Two former UFC champions will collide in the main event of Affliction's second offering, "Day of Reckoning," on October 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Josh Barnett (26-5), fresh off his knockout win over Pedro Rizzo on July 19, will take on Andrei Arlovski (14-5), who -- in what was arguably the best performance of his career -- knocked out Ben Rothwell at the same event.
Affliction originally wanted Fedor Emelianenko to make his first WAMMA heavyweight title defense against Arlovski at this event but Fedor is out due to an injury to his right hand, which the California Athletic Comission suspended him 180 days for. Fedor would be allowed to shorten the suspension if he got clearance for a doctor, but it doesn't look like he'll be ready for October.
Barnett was a question mark for the event after saying he would not take a pay cut in response to the rumors that Affliction was asking fighters to take a 50% pay cut. But Barnett shot down the rumors in a blog posting Saturday:
"Straight from the mouths of my friends Tom Attencio and Todd Beard: No one is being asked to take a pay cut," Barnett wrote. "They would never ask anyone to take a pay cut and don't intend to. Tom was only referring to any fighters that may have been thinking they could get an exorbitant amount of money from Affiction just because. Again, no pay cuts asked and expected and they are doing just fine."
Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Tim Sylvia and Pedro Rizzo are all expected to return for the second Affliction event.
Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Thomas & Mack Event Center in Las Vegas, NV
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
- Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort*
- Tim Sylvia vs. TBA*
- Pedro Rizzo vs. TBA*
- Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. TBA*
*not yet officially announced
