Affliction Day of Reckoning Announced
Posted by Dave Walsh on August 7th, 2008
After July 19th, Affliction has set the bar incredibly high, maybe even too high for their own good. Yesterday, Affliction Day of Reckoning was announced, officially. While there are conflicting reports about fighters being asked to take pay cuts, it seems like that isn’t the case with this upcoming card (so far) due to the (relative to the last show) lack of name fighters. The show is being headlined by Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski, after Affliction had been hyping up Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski for the WAMMA title.
While Arlovski vs. Barnett is a perfectly acceptable fight, Fedor was without a doubt the draw for Affliction Banned. Having Fedor face off against a top 5 heavyweight in Tim Sylvia in the United States was an event. Critics thrashed the idea, as Fedor was never a UFC fighter, so therefore an unknown to your average fan. What I think they, and many other people were discounting here, was that as the sport grows in popularity, so does its rabid fanbase. You can pick up the “Legacy of PRIDE” boxed sets with 5 shows each for around 15 - 20 dollars in US and you can easily find fights on one of the many internet sources now. It isn’t that far-fetched to believe that somebody just getting into the sport can quickly absorb a lot of information and claim to be an expert already.
We don’t have any solid numbers for Affliction Banned when it comes to PPV, but we do have a range. We have Meltzer claiming around 75 and Affliction claiming “over 125,000.” I think the safe estimate is around 100,000, which is more than PRIDE PPVs in the US could say. Affliction Banned has become notorious, be it for UFC fans being upset with the production values, or for the quality of the card, the fights and how those who were there to witness it live all agreed that they witnessed something very special.
There is nothing wrong with the card they have assembled so far:
Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson
Mike Pyle vs Jason High
That card is actually pretty decent, and at least on the level of your average UFC card for name fights vs. solid filler fights. Lindland vs. Belfort is a perfectly acceptable fight between two aging fighters/internet favorites. One also has to think that after all of Tito Ortiz’s hyperbole that we will see Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Tito Ortiz added to the card if the hype is right. One also has to believe that Tito Ortiz will have the Department of Treasury sending an armored car to th event waiting for him at ringside with all of the riches in the world.
Hopefully this card will shape up over the coming weeks and be able to match the blockbuster Affliction Banned show from July, or at least do well enough to keep Affliction alive. Regardless, Arlovski vs. Barnett should be a great headlining fight and the prospect of Tito Ortiz can only help Affliction’s visibility and drawing power.