It’s official.
Affliction MMA has confirmed with MMARated.com that former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski will face current WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction ‘Day of Reckoning’ in late January 2009.
The dream match that most fans have fantasized about for years is finally here.
Arlovski (14-5) was last seen devouring IFL veteran Roy “Big Country” Nelson at EliteXC ‘Heat’ on October 4. After losing back-to-back fights in the UFC against Tim Sylvia, Arlovski has gone on to win five straight with four (T)KO’s.
He is a superior striker and one of the most athletic heavyweights in combat sports today.
He’ll be challenging what may be the finest mixed martial artist on the planet in Emelianenko. “The Last Emperor” is a mind-boggling 28-1 and was the last man to hold the PRIDE Heavyweight strap before the promotions untimely demise.
Emelianenko last competed at Affliction ‘Banned’ back in July when he submitted former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia is just 36 seconds.
This will be Emelianenko’s biggest and most anticipated fight since his battle with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic back at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005.
“Day of Reckoning” was originally scheduled to be held in the Fall of 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas until slow ticket sales and a lukewarm response prompted a postponement. Since then, Affliction has entered into a new partnership with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
Not to worry, “Day of Reckoning” will not feature any boxing matches according to Affliction Vice-President Tom Atencio.
Exact details of the date, location and main card fights are expected to be released sometime next week. Not that they’re overly important at this stage. After all, we’re getting Arlovski vs. Emelianenko.
What (or who) else matters?
123 Comments »
I still think that Josh Barnett should be fighting Fedor next
I think the UFC should sign Fedor, Barnett, and Arlovski. Then the monopoly would nearly complete! And the UFC would soon take over the world!! MWaaah haa ha ha!!!!
Barnett is probably a pain in the ass to deal with… if there’s a few good undercards with this fight I will watch it!
You’re always at risk when you want to stand and trade with Arlovski, but this is Fedor we’re talking about. I have been an Arlovski fan for years and this has got to be probably my first dream fight. I love the pitbull but Fedor will take his place as the best pound for pound in history when he wins.
I like both fighters but AA seems lost and confused whenever he forced to go on the defensive and that spells an early night when your fighting Fedor. AA still has a puncher’s chance though.
I think AA will last longer than timmy. I’ll put money on that bet.
Indeed!! Timmy’s nothin’!
Agreed!
I agree Timmy is nothing, but he did beat Arlovski twice. It’s pretty funny how people conveniently forget that. I am also one that beleives Barnett desreves his shot at Fedor before Arlovski, but it appears that the majority of ‘fans’ want to see the Arlovski fight.
But please don’t forget how easily AA beat Timmy in their first fight.
Dog, can you pleeeeease talk them all into signing with the UFC! It would make my cable bill so much easier to keep track of!
never happening. If they were the sole entity they would get broken up, because they don’t have permission like MLB, NBA, and the NFL does
I agree Fedor vs. Barnett has been such a long time in the making.
Barnett was offered the fight, but turned it down. fact.
b.w. broke this yesterday, but had a date, the 24th. I will just copy what I already said. That means PPV on Jan 17th, 24th and 31st… Sucks for Affliction. No way I will miss Hendo/Franklin or Penn/GSP. If I have to pass on 1 Fedor/AA in a ring will be it. Affliction will be another casuality of the economy.
i hope the ufc keeps thinking about having 93 for free, so we wont have to pay for all 3. ive also read that goldenboy has stated that the 24th date for affliction is not set in stone, so we’ll see.
I sure hope so, but why would they? Hendo/Franklin is a huge fight that people will pay too see and if Dana can’t counter on the same night he can counter with people’s wallets!
it airs live in the afternoon and there is not title shot on the line, but i think they were only thinking about making it free to counter affliction. its still a huge card and a must see event, so we’ll see. if all else fails there is channelsurfing.net
how can you guys not want to watch the best fighter on the planet? rich franklin is a joke and hasnt beat ANY top guys in years, if ever… if you watch Rich Franklin over Fedor you are truly an MMA noob and brain washed by the UFC’s marketing ability
yeah great, go watch the overrated rich franklin get smashed instead of watching the best fighter on the planet, good call
Brendan, I’ve seen you around this site before. Your a troll you twat! Just because I choose to spend my money on a fight I have been waiting years to see makes me a “MMA noob”. I believe anybody who pays to see a 2nd rate MMA show (probably the last show) with your beloved Fedor in a very predictable fight is, in fact, the “noob”. Affliction sucks and you suck! Maybe you will also get to see another exciting Lindland fight you douche.
Brendan I responded, I just hope Mania will put it up.
im exicted!
BRENDAN. the events are not scheduled on the same date elite-tard ,why would we have to choose one over the other?
zulu, i dont see why you think Fedor should fight Barnett first. Barnett last fought Rizzo and won by knockout. That same night Arlovski fought Rothwell who is fight Rizzo and going to win. and Arlovski just took down another force in the hw in Nelson. i would say Arlovski deserves Fedor.
couture vs AA, then lesnar vs fedor, and the main event dana vs goldberg.
Holy $#%ß&*!!!
Ok, just checked my calendar, its not April 1st. Wow, I can’t wait for this fight. I believe Andrei will have to pull the trigger alot faster against Fedor if he wants to survive. In his last bouts it took him too long to get into his range and rhythm.
Ruskie-on-Ruskie violence, this will be interesting.
I predict Fedor will outclass Andre like he does everyone else. This one will be over quick! First round submission. 4:00 in the first round
Not that it really matters, but AA has never been submitted. He’s been knocked out 4 times and decisioned once. I think Fedor will win a decision. AA has held his own against good grapplers in the past, and I don’t see him getting knocked out or submitted by Fedor, although its very highly possible. I’m rooting for AA by knockout. Should be a great fight. If it happens in “late January 2009″ then this would be ANOTHER MMA SuperFight right near my birthday. Ha! Good stuff.
I completely agree. go AA!
Yep, Fedor is great at subs, but AA has NEVER shown any weakness to subs whatsoever. If Cruz or Werdume even came close, then I’d say maybe. If anything these fights showed how AA’s Power can take a submission guy out of his game. Yeah I know Fedor can strike, but NOT like AA, he’s been tagged plenty by much lesser strikers and nobody can eat to many from Arlovski. It’s a birthday present for me too.
only AA isn’t Russian…
Duh, I am sorry for my generalization, but at the time of his birth in Minsk it was part of russia, so I am really not that much off. Thanks for your valuable input thou.
At the time of his birth, Minsk was a part of Belarus, which was a part of the Soviet Union. At that time, Minsk was to Russia as Chicago was to Texas. Thanks for your valuable input, though (spelled properly).
Duh.
(Cliff Claven voice) — Well it’s a little-known fact there Normy that Belarus and Russia were two of the 13 states that comprised the former Soviet Union, so Belarus was never part of Russia.
they are both soviets
You all look like complete asses.
Minsk was a Russian city before Belarus ever existed. It was taken apart from Russia after World War I (in 1918), and it was part of Russia, along with Ukraine, over a thousand years ago. So, yeah, AA can be considred Russian.
Seriously though who thinks Arlovski has a shot? Arlovski is too busy becoming a boxer to bother with the rest of his game. Still a good fight though:)
What? A lot of MMA fighters train in boxing. That’s pretty normal. It’s just that Arlovski’s training was more publicized.
And, I think Arlovski has a shot. Strong, athletic fighters are the only ones to give Fedor any problems at all in the past. And, Arlovski has all the tools to beat Fedor. Is Arlovski clearly the underdog? Yeah. But, that doesn’t mean he cant beat him.
And, I’ll agree with rhys, even though this fight is happening in January, it’s probably gonna be one of the best of the year, regardless of who wins.
His guard game was pitiful against Nelson, Fedor would love to be inside that guard. He was just stiff down there. That’s the reason for my statement. His standup had power and decent accuracy but he wasn’t setting things up. Could just be one “bad” performance.
true fedor will crush him in the first, the pitpull has takin a step down in competition as of late and makes look like he improved but its an ilusion.
I thought the same thing about Fedor with the carnival shows he had been fighting before Big Tim.
plus a.a will benefit from the huge 30 by 30 foot ring affliction uses, not that undersized cage that elite does. it gives him alot more room to move around and not get pinned. he’ll need it against fedor.
A shot is about all arlovski has but i give him a way better shot than Tim and some of the other ding-dongs fedor has been fighting lately. Hopefully the agressive Arlovski comes out to fight. Fedor by submission but he’ll have to work for it!
I think AA has a great chance. AA is by 2nd rnd ko
You must have missed his last few fights. AA has really rounded out his game. He has added knees and more kicks to his striking arsenal and he has taken his last three opponents down (including a very good wrestler Jake O’Brian). His striking looks crisper than ever. Not only does he have a shot, I think he will win.
that fact that you put wet blanket Jake in the same sentence as very good wrestler, makes your whole comment suspect.
Exactly, wet blanket, I never said he was any good at MMA,but he is a good enough wrestler to control and BEAT a big guy like HH. You missed my point, if a striker can take down a wrestler of Jake’s caliber, then he is more than just a striker. AA is a well rounded fighter.
fight of the year candidate in the making
Does anyone here agree that if it was possible that one of the greatest fights of all time would be Anderson Silva vs Fedor at a catch wieght! I personally think fedor would win but i would love somebody to test Silva. Sorry for stealing the thread and dreaming too big.
Fedor would destroy Silva. Silva has shown that everyone can take him down and when Fedor has you down, IT’S OVER. He would be to strong for Silva to deal with.
Skateborder
Fedor is a small HW and hes not that cut, so it shouldnt be a problem for him to make light hw, and Silva has shown he can fight at light heavy weight…
yeah theres no way Silva would be able to deal with the strength and speed of fedor id bet the house on fedor
Agreed. Silva versus Fedore at 205 would be the perfect match. I’d bet on fedor, but Spider was down right intimidating at 205. Looked like his natural weight. There wouldn’t be a size issue, and there’s not such thing as a gimme against either, I’ve rarely seen either get in trouble, even when on their back. Fedor seemed to have trouble with Arona, the only fight I can think of.
What a crap fight… Fedor by 1R KO.
Fedor has never walked right through a TOP 5 HW in the first round. No, Sylvia at 3-1 in his last 4 fights isn’t a top HW. He’s washed up. AA having a few problems and droping 2 fights to Sylvia is no different than GSP losing to Serra. They both destroyed guys before and AFTER. AA will give Fedor HELL, win or lose.
EPIC!
ROFLMFAO!
I am looking forward to this match, the match up itself is awesome, how is it going to play out?? I like arlovski and do think he has as good as chance to beat fedor as anybody out there but I will say I do not think he is as good on the ground as fedor. The way fedor threw punches at Tim sylvia, holy smokes, I bet arlovski will train his but off for this fight, and he has been on a roll as of late, so I think he will put up a challenge for fedor, but early prediction I am taking Fedor, anything can happen in MMA right? an earlier comment suggested the UFC sign fedor, arlovski and barnett, I am down with that for sure.
Other predictions
Anderson Silva beats Cote, Couture beats Lesnar, griffin beats evans, alves beats sanchez, I am gambling by picking leban to beat bisping and not so sure about the mir and nogeira match, but st.pierre when he fights penn will win and I am also not sure about the wanderlai, rampage fight
I am just happy couture back is in the UFC and so many wicked matches are happening
two other comments holy kimbo what happen there, he seems like a great guy so does houston alexander, hopefully those family guys can one day make a better name for themselves by displaying some top notch performances against some quality opponents
and if tito is so confident about how he is going to do after getting that back surgery done, then he needs to stop running his mouth and make peace with the UFC and get back and fight some decent light heavy weights, liddell vs ortiz 3 for old timers sake, boy would that excite everybody including LIddell
I like most of your picks, not sure about couture but wand will stomp out hampage. As for fedor, Arlovski has to beat him in the standup but i don’t think he will. The cut stoppage is the only scenario i see since he has fast hands. This will be a short sub.
I gotta go with Diego beating Alves.
Nogeira over Mir by Submission.
Vandy over Rampage via Knockout.
Nice write up.
mir is NOT getting submitted, TKO’d possibly, decision possibly but no way on gods green earth is Mir tapping out, rear naked choke after he is almost knocked out from strikes is always possible i guess
no way, you had it right the first time. Mir would sooner have his arm ripped off than tap out. There’s just no way Nog is going to work Mir on the ground. I think Mir’s JJ might even be better than Nog’s.
I dunno guys, Nog is a Bjj master. Should be a good fight regardless. Really looking forward to the fight.
Yeah ,I can’t see either one of them submitting the other. Fedor vs Nog 2 times, Barnett vs Nog 2 times = decision. It’s hard to sub someone when they are wise to your tricks.
arlovski by tko (cut) its fedor’s only weakness yeah im a dreamer lol
If Arlovski couldn’t beat big belly Nelson in the 1st round what chance does he have against Fedor? None.
No wonder they gave Arlovski the edge in the Heat fight. If he lost who else could they market for Fedor’s next fight.
Fedor by 1st round death
mma math doesnt work… stop using it, elson and fedor are two completely different fighters, what happened in one fight doesnt have much to do with the next
Not really using MMA math buddy, just looking at Arlovskis last fight. But really, what happens in past fights does matter. That’s why they keep track of wins and losses. Looking forward to the fight regardless.
Then you should consider the fact that AA submitted Sylvia pretty much as fast as Fedor did. You can’t say AA lost the next 2 to Tim, because then you would have to go by Sylvia’s past fights and see that he learns from his losses and he would beat Fedor in the next 2 fights. Also big belly Nelson is a very talented fighter and he would put up a fight against any top HW.
This is going to be an incredible Sambo match, but Fedor is on a completely larger scale than Andrei. He has better hands, better ground game, better everything than Andrei.
BETTER HANDS!!!!! maybe better sambo.there is not a heavy weight on this planet with better hands than AA. And all you guys trying to use the mma math of who beat who and who done what is shit and doesnt count for shit. I will be pulling for AA for the 2nd ko. I dont dislike Fedor, but his time has come.
Russian vs Russian woot! cant wait for this stand up masacre!
Russian vs Belarusian
Judging by Arlovski’s fight against Roy “Big Country” Nelson; as soon as this fight hits the floor, Fedor will make quick work of The Pit Bull(Where Sleeping Dogs Lay). I like Arlovski’s chance in the stand up but there has been very few people to fend of Fedors takedowns. With that in mind the obvios is that if Arllovski can keep on his feet and use his size advantage and crisp boxing he could win. I do not fore aee it but it is a possibility..
What’s the big deal? Didn’t Silvia beat Arlovski two times out of three? Shouldn’t Affliction put Fedor against someone who has been proven to be better that Silvia (who as we all know was humiliated by Fedor)? Barnett would of made this a bigger fight IMHO. BTW, this fight isn’t that marketable from a strictly business standpoint with respect to the casual fan that the UFC appeals to.
Nice logic. AA is 5-0 and Sylvia is 1-3 as of late and you think Tim is the better fighter. You must think Serra is better than GSP also, because he beat him. Don’t foget that AA destroyed Tim just as fast as Fedor did and that was when Sylvia could actually WIN a fight. AA is buy FAR the best challenge for Fedor.
no way is Sylvia better than AA dolphin, what are you smoking?
gotta lot of love for arlovski but he’s gonna lose. bad. i dont think he has what it takes to beat fedor. but, anything can happen. my opinion…they named it “day of reckoning” in memory of arlovski!!!
i think this is a better match up than barnett vs fedor cus i think that barnett would just be scared of fedor and backing up the whole time as for arlovski, he wud take the fight to fedor and really test him. other than that i want randy to beat lesnar then nogueira to beat mir then couture to beat nogueira and finally fedor to sign for te ufc to make the superfight happen and because if that happens randy will be voted num 2 in the world so the fight will be more intresting and if couture vs fedor happens i would hope that randy wins cus i like him more lol
Lord I hope we see the feirce Arlovski that everyone loves.
Fedor isnt a bad fighter as long as hes fighting somewhere other than the UFC.
LMFAO!!!Besides Randy Couture, Who in the UFC would beat Fedor??
lol great comment mmaextreme… hes beaten the current UFC heavyweight champion twice, the former champion (sylvia) once, Mark Coleman once (another former champion) yeah hed be horrible in the UFC lol go research a little bit before you comment and embarass yourself
I say its a rather easy win for Fedor. Barnette would beat AA,and give Fedor a run….AA was almost knocked out by Nelson,and was given some special treatment in that fight before landing a big right hand…
Fedor is better in every aspect
Why would Barnette beat AA? Josh has NOTHING on Fedor. Watch his 2 fights with Nog. They are very evenly matched and Nog has a better chin. Fedor is the submitter, not the submitty. AA on the other hand has something that Nog and Josh don’t have, speed and pin point punches that hit like a mac truck. AA holds his own with PRO boxers. If any one is going to beat Fedor, it will be AA’s striking or Randy’s wrestling. No one else has any tools that stand out enough to threaten Fedor. If neither of these 2 can dethrone Fedor, he will retire pretty much undefeated.
yeah i dont know about barnett beating AA, Barnett has always had problems with good strikers
mirko cro cop beat him 3 times to give an example
That too, good point Brendan.
Wow!!! I like both of these guys! This is going to be explosive! And even if I have to quit my job, I’m gonna be watching this live! I’ll go ahead and cast an early prediction: there will be a rapid-paced feeling out process at the beginning of round 1. After a minute or two, it will become a much slowers feeling out process. However, AA in my opinion is currently back at the top of his game. Also in my opinion, he’s Fedor’s toughest opponent to date! I’m sorry guys! I hate to doubt Fedor in any way whatsoever, but, I say AA takes this one by unamous decision.
you didn’t even try to spell unanimous.
Fedor is a good fighter, but everyone needs to realize that Arlovski is a good fighter too. I think it will be a great fight, and I hope that Arlovski will come out with the win. I do understand, that this is Arlovskis biggest fight in a long time against a true top fighter.
Look like my Christmas present came a little bit early this year! As much as I like the Belarusan, I think this will be an easy win for Fedor!!
Does anyone seriously think that this is gonna be a good fight? I don’t even know if Arlovski is a good grappler, as I’ve never seen him do it - but he’d better be. If we’re talking about a striker versus a well-rounded fighter, well, we know how that ends.
Just another weak ass opponent for the king of fighting sucky competion Gaydor
heavy weight division sucks!
wow ur a genius