A planned catchweight bout between Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral and former Olympic Greco-Roman silver medalist Matt Lindland has been scrapped from Affliction Entertainment’s next pay-per-view event scheduled for Jan. 24.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com was alerted about the change by a source speaking on the condition of anonymity. We then contacted Richard Wilner, Sobral’s agent and […]
“Countdown to UFC 91″ airs tonight on Spike TV at 11 pm EST/PST. In this brief taste we get an idea of what the storyline between Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar is going to be, but somehow it still feels like less than an all-out promotional blitz for an event Dana White predicted would top one million pay-per-view buys. Maybe they think this one sells itself. Maybe they think the wrestling fans will come out in droves to buy this one like they never have before. Maybe they finally realized that the undercard is caught somewhere between mediocre and painfully weak, and they’re already thinking about hyping UFC 92.
After the jump, Matt Lindland stops by to give his analysis of the Couture-Lesnar matchup.
www.mattfororegon.com
The primary election is over and against the predictions of all the “certified smart” people I won the primary by a margin of 59% to 41%. That was a whopping 19 point margin. Truly unexpected.
However, I could not have done it without the help of folks like you. Since I am not a [...]
Affliction middleweight fighter Matt Lindland was victorious during Tuesday’s Republican primary for the Oregon House of Representatives in the 52nd district, according to the Oregonian.
A silver medalist during the 2000 Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling, Lindland defeated Phyllis Thiemann in Oregon’s 52nd district, which entails most of the Mt. Hood area.
According to KATU.com, Lindland won in [...]
Dude, how slick is this? I didn’t care about Mike Whitehead until just now, when I learned that he enjoys head-butting through glass. They may have spelled “Lindland” wrong, but Josh Barnett’s classic throat-slashing thing and the voice of Michael Buffer more than make up for it. Whatever you’re selling, we’ll take two!
… is simply because UFC President Dana White doesn’t like him, according to John Hackleman — “The Pit” boss and long-time trainer of Chuck Liddell — in a recent interview with FightHype.com.
Here’s a snip:
“It’s just one thing, Dana doesn’t like him. If Dana doesn’t like you he’s like a kid, ‘it’s my playground you can’t play anymore.’ It’s not about business because he doesn’t need business. He’s got like billionaire best friends that gives him all of the money he needs, so it’s not about that it’s just about personality.”
“The Law” — who is in the midst of a heated race for the Oregon House of Representatives in District 52 as a Republican — has not competed inside the Octagon since 2005. He was released from his contract after wearing and “unapproved” t-shirt at the weigh-ins prior to that bout against Joe Doerksen at UFC 54: “Boiling Point.”
However, it is widely speculated that the promotion used it as an excuse to cut him loose. He was deemed (if you ask Lindland) too much of a threat to eventual poster boy and newly-minted 185-pound champion, Rich Franklin.
“Ace” was pretty and marketable … Lindland not so much.
Regardless, Lindland remains one of the top middleweight mixed martial artists in the world and will next take on Fabio Negao at Affliction: “Banned” from the Honda Center in Sacramento, Calif., on July 19.
Affliction — one of the most recognized and popular clothing brands out right now — made its bid to become the latest mixed martial arts promoter official today during an episode of “Inside MMA” on the HDNet network.
It’s been known for some time now that Affliction would throw its hat into the MMA ring. In fact, the UFC and Elite XC recently banned their fighters from wearing Affliction gear during events because of the looming competition.
And if the proposed inaugural pay-per-view (PPV) fight card slated for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on July 19 is any indication of things to come, then Affliction will indeed pose some stiff competition.
Here’s what we can expect thus far:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao
Renato “Babalu†Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
Ben Rothwell vs. TBA
That’s one hell of a star-studded line up … and there’s more than likely still more to come.
Of course, it will be interesting to watch this all unfold — successful MMA promotions are a dime a dozen. It must also be noted that Affliction will have to clear a few regulatory hurdles, too, which the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) is mandating for the show to go on.
In particular, according to SportsIllustrated.com, the “CSAC requires a bond that covers twice the fighters’ costs.” That’s no small feat, considering some of the unconfirmed salaries that are being tossed around (Fedor is rumored to be making more than $1 million guaranteed and Sylvia is set to pocket at least $800,000).
Do the math … and that’s just the possible main event purses.
In addition, the CSAC will request urine tests from Sylvia and Barnett — both fighters have tested positive for the banned performance enhancer earlier in their careers.
Regardless, if Affliction can get all its ducks in a row — and not blow its wad straight out of the gate — this could be something special. Let’s just hope those in charge realize this is a marathon and not a sprint.
Check out a video snip of Affliction Clothing Vice President Tom Attencio on “Inside MMA” after the jump.
(An early trailer for the upcoming UFC video game.)
The boring but important notes and errata currently floating around this crazy MMA world of ours…
— THQ’s planned UFC video game has been give a rough release date of Spring 2009, which will coincide with “one of the UFC’s major events.”
— Affliction is reportedly close to locking down Fabio Negao as Matt Lindland’s opponent at their debut event on July 19th. Negao (8-3) is a veteran of the Super Challenge and Fury FC promotions who last competed in December, losing to Rousimar Palhares via first-round leglock submission. (Translation: He’s kind of a scrub.) Pedro Rizzo, who’s fighting Josh Barnett at the event, claims that it will indeed take place in California, most likely at the Honda Center in Anaheim.
— The UFC is trying to distract its fans from the fact that a historic MMA event is taking place on May 31st by scheduling a Chuck Liddell-themed programming block on SpikeTV that night. At 9:00 p.m. ET/PT, Spike will premiere “Ultimate Iceman: Chuck Liddell,” a documentary chronicling Liddell’s life inside and outside of the Octagon. Directly following at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT will be “Liddell vs. Silva: UFC Unleashed - Special Edition,” featuring the UFC 79 fight between Liddell and Wanderlei Silva, which has never been broadcast on cable. The UFC might be clever, but I have a DVR, which makes me more clever.
— The WEC has already sold out nearly all of the 8,000 seats in the ARCO Arena’s lower bowl for WEC 34: Faber vs. Pulver, and will be releasing tickets for seats in the upper sections for a quite-reasonable $35 bucks a pop. If you’ll be anywhere near Sacramento on June 1st, go get ‘em.
— Ali “#3″ Sonoma will be appearing on the fifth season of ABC’s The Mole, which premieres June 2nd. Catch a glimpse of her in the background on the promo vids at ABC.com.
