The Nail in Affliction’s Coffin

As Affliction readies for their second MMA card they have released their fight card (posted below)  It looks like there are a couple of good fights on “The Day of Reckoning” card, however they made some huge mistakes. 

1. Their choice of fights for the pay per view card.  I think they made a big mistake making two cards so distinct like they did.  They have their pay per view card and their HDNet card.  While, I appreicate that it means that all the fights will be televised, they made a mistake with their line up.  The bottom line is that if Affliction wants to hang around they MUST have good fights.  I think there are 3 really good fights on this card and only 2 others worth watching.  The really good fights: Fedor vs. Arlovski, Lindland vs. Belfort and Nogueira vs. Matyushenko.  Someone please tell me why in the heck is a Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon fight making the pay per view card over Nogueira vs. Matyushenko?  For that matter why in the world would Babalu vs. Sokoudjou make it into the broadcast over Nog vs. Matyushenko?  I am not done.  Why would Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel be the choise over Nogueira vs. Matyushenko?  I know they want a headliner for HDNet, but they need buys.  Nog vs. Matyushenko has a story – it’s a re-match.  It has two top twenty light heavyweights.  Nogueira has huge name recognition.  Bad move Affliction.  There is one nail in your coffin and one reason I will no pay for those fights.  Horodecki vs. Lauzon is laughable.  They are not even top 40 lightweights in the world.  Come on. 

2. Their Competition.  The bottom line is that the economy is in bad shape and it can affect pay per view buys for MMA events.  In January I will have to budget which events to buy.  Here is the line up for January.  January 17th is UFC 93 headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson with Shogun vs. Mark Coleman.  Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning is on January 17th and is headlined by Fedor vs. Arlovski, which is very interesting.  UFC 94 follows on January 31st features B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre.  Listen if you can afford a pay per view 3 times in January…more power to you.  I can’t.  Let’s just say for the sake of it that you will order 2 events in January, which ones will you order?  GSP vs. Penn is a no brainer.  That means it is between Fedor vs, Arlovski and Franklin vs. Henderson.  The main event may favor Affliction, but the whole card and name recognition favors UFC 93.  Not to mention the fact that people can get their MMA fix the day after the Affliction card from WEC 38, which features Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.  Also, WEC 38 may add Carlos Condit to the card.  On top of that…add in the fact that about 28 days before Affliction’s card UFC 92 airs on Pay Per View.  Oh yeah, your co-promoter, Golden Boy has a big boxing event that same night 30 minutes away.  Ouch, that hurts. Sorry Affliction that is 2 nails in your coffin.

3.  Their marketing.  Enough said.  They cannot compete with the UFC.  The casual fan will not know about or will not remember the Affliction event in light of the upcoming super fight with Penn and St. Pierre.  Further confusion is cast with the distinction of the HDNet card vs. pay per view card.  My prediction is that Affliction’s rating stink and this is the third nail in their coffin.  As they say in baseball…3 strikes you are out!

Pay Per View Card:

Fedor Emelianenko vs.  Andrei Arlovski

Josh Barnett vs.  Gilbert Yvel

Renato Sobral vs.  Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Matt Lindland vs.  Vitor Belfort

Chris Horodecki vs.  Dan Lauzon

HDNet Broadcast:

Vladimir Matyushenko vs.  Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Jay Hieron vs.  Jason High

Mark Hominick vs.  LC Davis

Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte

UFC News: Kampmann vs. Barros at UFC 93

I had known that Martin “The Hitman” Kampmann was going to make his debut at welterweight at UFC 93, in Dublin, but I did not know his opponent. There were many rumors. It was recently reported that he was nearly signed to fight UFC vet Dennis Hallman, which leads us to believe Hallman will make a return to the UFC. Instead it appears that Kampmann will face UFC newcomer Alexandre Barros. Barros has a career 13-5 mark and is on an eight fight winning streak. Barros has notable losses in his career to UFC fighters Aaron Riley and Matt Hughes. However, he looks to be back on track and should make for an interesting bout. Should be a good test for Kampmann at 170.

Breaking Down the UFC Welterweight Division

The Champion: Georges St. Pierre

The Top Contender:  B.J. Penn & Thiago Alves

The Next Tier:

·         Jon Fitch

·         Josh Koscheck

·         Diego Sanchez

·         Karo Parisyan

·         Martin Kampmann

·         Mike Swick

·         Matt Hughes

·         Matt Serra

 

On the Rise: 

·         Yoshiyuki Yoshida

·         Dong Hyun Kim

·         Dan Hardy

·         Dustin Hazelett

 

Other Notables:

·         Marcus Davis

·         Chris Lytle

·         Yoshiyuki Yoshida

·         Chris Wilson

·         Dustin Hazelett

·         Ryo Chonan

·         Dong Hyun Kim

·         Akihiro Gono

·         Luigi Fiorvanti

·         Dan Hardy

·         Jonathan Goulet

·         Tamdan McCrory

·         Kevin Burns

·         Anthony Johnson

·         Rory Markham

·         Paul Taylor

·         Roan Carneiro

·         Brad Blackburn

·         Pete Sell

 

Scheduled Fights:

·         Josh Koscheck vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Mike Swick vs. Jonathan Goulet at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Luigi Fiorvanti vs. Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Ben Saunders vs. Brandon Wolff at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Steven Bruno vs. Johnny Rees at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Anthony Johnson vs. Kevin Burns at TUF 8 Finale on December 13

·         Brad Blackburn vs. Ryo Chonan at UFC 92 on December 27

·         Marcus Davis vs. Chris Lytle at UFC 93 on January 17

·         B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre at UFC 94 on January 31 (For Title)

·         Jon Fitch vs. Akihiro Gono at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Karo Parisyan vs. Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Matt Arroyo vs. Dan Cramer at UFC 94 on January 31

·         Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra April 2009

 

Match Ups I’d Like to See:

·         Dustin Hazelett vs. Chris Wilson

·         Martin Kampmann vs. Pete Sell

·         Thiago Alves vs. Georges St. Pierre/B.J. Penn

 

Other Thoughts:

·         When people talk about staked divisions they think of the UFC welterweight division.  The best welterweights are here.  There may be a handful of decent welterweights outside the UFC including Jake Shields, WEC’s Carlos Condit, Hayato Sakurai, Jay Hieron and Nick Thompson.

·         Jake Shields will likely land in the UFC.  That is what he wants and where he wants to be.  There are a lot of potential match ups here for him.

·         Thiago Alves will get a title shot in 2009 against the winner of Penn vs. St. Pierre.

·         Martin Kampmann signed a new contract and should fight at 170

·         B.J. Penn very well could become a fixture at 170 as he could vacate his lightweight title win or lose against St. Pierre.

Breaking Down the UFC Middleweight Division

The Champion: Anderson Silva

The Top Contender: ?

The Next Tier:

·         Yushin Okami

·         Nate Marquardt

·         Michael Bisping

·         Dan Henderson

·         Demian Maia

·         Thales Leites

·         Patrick Cote

·         Chael Sonnen

 

On the Rise: 

·         Demian Maia

·         Michael Bisping

 

Other Notables:

·         Denis Kang

·         Rousimar Palhares

·         Martin Kampmann

·         Chris Leben

·         Ricardo Almeida

·         Nate Quarry

·         Jason MacDonald

·         Wilson Gouveia

·         Goran Reljic

·         Dan Miller

·         Dean Lister

·         Kendall Grove

·         Alan Belcher

·         Ed Herman

·         Jorge Rivera

·         Alessio Sakara

·         C.B. Dolloway

·         Mike Massenzio

·         Matt Horwich

·         Jake Rosholt

·         Amir Sadollah

 

Scheduled Fights:

·         Nate Loughran vs. Tim Credeur at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Jason MacDonald vs. Wilson Gouveia at TUF 8 Finale on December 13

·         Yushin Okami vs. Dean Lister at UFC 92 on December 27

·         C.B. Dolloway vs. Mike Massenzio at UFC 92 on December 27

·         Denis Kang vs. Alan Belcher at UFC 93 on January 17

 

Match Ups I’d Like to See:

·         Yushin Okami vs. Anderson Silva

·         Thales Leites vs. Rousimar Palhares

·         Demian Maia vs. Michael Bisping

 

Other Thoughts:

·         The UFC Middleweight division is very, very underrated!  I believe it is because of Anderson Silva’s dominance.  The middleweight division does not have a clear number 1 contender, but from top to bottom I would put this division with any.  Albeit, the UFC’s competitors have some middleweight talents in the likes of guys like Gegard Mousasi, Jacare, Vitor Belfort, Matt Lindland, Jorge Santiago,and  Kazuo Misaki.  Not to mention the few solid middleweights from EliteXC such as Robbie Lawler, Joey Villasenor, Scott Smith, Frank Shamrock and Benji Radach.  The UFC is sure to pick some of those guys up

·         Rumor has it the UFC is in negotiations with top middleweight Yoshihio Akiyama.  I do not know if they call pull him away from DREAM and Sengoku, but that would be a huge add. 

·         The middleweight division is growing with adds like signing Denis Kang, the move of WEC’s division which will add Chael Sonnen and Jake Rosholt as well as guys like Aaron Simpson and Danillo Vilefort likely to come over.

·         Paulo Filho will not be in the UFC…yet.

·         TUF 9 will feature middleweight coaches with Michael Bisping being a lock.  The other names being thrown around are Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin, Nate Marquardt and even Demian Maia

Breaking Down the UFC Light Heavyweight Division

The Champion: Forrest Griffin

The Top Contender: Rashad Evans

The Next Tier:

·         Wanderlei Silva

·         Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

·         Lyoto Machida

·         Thiago Silva

·         Rich Franklin

·         Dan Henderson

·         Keith Jardine

·         Mauricio “Shogun” Rua

·         Chuck Liddell

·         Luis Arthur Cane

·         Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

 

On the Rise: 

·         Luis Arthur Cane

 

Other Notables:

·         Brandon Vera

·         Mat Hamill

·         Stephan Bonnar

·         Jon Jones

·         Tim Boetsch

·         Steve Cantwell

·         Brian Stann

·         James Irvin

·         Eric Schafer

 

Scheduled Fights:

·         Steve Cantwell vs. Razak Al-Hussan at UFC Fight Night 16 on December 10

·         Forrest Griffin vs. Rashad Evans @ UFC 92 on December 28 (For Title)

·         Quinton Jackson vs. Wanderlei Silva @ UFC 92 on December 28

·         Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy @ UFC 92 on December 28

·         Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson @ UFC 93 on January

·         Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Mark Coleman @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Andre Gusmao vs. Antonio Mendes @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Ivan Serati vs. Tomasz Drwal @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Jon Jones vs. Stephan Bonnar @ UFC 93 on January 17

·         Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva @ UFC 94 on January 31

 

Match Ups I’d Like to See:

·         Luis Cane vs. Keith Jardine

·         Brandon Vera vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

 

Other Thoughts:

·         There are rumors of a Anderson Silva vs. Chuck Liddell match up at UFC 95

·         There are a lot of light heavyweight contenders and the match ups are being set.  The winner of Wanderlei vs. Rampage should get the next title shot, although the winner of Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva should be considered as well. 

·         We are waiting for the debut of rumored UFC signee Glover Teixeira who has been having visa troubles in Brazil. 

·         The UFC could sign former EliteXC light heavyweight Rafael Feijao, which would be a big time contender.

·         The UFC has a clear monopoly on the light heavyweight division.  There are only a few fighters worth a  dime in this division not in the UFC (Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Vladimir Matyushenko, Ricardo Arona, Tito Ortiz, and Renato “Babalu” Sobral)

·         I looks like two solid light heavyweights have dropped to middleweight in Goran Reljic and Wilson Gouveia

·         The Ultimate Fighter 8 which featured light heavyweights is sure to place a few good fighters in the divison, but it will take time for them to climb the ladder.  Watch out for guys like Ryan Bader, Vinny Magalhes, Kryztof Soszynski, and Eliot Marshall.

·         It is somewhat possible to see Randy Couture take a few fights at light heavyweight and also to see Anderson Silva fight at 205 more often in 2009

 

UFC News: Denis Kang vs. Alan Belcher at UFC 93

It appears thta the most recent big time UFC signee has his first UFC fight in sights and an opponent is prepared according to several sources including MMAonTap.  It looks like new UFC middleweight fighter Denis Kang will square off agaisnt UFC veteran Alan Belcher at UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland making his highly anticipated UFC debut.  This should be a great fight and a huge opportunity for both guys.  Kang would be the early favorite, but Alan Belcher is known for his great striking ability and his solid Muay Thai skills.  The bout agreements reportedly have been handed out.  Kang will probably stay in Canada and train with Georges St. Pierre for their respective fights.  The winner of this fight will be in the “contender” mix as quality opponents for the champ are slim.  Both of these guys could pose a interesting match up for Anderson Silva eventually.

This is shaping up to be a great card, look for the card to start coming together more this week and next week.  This card has two solid fights to headlines in a light heavyweight clash between Rich “Ace” Franklin and Dan Henderson.  Also, A awesome re-match between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and UFC Hall of Famer Mark “The Hammer” Coleman.

UFC News: Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson Official For UFC 93

I said I didn’t think this fight would happen and my speculation for that was first off that Dan Henderson would coach the Ultimate Fighter 9 and second that the fight would take place at middleweight.  I will say it…I was wrong.  UFC.com is reporting the event as the headliner of UFC 93 in Dublin, Ireland.  This from Rich Franklin about the upcoming fight.

Dan Henderson has great credentials, and he is going to be one of the toughest fights of my career. That being said, I’m planning on winning the fight, and I’m looking forward to fighting in the main event and fighting in Ireland. I love the fans, and the way they react by singing and chanting makes it a unique experience for me.

The light heavyweight divison is stacked, and I guess Dan Henderson is not done with 205.  The fight will be huge in terms of battling for position for a title.

In addition to the Franklin vs. Henderson super fight, the Shogun vs. Mark Coleman fight was announced as well.  Stay tuned, there could be more as some have speculated that we will see Matt Hughes vs. Matt Serra on one of the January cards.  This UFC 93 card is important,  First, because it very well could compete against the Affliction/Golden Boy card.  Also, because the UFC will have 3 pay per views in a short span; one being December 27, another January 17, and the super bowl card on January 31.  In a tight economy it will take a great card to sell 3 pay per views.  If the 3 cards are enough of a draw people may elect to not order the Affliction fights even if they occur in between UFC 93 and 94 on January 24th.  The UFC 93 card is not going to be able to compete with the mega fight between Penn and St. Pierre set for January 31, but with these names already announced it could be a huge draw.

UFC News: Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson Possible at UFC 93

It looks as if the UFC 93 card will be held in Dublin, Ireland and the match between Penn and St. Pierre will be dubbed UFC 94.  It is very possible that the headliner for UFC 93 in Ireland will be Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson.  Several outlets are reporting that the bout is possible.  I don’t know what to think of this.  I do not know if will be a middleweight or light heavyweight bout.  I have mixed feelings about the fight.  I would love the fight fron a tactical standpoint and think it would be a match of 2 of the best middleweights in the world.  However, it does not make sense long term and here is why…

1. Dan Henderson seems to be a good fit at middleweight, and Rich Franklin seems like light heavyweight is a good option for him

2.  If Franklin wins it does not help him any.  He won’t get a shot at Anderson Silva again.

3. Henderson was rumored to be coaching TUF 9 opposite Michael Bisping.  I like the idea of that match up as I think it would be a great match at middleweight to determine the number 1 contender

4.  If Franklin was to go back and stay at middleweight it would be a logical fight

5. Assuming Franklin moves to light heavyweight and that Anderson Silva beats Patrick Cote, there are several cotnenders at middleweight that would be in contention: Yushin Okami, Paulo Filho, Nate Marquardt, Thales Leites, Demian Maia, and of course Bisping and Leben. 

So…

Match Franklin against Shogun at UFC 92.  Match Henderson vs. Bisping as opposing coaches on TUF.  In the meantime you can give someone else a title shot at Silva while we wait for TUF 9 to air and finish.  I would suppose that the likely choice would be Okami and for them to fight in April or so. 

Anyways, this is news that the fight is beign discussed and is possible.  No agreements have been sent or signed so don’t hold your breath.  In the end I predict the fight does not happen.  But, I have been wrong once or twice before.

UFC News: Lyoto Machida vs. Thiago Silva at UFC 93 on January 31

There was a lot of speculation as to who Lyoto Machida’s next opponent would be.  Originally Machida was scheduled to fight Thiago Silva at UFC 89, but that fight was cancelled due to an injury to Silva.  It looks like that fight is back on and will take place on January 31 at what probably will be called UFC 93: Penn vs. St. Pierre II.

Tatame reports:

One of the most expected bouts of UFC 89, Lyoto Machida and Thiago Silva would face each other in October, in a fight that would force one of them to know how a loss tastes for the first time. After Thiago’s injury, that forced the disappointing cancellation of the bout. After many rumors, some secure sources informed TATAME.com that this fight will still happen, and it’s set to happen at UFC 93, in January 31st, in MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas