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So this event is right around the corner, and I don't feel the buzz around it like for Affliction 1.

The card breaks down like this:

MAIN CARD (PPV)

* WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski
* Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
* Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
* Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
* Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
* Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov

PRELIMINARY CARD (HDNet)

* Vladamir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
* Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
* L.C. Davis vs. Bao Quach
* Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios
* Patrick Speight vs. Brett Cooper

While the main event is great, the rest of the card doesn't do a whole lot for me. There are maybe 4 or 5 guys in the top 10 of their weight class on the whole card. Granted, 3 of them are probably top 4 HWs, but the others are narrowly in the top 10, if they are even in it at all.

Fedor vs. Arlovski makes the whole event worth watching, as that should be a good fight. Personally, I thought Sylvia had a better chance against Fedor than Arlovski does, but I expect this to be a better fight.

Barnett vs. Yvel is kind of random. I guess they are trying to cash in on the fact that some people may have heard of Yvel, but he's pretty much irrelevant now. Hopefully it will be more interesting than it looks, but I expect Barnett to take this in a walk. Then hypothetically face the winner of Fedor vs. Arlovski, but Affliction probably won't make it that far.

Belfort vs. Lindland is a clash of guys with name value who are pretty much irrelevant at this point in their career. I hope Belfort KOs Lindland though.

Babalu vs. Sokodjou is the second most interesting fight on the card for me. I like both guys, and while they might not be top 10, they are still top 15-20, and it's a pretty even matchup on paper. That said, I expect Babalu to take it by submission.

Horodecki vs. Lauzon could be good, but it's a pretty meaningless fight as Affliction's LW division doesn't really exist.

Buentello vs. Sidelnikov is pretty interesting just to see Lil' Fedor against legit competition.

Matyushenko vs. Lil Nog is a decent fight as well. Another one featuring two guys on the cusp of the top 10. Pretty even matchup....might be the 2nd or 3rd best fight on the card on paper.

The rest of the HDNet card....blah.

All in all, it's a good card, but I don't think it's great (UFC 92 and 94 **** all over it IMO). It's also probably going to fail miserably, with all of the other MMA action going on, the boxing fight put on by Affliction's "partner" Golden Boy, and the UFC running UFC 91 free on Spike. I've heard it's not even sold out yet. Not even close actually, the last report I heard was 1500 tickets sold, but I'm sure that figure has gone up a bit. For a promotion that puts on like 2-3 shows a year, they've gotta do better than this.

I'll enjoy watching it, but I'm kind of hoping for it to fail, because I'd rather see the top fighters in the UFC where they can fight each other. I can't stand Affliction's production either, with the horrible camera angles, huge ring, and brutal broadcast team.

What do you guys think of this event?

I think this is an awesome card. Best MMA card ever, maybe.

I'm excited to see guys like Hieron and Horodecki on major cards.

Do you smoke rocks? UFC 92 was a better card on paper. AA will put up a fight and last longer than Sylvia but he isn't going to beat Fedor. He may use his boxing to hold him off a bit but I can't see him as the guy who finally takes Fedor down. Barnett is going to steamroll. Belfort/Lindland should have happened like 5 years ago. And Sokodjou is garbage since leaving PRIDE. I'll watch it but I'm not all that excited about this card. There are going to be some real interesting fights but I see the main card as relative snoozer aside from Lil Fedor. That's going to be interesting just to see him fight. mahalo
~Chach~

Can we please never talk about these fraud WAMMA titles?

This is going to be a good card, but is not as strong as their last one. I can't wait to see what Belfort and Horodecki look like.

Lil Nog should be in the UFC. Not on a freaking undercard in a organization that is lucky to have 2 more shows. I cant wait for affliction to go away.

Are they gonna have an event every 3 - 4 months? Or are they gonna try a PPV with you Fedor?

cowboyronnie wrote:I think this is an awesome card. Best MMA card ever, maybe.

I'm excited to see guys like Hieron and Horodecki on major cards.

WTF?

It's got nothing on UFC 94 IMO, and I don't even think that is the best MMA card ever.

What's so good about it? Get me excited, seriously.

Fedor is the best in the world in his division. Lindland and Barnett are both top 3 in their divisions.

Fedor is facing someone super athletic and well-trained, able to defend against Fedor's sambo. That could well go all 5 rounds.

Hieron and Horodecki, and Sokoudjou, I'm psyched.

I know Soko gassed against Cane, but those body kicks and his power were so **** insane - I can't wait to see him again.

I'm a little bit biased as Horodecki is an instructor at one of my gyms, so am more excited than most maybe.

Lindland is top 3 in what division exactly? Affliction's MW division?

He hasn't had a quality win at MW in like 3-4 years. Maybe never, depending on what you think of guys like Travis Lutter and Phil Baroni. He's not even top 10, even hypothetically. Based on actual wins and recent activity, he's not even close.

Compare this card to UFC 94, where we have GSP vs. Penn (that alone makes it better than this event), and some guys who are actually in the top 3 of their (more competitive) divisions in Machida (vs. a top 10ish Thiago Silva) and Fitch (vs. Gono, who is at least as relevant as Yvel). Plus Karo vs. Kim and Guida vs. Diaz are about as good or even better than any fight on this card besides Fedor vs. AA. And imagine if the UFC hadn't put a card on since July...we'd be looking at something ridiculous.

If you're interested in this card for personal reasons, cool, but it's not even close to the "best MMA card ever."

cowboyronnie wrote:Fedor is the best in the world in his division. Lindland and Barnett are both top 3 in their divisions.

Fedor is facing someone super athletic and well-trained, able to defend against Fedor's sambo. That could well go all 5 rounds.

Hieron and Horodecki, and Sokoudjou, I'm psyched.

I know Soko gassed against Cane, but those body kicks and his power were so **** insane - I can't wait to see him again.

I'm a little bit biased as Horodecki is an instructor at one of my gyms, so am more excited than most maybe.

Lindland has not been a top 3 185 in a long time, though in your defense, Arlovski is top 3 in HW. Affliction has the top 3 HW fighters in the world, but outside of that they have no one in the top 5 in any division.

This is a good card, not a great one. IMO the last Affliction card was better.

It should be a pretty decent card. Fedor should beat Arlovski. Hasn't shown any real weaknesses yet. Barnett should dominate Yvel. Babalu is gonna beat Sokoudjou into the mat for as long as he wants before he finishes the fight. Belfort-Lindland is the best matchup IMO. I think that's gonna be one to watch. Baby Fedor vs. Buentello should be a good one. Haven't seen the baby Fedor fight yet, but there's prob a good reason for his nickname. Lil Nog vs. Matyushenko could go either way.

kdawg32086 wrote:It should be a pretty decent card. Fedor should beat Arlovski. Hasn't shown any real weaknesses yet. Barnett should dominate Yvel. Babalu is gonna beat Sokoudjou into the mat for as long as he wants before he finishes the fight. Belfort-Lindland is the best matchup IMO. I think that's gonna be one to watch. Baby Fedor vs. Buentello should be a good one. Haven't seen the baby Fedor fight yet, but there's prob a good reason for his nickname. Lil Nog vs. Matyushenko could go either way.

I think if Yvel can stay off his back, he can win. If that fight stays standing I think an upset may be brewing.

Also, I have had this wierd feeling for a while now that Arlovski would beat Fedor. I am not predicting it, nor do I have any idea how he is going to do it, but my gut says it could happen.

I agree that the most intriguing fight is Belfort and Lindland. I hope Belfort looks good and returns to form. Then I hope he fights at UFC 100. Belfort returning to the Octogon would be sweet. Come to think of it, an 8 man toruney would be sweet even though the commisions would squash it.

Belfort
Ortiz
Chuck
Randy
Taktarov
K. Shamrock
Wanderlei
Coleman

That would be a fun throwback. Heck, everyone loves a tourney. Throw in a couple title fights (Super Fights) and we have a great card.

I just read on mmaweekly.com that Chris Horodecki is off the Affliction card after not being medically cleared to fight. No replacement set yet. Too bad, I wanted to see that fight, both he and Lauzon are good young fighters.

Fedor is officially my favorite personality in MMA. I like a lot of other fighters but this dude is just something else. I absolutely love him.



LOOK AT THAT SWEATER! Man, that just screams I don't give a flying ****. It takes brass balls to wear that sweater and that picture looks even more perfect being flanked by De La Hoya and Ortiz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qKVOVGr2rY&fmt=18

The dude draws cute animals and Hummel figurine look a likes. Just adorable.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zoOE-ET5Ok&fmt=18

Make sure you watch the whole clip. Funny as hell, I only wish I knew what they were saying. Once again, Fedor can wear anything and look totally awesome. mahalo
~Chach~

Dude, did he stop at the goodwill on the way to the press conference?

Fedor sweats awesomeness and pisses out fear. He can wear whatever they are handing out at a second hand Russian soup kitchen and he will look superb. He really just makes me smile. mahalo
~Chach~

This might be beating a dead horse here. . .but. . . . GOD DAMN TITO'S HEAD IS BIG!

Chach wrote:Fedor sweats awesomeness and pisses out fear. He can wear whatever they are handing out at a second hand Russian soup kitchen and he will look superb. He really just makes me smile. mahalo
~Chach~

I feel the same way about him. He also makes me laugh. He's actually so humble and down to earth. He really seems like a guy who fights because it's his job and he's good at it but he's like a robot. Anywhere outside of being in the ring and he really gives off the impression of a big teddy bear. He's very polite always smiling and just refreshing. It's gonna be a good one though. The pitbull has probably got some of the best standup that fedor has seen. Hopefully he wont be gunshy like how he was in the ufc days...

wow, that first fight had one of the crazier rounds i've seen. 3 low blows??? are u kiddin me. If anything those low blows gave green time to recover because there's no way he would have kept that pace up for 3 rounds when takin the fight on a couple days notice...

Soukodu (?) just got completely exposed. The anaconda choke isn't the easiest choke to apply. But with virtually no ground defense... he didn't stand a chance really. Great job by Babalu

WOW!!!! crazy knockout by Belfort. Wow, what was that, 30 seconds?? my god man. Lindland is still down... i thought this 1 was going the distance so... well, didn't see that one comin