Affliction: Day of Reckoning Preview

1/21/2009 | Posted by Scott Lunn

In the world of Mixed Martial Arts, a new player has emerged on the scene. Affliction, which began simply as a clothing company, threw it's hat into the ring last year with it's premiere show, and made an immediate impact. Focusing primarily on the heavyweight division, Affliction managed to sign many of the top ranked fighters in the world by paying them a fair share more than they were likely to make elsewhere. Of course it depends on who you talk to, but most people seem to regard their first show as a successful one, but now they seek to top it with their second show, Day of Reckoning.

While the second show includes well known names from various weight classes, it's once again the heavyweights that take center stage. Little known Gilbert Yvel (35-12-1-1) out of Holland has been brought in to take on the highly ranked Josh Barnett (23-5). Yvel's 35 wins have all been clean finishes, with 30 knockouts and 5 submission victories to his credit. The reason he is not so well known however is that the only names of note that he has beaten are Cheick Kongo and Fabiano Scherner. He has faced top level talent in the past however, he just hasn't been too successful. Amongst his losses are Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, and Jeremy Horn, well known names to those in the MMA community.

Barnett on the other hand is extremely experienced against some of the best in the world. Wins against Dan Severn, Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Pedro Rizzo at the first Affliction show, are not to be taken lightly. Barnett also lost to Nogueria in their rematch, as well as Rizzo in their first fight, and his own personal kryptonite in Mirko Cro Cop who he lost to on 3 separate occasions. Barnett is very heavily favored in this fight and is expected to face the winner of the evening's main event for a shot at the WAMMA Heavyweight Title at a future show as well.

As for the main event, former UFC champion and highly regarded heavyweight Andrei Arlovski (15-5) will face off with the unanimously top ranked fighter on the planet, Fedor Emelianenko (29-1). Arlovski's resume looks fairly decent, though most of his wins have come against mid to top level opponents, not names that most would consider elite. He won the UFC title from Tim Sylvia back in 2005, but lost both rematches and his title in the process the following year. He has two other losses of note, coming against Ricco Rodriguez and Pedro Rizzo when they were considered amongst the best in the sport at the time.

Emelianenko, however, has beaten essentially anybody put in front of him. His lone loss came in only his 5th professional fight by way of a doctor's stoppage back in 2000. Since then, he has amassed a streak of 25 wins in a row (with a no contest mixed in there) on his way to being considered the best fighter in the world. Among the victims of that streak are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira twice (as well as the aforementioned NC), Mark Coleman twice, Kevin Randleman, Mirko Cro Cop, and most recently Tim Sylvia at the first Affliction show. Fedor has 6 wins by KO or TKO along with 16 submission wins in his career.

Both Fedor and Arlovski have backgrounds in Sambo, which is a hybrid form of martial arts with roots in Russia. They are similar in styles due to this with very crisp striking ability as well as solid submissions games should the fight hit the ground. This fight could really end up anywhere and both men would be fairly comfortable.

As far as these two heavyweight fights go, look for both the heavily favored fighters to win. This would set up a potential showdown between Fedor and Josh Barnett which many have been dying to see for a long time coming. This would surely be the outcome that Affliction is hoping for because they could see a huge PPV revenue by putting that fight together. Affliction seems serious about trying to take a run at the proverbial 800 lbs. gorilla known as the UFC and has banked most of their effort behind the heavyweight division.

Heavyweights aren't the only notable names on this card however. Top middleweights Matt Lindland (21-5) and Vitor Belfort (17-8) will do battle, as will former UFC Light Heavyweights Renato "Babalu" Sobral (31-7) and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (5-3). If you're looking for something a little different than the UFC, Affliction offers a good place to start. The first show was a fairly good one, despite some issues with the presentation, camera work, etc. Hopefully those have since been resolved and this show exceeds the previous one.

The main card can be seen on Pay Per View, Saturday, January 24th, beginning at 9pm and features the following fights:

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

The undercard will be broadcast live on HDNet, starting at 7pm and includes these fights:

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