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Affliction annouces partnership with Donald Trump and signing of Andrei Arlovski |
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Other Event News
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MMA News Written by Arnold Lim - The Sushiboy
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Thursday, 05 June 2008 |
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 Affliction officially made two announcements at the Trump Tower today. The first annoucement was the introduction of a partnership with Donald Trump, and the second, the signing of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Affliction's first event dubbed, “Banned,” will take place on July 19, 2008 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and will also feature some familiar names, as the inaugural card will see three former UFC heavyweight champions, the former IFL heavyweight champion, and the former Pride heavyweight champion. The heavyweight division in the Affliction event will go in as one of the deepest heavyweight divisions in the sport, arguably stronger than that of the UFC.
Arlovski had been rumored to be on the card for quite some time, however it became public today that the former UFC champion had left the only organization in America that he had ever fought for and would join the competitor Affliction. “I’m excited about participating in this new promotion with all of these great fighters,” Arlovski said in a press release. “I’m looking forward to fighting Ben Rothwell.”
Trumps involvement with the company has also be rumored for weeks, and one of the biggest names in TV has joined in the MMA fold. “I have been a fan of professional sports since childhood, and I am particularly impressed by the athleticism, courage, and strength of these disciplined athletes,” Trump said in a release. “This particular sport resembles my business style of being fast paced, strategic, and aggressive…remembering to never give up. I am particularly excited to partner with Affliction and become a major player in promotion of MMA; the youngest and fastest growing sport to emerge in the last century.”
“I’ve been a big fan of fighting for years, going back to when Mike Tyson was in his heyday, and ‘The Battle of the Billionaires’ was the biggest wrestling event of all-time,” Trump continued. “July 19th will be an amazing event. MMA is exploding.”
The main event of Affliction “Banned,” will feature Fedor Emelianenko against another former UFC champion in Tim Sylvia in the main event and will be available on Pay-Per-View live at (9 PM/ET, 6 PM/PT). The announced card is below.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell
Mike Whitehead vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Nascimento
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