A source close to the organization tells CagePotato.com that a bout between former IFL heavyweight Ben Rothwell and former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski is all but official and an announcement from Affliction is forthcoming. The bout has been rumored for weeks now, but no announcement has been made as of yet.
Rothwell is signed to both Affliction and Adrenaline MMA, a new organization headed by Rothwell’s manager, Monte Cox. Recent reports on the status of the July 19 Affliction card at The Pond in Anaheim, Calif. had Rothwell facing an as of yet unnamed opponent. The source confirmed that the opponent will be Arlovski, who leaves the UFC riding a three-fight win streak.
If true, it would add even more firepower to an already impressive first card for Affliction. The card is expected to be broken into pay-per-view and cable broadcast portions, which was reportedly a sticking point in negotiations between Affliction and HDNet. The addition of Rothwell-Arlovski would add even more top heavyweights to a card already laden with them, as well as position Affliction as a destination for heavyweights moving forward.
At the time of this posting, neither representatives for Rothwell or Arlovski had returned calls seeking confirmation of this information.
If this is for reals, WOW! Afflicion will have the best Heavyweight division in the game.
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1. Kasushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba
2. Randy "The Natural" Couture
3. BJ "The Prodigy" Penn
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Andrei Arlovski
I heart DREAM
Memo to all fighters, especially the Diazes: It's not gilly-tine it's gi-a-tine. Gi like the thing you wear when you do ju-jitsu.
really?? can you name who they have?? i dont know any except these 2
This is the rumored first card on mmaweekly.
Main Card Bouts:
-Fedor Emelianenko (#1 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Tim Sylvia (#5 Heavyweight in the World)*
-Josh Barnett (#4 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Pedro Rizzo
-Aleksander Emelianenko (#10 Heavyweight in the World)* vs. Paul Buentello
-Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
-Mike Whitehead vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
-Ben Rothwell vs. TBA
Preliminary Bouts:
-Savant Young vs. Mark Hominick
-Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama
-J.J. Ambrose vs. Patrick Speight
-Mike Pyle vs. Brett Cooper
Granted, I haven't seen anything about Barnett, Rizzo, or the Emeliankos being signed to a multi-fight deal.
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Great card and I'll be sure to watch it at my local sports bar. I still don't see how Affliction can afford all this. For an organization that is paying Sylvia four times as much as the UFC ($800K versus $200K), I can't imagine what they're going to pay Fedor, AA and Barnett. Allegedly, the bond that they will have to post must be twice the fighters' salaries -- that could be $7-8 million. Pretty steep for a t-shirt company.
As for the comments above, I think nearly all of them are one-fight deals. They rest are non-exclusive.
Sorry if I skew from the topic slightly, but I thought that Aleksander Emelianenko would not be able to fight in the US b/c he couldn't get a visa due to his criminal record. I have been reading more suggesting the contrary. Any ideas/updates (Gy)?
I guess the best Heavy may be exaggerating, but the UFC has:
Nog Kongo Herring Gonzaga Lesnar Mir Vera Werdum
I'd take the Afflicion lineup over the UFC's.
__________________
1. Kasushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba
2. Randy "The Natural" Couture
3. BJ "The Prodigy" Penn
4. Forrest Griffin
5. Andrei Arlovski
I heart DREAM
Memo to all fighters, especially the Diazes: It's not gilly-tine it's gi-a-tine. Gi like the thing you wear when you do ju-jitsu.
Its gonna funny if Tim somehow pulls out a win against Fedor and AA defeats Rothwell...AA/Tim 4 anyone??
Obviously, Sylvia will have his work cut out for him. But Arlovski should be a healthy favorite over Rothwell. For a guy with a 29-5 record, Ben's sheet is full of no names other than an out of shape Ricco.
Here is the Affliction Banned commercial! While this is a great card for Affliction, something tells me that they will not be in business for a long time.
Rumor: Rothwell v. Arlovski in July
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