’t been that great of cards.
Andrei “fatboy killer” Arlovski should like real good in this fight coming off a confident win. I am now excited for this card, or rather this fight and the sheilds/semtex fight
What makes this fight more enjoyable to watch in EliteXC as opposed to Affliction is that it will be fought in a cage instead of a ring! Advantage Arlovski.
I just wanted to point out a couple things here for people that havent caught on or even mentioned it yet. And if anyone tries to claim I’n not an MMA fan because I dont agree with them then they’re idiots..
AA vs. Nelson isnt a co-promotion. This is a plausable fix to a screwed up situation.. I dont know how many people read any of the AA interviews, but he was “NOT” happy about the postponement of the Affliction card. And rightly so. EXC is being “lent” this fight by Afflicition for the sole purpose of keeping AA content. Why the fight with Nelson you may ask ?? Well to them it’s a very low risk fight for AA. IFL champ means nothing.. Lets be honest here.. Not saying the fighters are garbage, but more or less calling a spade a spade. Nelson will end up like Rothwell.. Why you say ?? Because AA does not fear them in the least bit. This allows him to open up his game and be more offensive. AA is one of my favorite fighters, but in all honesty, When he is pushed or has doubt, he closes down on his offensive pressure. We saw it in the Werdum fight, Sylvia fights, & even in the Cruz fight to a degree..
EXC is in a desperate situation.. I dont like them for reasons outside of just “MMA”. Free MMA isnt always good MMA guys.. Get over it. EXC is not about the best fighting the best. It’s about making gimic fights and selling them off as contenderships. Gina should be fighting Cyborg. Kimbo should be fighting Rogers or even AA since they can get him now.. Shields vs. Daley is the only “legit” macthup on the card.. Shamrock should be stripped of his license and saved from himself.
EXC makes 325K per event on CBS. That’s not enough to sustain a profitable business model for longevity.. And you frown when the UFC scoff’s at those notions.. AA is not going to do anything more for this card outside the hardcores than it was already deteremined to do. Do some of you know that this timeslot is going up against the Miami vs. FSU NCAA game at the same time ?? You do know that that game is “near sold out” and ticket sales for “HEAT” are miserable ?? So thats 70+ thousand people attending a HUGE game than going to see Kimbo in his backyard.. Also ESPN covering the game means way better numbers than CBS for a blockbuster college rivalry..
The casual’s do not care about AA in the least bit. They only cared about him in the UFC and like they say.. out of sight.. out of mind.. He was on the last Affliction card was he not ? How did that turn out again ?? He is not a huge draw. Shamrock is the true draw on the card. Hardcores dont care about Shamrock or Kimbo & Casuals dont care about AA & Shields.. So again how is this going to be great ?? Sure you might get a a million people watching it.. I might even go as far as to say 2 million.. But thats low numbers in TV. UFC Unleashed’s pull those type of numbers. Not to mention that the UFC already had the counter programming scheduled against this show with UFC PPV’s rebroadcasts. I believe it’s Penn vs. Sherk..
The only point I contend with is the Miami vs FSU game. Yeah, it’s Miami vs FSU. But, honestly, how relevant are Miami and FSU in todays game. They aren’t. They blow. People are going to watch the game for the rivalry, but when AA steps in the ring, people will watch. When Kimbo steps in the ring, people will watch. I think the numbers will be good solely because half the MMA fans want to see Kimbo win over Shamrock so they can say “He’s legit” and the other half want to watch to see Kimbo lose so they can say “See, he’s not legit”. Regardless, people are watching.
Exactly! When was the last time FSU or Miami were relevant…LOL!
Actually If you’re into football you’d know that Miami is rebuilding and a serious contender for the ACC right now.
That still doesnt mean it will pull numbers from that game towards MMA. CBS has the ability to reach over 50 million TV, You honestly think 2 million viewers is “doing” something on CBS primetime ?? lol
Also look at the ticket sales thus far.. SAD !!! Miami is playing their biggest instate rival in Miami at the Dolphins stadium. It already has sold over 60 thousand tickets to that game.. Again in Kimbo’s backyard (where less than 2 hours away Kimbo himself is performing live) with VERY LOUSY ticket sales.. Again how do you argue this ??
Hardcores hype Kimbo more than the casuals believe it or not.. Of course people tuned in for the 1st one.. But so did they for the XFL… We saw how the second one did and I wouldnt be surprised to see low numbers on this one too.. EXC is a bottom feeder promotion and CBS is a lousy network for Sat. night ratings..
why does this website even talk about joke xc…kimbo i have no talent slice vs 90year old ken shamrock….and they try to sell aa he is such a joke ufc jus let him walk away
joke xc has nick diaz thats it…i wish there was competition for ufc but there isnt
LOL! You sound like someone who doesn’t know much.
I can’t believe that AA would lower his self to fight in the EXC,everybody knows they are a joke.AA is way too good to fight in their crappy organization,oh well.I will watch AA fight ,but I swear i will be shaking my head the entire time going WHY ARE YOU WASTING YOUR TIME ?Atleast there is a chance that a real fighter can get his hands on Kimbo,but let me guess they are not going to allow that to happen for like another 2 years.
I can not agree with you calling AA a joke and no they didn’t just let him walk away.They attempted to resign him ,he just wanted more money ,and Affliction was paying more.AA is probably one of the best strikers in the heavyweight division ,don’t just write him off
I’m very happy this fight was added. The only downside I see is that when the ratings come back big, Kimbo will get all the credit.
Correction. Kimbo AND Gina will get the credit. This week alone, Kimbo was on Jimmy Kimmel and the David Blane special, staring in 3 Nike Commercials and sponsoring a video game. Gina Carano has been on NBC as an American Gladiotor and is now known world wide. Of course they will get most of the credit. Arlovski WILL definitely help though, can’t deny that.
I wasn’t going to watch that Card, but now that one of the best fighters of all time, “The Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski will be on there, I will watch the whole card. It should be the main event, not Kimbo.