Affliction’s Gravy Train Coming to an End

(The Maine-iac may go from being grossly, grossly overpaid, to just grossly overpaid. Photo courtesy of Tim-Sylvia.com.)

Dave Meltzer is reporting that Affliction VP Tom Atencio will be asking certain Affliction fighters to take a pay cut to fight in their next event (October 11th, Las Vegas):

The promotion has talked with some fighters about doing the 10/11 show for 50% of what they made on the first show but in return they would give those fighters easy opponents.

Overpaid fighters who could use an easier opponent the next time out? They might as well have called Tim Sylvia out by name — though Ben Rothwell and Matt Lindland could fit that description as well. For the record, Josh Barnett has stated that he would not accept a pay cut to fight again for Affliction; he previously made $300,000 with no win bonus for his knockout of Pedro Rizzo.

BloodyElbow also points out that the Thomas & Mack Center’s Affliction page lists Affliction II’s main event as “Arlovski vs. TBD!” — suggesting that the return of Fedor Emelianenko might not be a done deal after all. Well sure, I mean he just went 36 seconds with one of the top ten heavyweights in the world; the man could use another three-year break…

Related: The weirdest thing I came across while doing a Google Image Search for “Tim Sylvia.”

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“Unfinished Business”: The Aftermath

(“I’d like to say fuck you to all my fans, fuck you to everyone at Cesar Gracie Jiu-Jitsu who helped me train for this fight, a huge fuck you to my brother, fuck you to my sponsors Chase Chevrolet and Stagr…” Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

If CBS’s latest “Saturday Night Fights” card proved anything, it was that the EliteXC brand isn’t strong enough yet to pull in viewers without its marquee fighters. “Unfinished Business” drew 2.62 million sets of eyeballs according to f4wonline.com, and while that’s not a ratings disaster, it does represent almost a 50% drop from the “Primetime” show in May, which was headlined by Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano. Getting the ratings back on track will be priority #1 for EliteXC’s next show; during Saturday’s broadcast, it was announced that “Saturday Night Fights III” (actual title TBA) will go down October 4th at the BankAtlantic Center near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Carano have been booked to fight.

Now the question is, who will they be fighting? We previously mentioned that Kelly Kobald was being discussed as the next opponent for “Crush/Conviction,” but Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos had a star-making performance this weekend with her double-homicide of Shayna Baszler, and a Carano/Cyborg matchup would probably be the biggest fight in women’s MMA right now. As for Kimbo, who freakin’ knows. Brett Rogers is still the most obvious choice for Ferg’s next opponent, but EliteXC has been cagey about confirming it, leading some to wonder if Rogers is being saved for Antonio Silva’s first heavyweight title defense. Regarding a Slice/Rogers match, EliteXC’s Head of Fight Operations Jeremy Lappen said “I’m not sure if that’s the fight fans want to see right now,” telling Sherdog that EliteXC is now looking at four or five potential candidates for Slice’s next opponent. He wouldn’t name names.

(more…)

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Sanchez/Alves Moved to UFC 90; Pulver/Garcia at WEC 36?

(The Nightmare returns; photo courtesy of MMA Junkie.)

A couple of important fight bookings to pass along this morning…

First, MMA Weekly reports that a welterweight bout between Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves will take place at UFC 90 (October 25th, Chicago); the UFC hasn’t officially announced any of the fights on the card yet. Originally, Sanchez/Alves was rumored to take place at UFC 89 in Birmingham, England, but with that lineup filling out it looks like the Nightmare vs. the Pitbull will be used to anchor the UFC’s first show in Chi-town.

Meanwhile, Leonard Garcia has reportedly agreed to face Jens Pulver in a featherweight match at WEC 36 (September 10th; Hollywood, Florida). WEC 36 is also slated to feature title fights between Urijah Faber and Mike Brown, and Paulo Filho vs. Chael Sonnen. Garcia hasn’t fought since a TKO victory over Hiroyuki Takaya at WEC 32 in February, after which he was caught up in a minor misunderstanding over drug smuggling. Pulver had to undergo elbow surgery after his unanimous decision loss to Urijah Faber last month, but according to Lil’ Evil, “everything is good.”

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Aleks Emelianenko Might Have the Hep

I haven’t been able to get an audio confirm myself yet, but various listeners of Sherdog Radio (and fans who bumped into Paul Buentello) are passing along the word that Aleksander Emelianko’s mysterious pull from Saturday’s Affliction: Banned event may be due to a positive test for Hepatitis B.

In its acute form, the viral liver disease can be treated and will leave a person’s system within two months. In some cases the disease turns chronic and the person remains infected, running the risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer. No word yet on Emelianenko’s exact condition, though as long as he carries the virus he’ll be unable to fight in the United States, which means this could potentially be a career-ender. His last two professional fights — in July and October of 2007 — were held in Canada, which also requires blood tests for fighters, suggesting that Emelianenko acquired the disease relatively recently. Says Wikipedia:

Transmission results from exposure to infectious blood or body fluids containing blood. Possible forms of transmission include (but are not limited to) unprotected sexual contact, blood transfusions, re-use of contaminated needles & syringes [Ed. note: extensive tattooing with prison buddies?], and vertical transmission from mother to child during childbirth.

We’ll update you when we know more.

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Just How Troubled Is Rampage? (Pt. 2)

Earlier today, we scratched our heads over Dana White’s strange take on the Quinton Jackson situation, particularly the line:

“Last night when he got out, Rampage is very religious…yeah I’m dealing with it.”

WTF could that possibly mean, right? Well, according to CagePotato’s anonymous insider, it could mean something really freakin’ bad. Our source now tells us the following:

Rampage thinks he’s God…He had a falling out with his trainer a couple of days before the first arrest. Basically he has lost his mind and is talking very religious and is saying that he is God. This is the main thing I wanted to keep hidden, but with the second arrest and Dana talking it will come out regardless. He needs some serious help. I don’t know if you would call it schizophrenia or bipolar disorder or what have you, but whatever it is, basically it’s become impossible to have a conversation with him. He is delusional.

Again, this is second-hand information, and the only way to make a real judgment is to have an actual conversation with Jackson himself. But the chatter is not good.

Sort of related: As of now, Toyo Tires has no official comment on the status of Rampage’s sponsorship with the company, and doesn’t plan to make one any time soon.

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Just How Troubled Is Rampage? (Pt. 1)

So, here’s the mugshot from Quinton Jackson’s arrest on Tuesday, courtesy of TMZ (the Andy Dick booking photo is there just for comparison, I think). The Press-Telegram reports that Jackson’s court date is scheduled for August 15th at Harbor Justice Center in Laguna Niguel, and that he was cooperative with police from the time of his arrest to his release.

Unfortunately, there’s no word yet on why Jackson was shirtless in his mugshot — though one can’t help but see it and think “erratic behavior.” Speaking of which, a source semi-close to Jackson, who asked to remain anonymous, told CagePotato.com the following:

Close friends of Rampage had been very concerned about him the past few days [before the arrest]. He was very depressed and acting increasingly strange. There is something wrong with his mental well-being. They do not believe it is drugs or another substance. I have heard from others who said they’ve been concerned about his mental state for the past year. When he was in custody yesterday his blood pressure was sky high which is why they hospitalized him. Personally, I think he is out of touch with reality.

For now, treat that only as speculation, and pray to your Higher Powers that Rampage pulls out of this. More to come…

UPDATE (9:06 a.m. ET): Rampage may have sideswiped a pregnant woman during his little adventure:

[Holli] Griggs was taken to the hospital for minor injuries, [California Highway Patrol officer Jennifer] Hink said. In an e-mail sent to the Daily Pilot, Griggs said she and her unborn baby, 16 and a half weeks along, were injured but was not sure to what extent.

Griggs said Jackson was acting “violent and reckless” and “had no regard for my life or anyone else’s for that matter.”

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The Rampage Situation: Morning Update

(He’s out now. Photo courtesy of TMZ.)

According to TMZ, Quinton Jackson was taken to the Orange County Jail after his arrest, but was determined “medically unfit” to be booked, and was temporarily taken to an O.C. hospital instead; no word yet on what Jackson’s exact condition was at the time of the arrest. Steve Cofeld points out that there was no record of a Quinton Ramone Jackson being booked yesterday on the Orange County Jail website.

Yahoo! Sports reports that the pursuit originally began when a Costa Mesa officer observed Jackson driving with a flat tire and talking on his cell phone (which recently became illegal while driving in California) and attempted to pull him over. Jackson ignored the officer and continued driving with the officer in pursuit, and hit at least three cars while “weaving in and out of traffic, including at one point driving on the wrong side of the road and even on a sidewalk, scaring pedestrians.”

Yahoo! also says that Dana White flew to Orange County upon learning of the arrest, with the intention of posting bail for Jackson. FiveOunces has confirmed that Jackson did indeed make bail and was released from police custody late yesterday. BloodyEblow passes along this video interview that Jackson did with MMA Throwdown the day before the arrest, where Rampage admits to being depressed after the fight, laments getting so fat during The Ultimate Fighter, reveals that an elbow injury interrupted his training, and starts sounding a little kooky around the 8-minute mark.

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