Partial "Affliction: Day of Reckoning" Card Announced; Undercard to Air on HDNet

by Chris Nelson on Aug 6, 2008 6:02 PM EDT in News Comment 24 comments

Affliction VP Tom Atencio held a press conference at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas today, where he confirmed a couple of rumored fights for Affliction's "Day of Reckoning" PPV on October 11th. The card revealed thus far looks like this:

WAMMA Heavyweight Championship #1 Contender's Bout
Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort

Jason High vs. Mike Pyle

Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson

The Buentello/Nelson bout seems to have come together in very short order, but is obviously a major upgrade from the previously rumored Nelson/Jay White scrap. That fight will headline the undercard portion of the event, which Atencio announced will air on HDNet prior to the PPV portion of the broadcast. Again, this should be a huge improvement over the first show's free telecast which was mangled by Fox Sports Net, who chose not to air it live in a number of US markets. Atencio still would not confirm the signing of Tito Ortiz.

In other potentially great news for Affliction, MMAJunkie and 5 Ounces of Pain are reporting that former IFL champs Jay Hieron and Chris Horodecki have all but signed with the upstart promotion.

*** UPDATED, 12:51 PM PDT ***

It's official - Chris Horodecki signed a three-fight deal with Affliction.

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ortiz a no show

Tito didnt even come to the press conference…

Josh Gross with egg on his face yet again.

by mmalogic on Aug 6, 2008 6:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

josh gross didn’t report it…. arash markazi did…

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/arash_markazi/08/05/ortiz.affliction/index.html

but don’t let that slow you down…..

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 6, 2008 6:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That makes no sense...

how do you call a press conference and not show up?

by Tonley on Aug 6, 2008 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It was an Affliction press conference and Tito didn’t show because he is not an Affliction fighter.

In other words, he hasn’t signed on the dotted line…yet.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Aug 6, 2008 7:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I guess it’s great they got Hieron… but who could he fight? There aren’t a lot of decent welterweight free agents out there.

by George Lucas on Aug 6, 2008 6:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Sauce

plox

by LiuLang on Aug 6, 2008 7:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Duh

Nevermind, I should read the damn article :B

by LiuLang on Aug 6, 2008 7:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

Hieron and Horodecki were two guys that I thought would have been GREAT fits in the WEC. They’re going to be wasted in Affliction.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 6, 2008 7:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

once affliction folds WEC will be there waiting for them

by monkeyfightclub! on Aug 6, 2008 8:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No offense

But whats with the desire to write off Affliction at every turn? They just signed Jason High, an undefeated welterweight project who has a win over Kevin Burns, and he is fighting Mike Pyle, another respectable prospect, right away. You’re telling me Condit vs. Hieron is GREAT, but setting Jay up to fight a High/Pyle winner is “wasting” him? Gimme a break.

by smoogy on Aug 6, 2008 9:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It isn't that...

I am actually high on certain aspects of Affliction. The thing is…there are things that can happen “long term” in the WEC that just can’t happen in Affliction right now in any division outside of heavyweight. Hieron vs. High or Pyle would be nice, but where do you go from there? There just isn’t depth right now. And yes, over time maybe they will develop something of a division. But as a big fan of Hieron I wanted to see him go somewhere where there would be more than a single potential challenge.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 6, 2008 11:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hieron was also just hitting his prime as the IFL collapsed – turned 32 last week, thanks Wikipedia – so I think his need to find / beat top competition is more urgent than Horodecki’s, who (barring injuries) could ostensibly spend the next five years cashing checks, bumping his record and beating mid-tier guys or straight up cans in Japan or smaller US shows before signing with Zuffa for a superfight against (whoever). Horodecki doesn’t need to be a star right now; Hieron does.

That said: Hieron vs. High/Pyle would be dope, and I think Horodecki’s appearance alone would make him a big novelty and fan favorite in Japan, not to mention all the killer matches they could make for him against Japanese LWs.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 6, 2008 11:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hieron v. Pyle, or Xtreme Couture v. Xtreme Couture.

Unlikely.

by Brett Jones on Aug 7, 2008 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree. That’s a real disadvantage for Affliction and even EXC. They don’t have an ongoing storyline or title picture. A ton of excitement for engaged fans of any sport is generated through analyzing and predicting title pictures. Affliction has some of that in the heavyweight division. It makes more sense for a promotion to develop much of its talent instead of having to sign all of it, but this takes time. These promotions are trying to compete with the UFC right out of the gate. The UFC is years ahead of them in regards to a roster. I don’t think a promotion can afford to buy the fighters necessary to catch up quickly. I could be wrong.

by Cannon Jacques on Aug 6, 2008 11:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe they’ll sign up a hard nosed japanese welterweight to take on Hieron… kind of like the guy Condit just fought.

I think you’re imagining things if you’re telling me the WEC welterweight division is deep. They’ve got Condit, Miura and Larson.

by smoogy on Aug 7, 2008 1:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not deep...

but Alessio, Avena, Larson, Moore, Prater, Condit, Miura… there is more of a “divisional picture” there, where you can see certain “tiers” of guys as opposed to just High and Pyle. I’m hope Affliction does do something with him beyond just look for one fight without developing more of a division. I’m not faulting Affliction here really…I just, as a selfish fan, would have rather seen Hieron in WEC.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 7, 2008 9:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh jesus. There’s a metric ton of guys floating around free agency every bit as good as the Carlo Prater’s of the world. Mike Pyle would decimate him.

by D.Capitated on Aug 7, 2008 9:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It wasn't a comparison

of Pyle to Prater. It was saying that there are tiers of lower, middle and upper level fighters. I’m just comparing the “division” in the WEC to this idea that there is a single fight to build to for affliction

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 7, 2008 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Didn’t Alessio just sign with somebody other than WEC?

by FRANKIE on Aug 7, 2008 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yup.

Just signed a 3-fight deal with EXC.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 7, 2008 11:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

You're right

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 7, 2008 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hieron vs. condit would have been interesting. SO would a Horodecki vs. Jaime Varner fight.

by asmiley420 on Aug 6, 2008 7:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Definitely.

I literally can’t think of one match for either Hieron or THE POLISH HAMMER but they’re good gets for Affliction who will give them showcase matches until they can build up their respective divisions. (Assuming they’re around long enough to do that.)

by Chris Nelson on Aug 6, 2008 8:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs