Issue 156

July 2017

Affliction: Day of Reckoning – January 24th 2009

Who do you fight for if not the UFC? An apparel company, of course 

In 2008, Affliction Entertainment – an offshoot of Affliction Clothing, which covered fighters at the time – started spending ridiculous amounts of money on MMA. It attracted many elite heavyweights, including the greatest of them all as its star attraction. It didn’t have the smoothest ride, but it did deliver some exciting action, as well as an unforgettable evening of MMA commentary at its second show…

Flatlined

By FO’s count, Vitor Belfort has been through about 17 rebirths during his MMA career. This was one of them, as ‘The Phenom’ completed his transformation into a 185lb KO artist by starching Matt Lindland in 37 seconds. He was so stiff, the neck brace the doctors supplied seemed pointless.

Flyswatter

This was a real test for Fedor. At the time, Andrei Arlovski was many people’s pick as the world heavyweight number two. He was coming off an impressive five-fight victory streak, and then started this main event contest on top. He was giving ‘The Last Emperor’ problems with tight boxing and strategic kicks, but then he tried a flying knee. He left the ground with his hands down and exposed his chin to a thunderous overhand right. ‘The Pit Bull’ fell like a buzzing insect struck with a rolled-up newspaper and landed face-first on the mat. The baddest man on the planet had been challenged, but had emerged unscathed with his undefeated run intact and the spurious accolade that was the WAMMA belt still around his waist.

Mercy kill

Affliction had some trouble finding an opponent for Josh Barnett. They eventually settled for the underwhelming option of Gilbert Yvel, who spent the best part of three rounds trapped under ‘The Babyfaced Assassin’ before tapping to strikes. Barnett was set to face Fedor next, but his failed drug test torpedoed Affliction: Trilogy – and the entire promotion.

A lesson in linguistics

“Here we are with Seraldo Babalu… Let’s go ahead and see by the fight, what you saw, in the ring.” Joining Jimmy Smith and Sean Wheelock in the booth was Tito Ortiz, who had a catastrophic evening of commentary and post-fight interviews. “That was the old Vitor Belfort that we all want to see. Him at 131 years old. He’s back for vengeance.” Joe Rogan’s UFC gig was never under threat.

Also having their day of reckoning

Christened ‘Baby Fedor’, Kirill Sidelnikov aimed for a breakout showing in the US. Despite training with the great man, he lacked the skills to stop Paul Buentello beating up and stopping him after 14 minutes.

A rematch more than six years in the making, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira got revenge on Vladimir Matyushenko. ‘Minotouro’ used slick boxing and vicious knees to put ‘The Janitor’ away.