(Image courtesy of InsanityWeTrust.net)

Josh Gross at SI reports that Showtime Sports will be responsible for producing and distributing Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view card on January 24th; an official announcement will come Monday. Showtime Sports produced all the ShoXC and EliteXC broadcasts on the premium cable channel, as well as the EliteXC events on CBS and the Strikeforce/EliteXC co-promoted “Shamrock vs. Baroni” pay-per-view in June 2007. So, expect a step up in quality from the bad lighting, bizarre camera angles, and poor pacing that plagued Affliction’s “Banned” show in July.

“Day of Reckoning” is still headlined by Fedor Emelianenko defending his WAMMA heavyweight championship belt against Andrei Arlovski. Gross also confirmed the addition of three other bouts: First, Matt Lindland and Renato “Babalu” Sobral will meet in a middleweight match on the main card; both fighters won decisions at “Banned,” with Lindland getting the better of Fabio Nascimento and Sobral edging out Mike Whitehead. [Ed. note: FiveOunces is reporting that the match will be contested at light-heavyweight.]

A light-heavyweight scrap between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Vladimir Matyushenko will headline the undercard broadcast on HDNet. Matyushenko previously defeated Lil’ Nog by decision at a Universal Fighting-Arts Organization event in 2002, though “The Janitor” hasn’t competed since a TKO victory over Jamal Patterson at an IFL event in April; Nogueira last fought at Sengoku 6 earlier this month, where he won a decision over Moise Rimbon.

And finally, heavyweight Paul Buentello — who was originally supposed to face Aleksander Emelianenko at “Banned” and wound up winning a decision over Gary Goodridge — will face Red Devil Sport Club’s Kiril Sidelnikov on the undercard. A match between Chris Horodecki and Dan Lauzon has also been rumored, while Vitor Belfort and Jay Hieron will also reportedly be on the lineup. Additional bouts will be announced in the near future.