Wednesday, July 16, 2008 - Los Angeles, California
Written by: Rebecca Lee


Recap of the Affliction Banned Pre-Fight Press Conference

Raise your hand if the first rumor of Affliction Clothing putting on its own mixed martial arts show made you chuckle …or say “Are you kidding?” Relax. You were not alone. But standing in a ballroom at the Hyatt Regency in Los Angeles, California, seventeen (17) of the show’s 22 scheduled fighters stepped up, ready to fight, leaving little doubt that Affliction Banned will leave its mark on the history of MMA.

Affliction Entertainment’s VP Tom Atencio, in association with M-1, took on the role of matchmaker for all eleven (11) bouts, seven (7) of which will broadcast live. Those matchups include veteran legends in the sport as well as young, talented fighters well-acquainted with the spotlight. No rookies, no amateurs…only world class fighters on a global stage.

Just 2 months ago, I sat at the first Affliction Banned press conference, wondering about the potential success of the show. As it turns out, commercial time for the Fox Sports Net presentation of the card is completely sold out. In addition, over 280 international media outlets submitted requests to cover the event, and the Honda Center (which is nearly sold out) has cleared $2 million in ticket sales. Not bad for a first time organization on the rise. The PPV buys, both commercially and residentially, cannot be accurately counted until after the event on Saturday, but the interest is worldwide and could bring in bigger numbers than expected. According to M-1’s Joost Raimond, interest extends to Russia and Asia, especially Korea and Japan.

Here at home in the states, Fox Sports Net has scheduled one full hour of Affliction Live beginning at 5pm Pacific (8pm Eastern) featuring Aleksander Emelianenko vs Paul Buentello and Terry Martin vs. Vitor Belfort. The live cable broadcast will be immediately followed by the PPV event Affliction Banned beginning at 6pm Pacific (9pm Eastern).

Conference sound bytes:

Terry Martin: “…I guarantee you guys that you will see a fight that you will be talking about years on down the line.”

Vitor Belfort: “…It’s a pleasure to be fighting in my hometown – LA…it’s phenomenal to be fighting on a card like that and to have an opportunity, too… and a new challenge of fighting at 185…I’m looking forward and really excited to do it.”

Aleksander Emelianenko (via translator): “…I’d like to thank my opponent and wish him the best of luck. I know together that we’ll show everyone a great technical and beautiful fight.”

Paul Buentello: “…I can guarantee, you know, I’m not going for a takedown. It’ll be a war. It’ll be a great fight. Don’t blink, guys.”

Matt Lindland: “…Last time I fought was April of last year and I’m giddy right now I’m so excited to get in there and fight.” and with a little humor he continued, “I know a lot of you don’t know about Fabio here, but I know he’s really tough because he grew up with that name. He probably got picked on a lot at school. He’s fought his whole life. And so I really appreciate him stepping up and taking this fight. I’ll put on a good show and suplex him on his head Saturday night.”

Edwin Dewees: “…I think this is a historic card and I’m really pleased to be a part of it. Actually I think I’m the youngest guy here but I have more fights than anybody. So I’ve been all around the world and this is a really great show and I just happy to be part of it. So thank you, guys, very much.”

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: “I want to say thank you for the guys from Affliction to give me the opportunity to be here to show all my friends from America finally I’m gonna fight here…”

Renato Sobral: “…like with your brother, you hope that he’s doing good, but you gonna see us probably beat each other. That’s pretty fun…”

Mike Whitehead: “…I know you guys see me two months ago, 60 pounds bigger. It just comes down to I may not be the best stand-up guy or may not be the best Greco guy or grappling guy, but I do know one thing…and that’s how to work hard. This fight between me and Babalu that we are getting ready for is definitely gonna be a big pile of smoke and we'll see who’s still standing…”

Josh Barnett (the class clown): “…I gotta thank Affliction, they should be happy to have me…The thing is though they put us a little too low, unfortunately, on the card so, the rest of you guys – we are stealing the show. I hope you guys stay for the rest of it, ‘cause there’s a great amount of fights. But I don’t blame you, after we’ve been on, it’s gonna be hard to compare…”

Ben Rothwell: “…as far as Josh thinking that he’s gonna steal (the show) and no one’s interested in our fights, we all know, it’s the last two fights you come to see and Arlovski and I aren’t gonna disappoint…”

Tim Sylvia: “…the WAMMA belt on the line, that obviously is a big thing. It’s the first time we unify a true champion; you know, it’s gonna recognize a true champion…all the other belts, all these other organizations are looking at this belt as being the #1 guy.”

And Tim poking fun back at Josh: “…after you get your popcorn, your beers, your drinks with Pedro and Josh fighting,…come back for the main event, alright?”



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