(Props: Keegan on the UG)

Affliction paid out a little over $3.3 million in disclosed fighter salaries for “Day of Reckoning,” pretty much guaranteeing that they’ll take a financial loss on this event, as we all expected.  Naturally, the payouts include several head-scratchers and jaw-droppers, including $1.5 million to Andrei Arlovski for his 3:14 KO loss to Fedor Emelianenko last night.  At least when you compare it with Tim Sylvia’s $800,000 loss in 0:36, it’s proportional.  Now someone explain to Mark Hunt where his $4 million is.

Here’s how the disclosed salaries broke down:

Fedor Emelianenko $300,000 (no win bonus)
Andre Arlovski $1,500,000 (win bonus would have been $250,000)
Josh Barnett $500,000 (no win bonus)
Gilbert Yvel $30,000 (win bonus would have been $9,300)
Vitor Belfort $200,000 (includes $80,000 win bonus)
Matt Lindland $225,000 (win bonus would have been $75,000)
Renato "Babalu" Sobral $90,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)
Thierry Sokoudjou $50,000 (win bonus would have been $50,000)
Paul Buentello $90,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Kiril Sidelnikov $10,000 (win bonus would have been $25,000)
Dan Lauzon $12,000 (no win bonus)
Bobby Green $4,000 (win bonus would have been $4,000)
Jay Hieron $45,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus)
Jason High $10,000 (win bonus would have been $5,000)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira $150,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Vladimir Matyushenko $50,000 (win bonus would have been $30,000)
L.C. Davis $14,000 (includes $7,000 win bonus)
Bao Quach $7,000 (win bonus would have been $6,000)
Albert Rios $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus)
Antonio Duarte $3,000 (win bonus would have been $2,000)
Brett Cooper $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Patrick Speight $2,000 (win bonus would have been $3,000)

Thoughts…

("Fedor, you hear of this ‘Stevia’? It melt 40 pounds of fat and six tumors from my uncle Wladimir’s body. I’m just saying." Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Quick prediction for tonight’s main event: During the pre-fight face-off, Fedor and Andrei will say "I must break you" to each other simultaneously, after which Fedor will quickly call "jinx," prohibiting Andrei from speaking until someone says his name, which won’t be until the afterparty. As for the fight itself, you already know how we stand on that. Anyway, the main card for Affliction’s second event is about to pop off. Results from the undercard, and round-by-round updates/commentary for the pay-per-view broadcast await you after the jump. TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL!

(Andrei looks ripped.  Fedor looks chubby.  Yep, everything went as expected at the Affliction weigh-ins.)

– Oh yeah, Fedor knows how to fight a good striker.  (USA Today)

– Donald Trump Jr. talks Dana White, UFC.  (MMA Payout)

– Mike Chiappetta tells MMA fans, ‘Yes, we can.’  (NBC Sports)

– One last look at Arlovski’s boxing skillz.  (MMA Fanhouse)

– Brit boxers don’t sweat the UFC, or so they say.  (The Sun)

– The New York Times goes from covering to lambasting MMA.  (NYT)

– Foot injury sidelines Mike Swick for at least three months.  (Five Ounces)

– "Fighting Chance" promises to be the oddest MMA movie yet.  (Al.com)

– Top 5 MMA spectator brawls.  (MMA Journalist)

– Who’s afraid of Mark Cuban?  Major League Baseball.  (Scores Report)

– "Notorious" is just aiiiight.  (Bullz-Eye.com)

– Inside the Taco: New Employees.  (Holy Taco)

– 13 insanely horrible local TV ads.  (Screen Junkies)

– Cop knocks protester out cold.  (Nothing Toxic)

(*slow clap* ‘Yes, yes, Mr. Emelianenko.  We are all very impressed with your accomplishments.  But now you must taste my pee-pee-pee.’)

All right, so we didn’t do all that well with our UFC 93 picks (I mean, we both beat the hell out of Perennial, though who didn’t?), but we’re loading up again for Affliction and hoping to beat our fairly dismal scores of 13 (BG) and 14 (BF) this time around.  

If you haven’t already, remember to add your picks to our Affliction: Day of Reckoning Pick-em Contest for your chance to win an autographed copy of L. Jon Wertheim’s Blood in the Cage.

Naturally, we’ll be liveblogging all the action Saturday night beginning at 9 pm ET, so make sure to come on back and join the party.  As a side note, we’re scratching the Dan Lauzon-Bobby Green bout from our pick-em contest on account of the late switch, so don’t even sweat it if you got your picks in before Chris Horodecki’s bulging disk cost him a chance to fight.  

Our picks are after the jump.

("The Upgrade" will get his chance to earn that t-shirt, after all.  Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

With Chris Horodecki being pulled from Affliction: Day of Reckoning after failing his physical with a bulging disc in his neck, the organization has reached out to 7-1 southern California fighter Bobby Green to step in as a replacement against Dan Lauzon.  Important things to know about Green:

– His nickname is “King,” which is kind of weird.
– He’s never faced anyone of note in any major organization.
– He was suspended for three months and fined $500 after testing positive for marijuana following his victory over Raymond Ayala at Total Fighting Alliance 10 last March.

There, now you’re up to speed.  The question now for Affliction is whether this bout will stay on the pay-per-view portion of the card, or whether it will be pushed down in favor of the Jay Hieron and Jason High bout.  The latter sounds like the better idea, since guys who take fights on a couple days notice aren’t often known for putting on pay-per-view worthy performances.

More Affliction-related videos, like Fedor and Andrei vlogs, are after the jump.

(Looks like Andrei’s the only thing standing between Fedor and another trip to the scary rollercoasters.  That is not a safe place to stand.)

Is it sad that this installment of Ben vs. Ben is forced to dwell on questions surrounding Affliction’s possible demise?  A little, but that’s life.  We can’t just pretend that they aren’t paying Andrei Arlovski roughly 20,000 t-shirts for an event that has no clear path to a profit…or does it?  That discussion and more awaits you below.

What are the odds that this is Affliction’s last show?

BF: -300.  In other words, 3-1 odds that we’ll never see another Affliction MMA event again.  I’m not happy about that, but if I’m being honest I have to look at how difficult it’s been for them to get a second show together, how much they’ll spend on it and how little of that will be recouped in ticket sales or pay-per-view revenue, and I can’t see how they justify another money pit of a show after this.

Of course, three has always been their magic number.  That’s how many shows they said they were committed to, and it would give them the chance to put on the Josh Barnett-Fedor Emelianenko fight they’ve obviously been angling for since the start.  But if Arlovski’s getting over a million bucks for this fight, imagine what it would cost to put on Barnett-Fedor alone, not to mention the rest of the card.  It would be an obvious money-loser, and even Affliction can’t bleed cash forever.  If they don’t pull out a miracle on Saturday night, they’re going to pack it in.

BG: I really hope nobody at Affliction has their fingers crossed and breath held for this miracle of which you speak. Between Margarito/Mosley and the UFC’s usual counter-programming and market saturation, Affliction won’t even be outperforming their first event in terms of ticket sales or pay-per-view buys. But I have to assume that they already know this. Maybe Atencio & Co. are bad at running an MMA organization, but they’re not childish enough to believe that money will literally fall out of the sky. And yet they sign Gegard Mousasi to fight in their third event, and announce they’ll be promoting four events a year with Golden Boy.

I’m not Affliction’s CFO, so I don’t know how much money the company is willing to lose on this MMA pursuit. But is it naïve to think that they wouldn’t be making these concrete plans if their future really depended on the financial performance of "Day of Reckoning"? Short answer: yes. Still, I’m going to set the odds for this one at a more generous -200. Now if I could just find a gambling site that offers a parlay bet on "Affliction won’t put on a third show" + "Tito Ortiz will never fight again," I could probably make a decent profit…

(Props: MMA Mania)

Above: Not only is Fedor Emelianenko a fighter (see the above video for verbal confirmation), he was also the subject of a New York Times profile yesterday. Maybe after Saturday night he’ll finally start getting some damn respect around here. Below: Everything you wanted to know about up-and-coming heavyweight Shane Carwin, courtesy of his newly-launched website, Shane-Carwin.com. After the jump: Tim Sylvia talks about how bad it has sucked to watch his ass getting kicked by Fedor in a seemingly endless loop in all of Affliction’s promotional videos. Also, he calls Andrei Arlovski a "douchebag" and "bad for the sport."

 
(Horrifying image courtesy of CelebrityBoxing.tv.)

It’s bad enough that Affliction’s "Day of Reckoning" show has to compete with the Antonio Margarito/Shane Mosley boxing match that’s happening a half-hour away. Also vying for your entertainment dollar this Saturday night — live at the Ice Works Skating Complex in Aston, PA, and available on pay-per-view for $12.99 — is a Celebrity Boxing Federation match between former child star/radio personality Danny Bonaduce and former baseball star/’roid snitch Jose Canseco. While Canseco is 0-1 in CBF matches, having gotten his ass kicked by Vai Sikahema last July, Bonaduce has whipped a string of D-list stars in boxing events, including Donny Osmond, Barry Williams, and Bob Levy. Regarding the matchup, Bonaduce had this to say:

According to this profile of the Celebrity Boxing operation, CBF put on an event in November headlined by Phil "Bam’s Dad" Margera and John Wayne "Dude Who Got His Dick Cut Off" Bobbitt. What can you say — they know what the people want. Sorry, Fedor, but I have a feeling you’ll be beating Andrei Arlovski’s ass in an empty arena. A laughably low-budget promo video for Bonaduce vs. Conseco is after the jump; props to CP reader Danny-Eyal for the tip. 

(Photo courtesy of daylife.com.)

Due to a training-related injury, Chris Horodecki has failed his licensing exam with the California State Athletic Commission, and will not be appearing at Affliction’s "Day of Reckoning" event on Saturday night in Anaheim. Though early reports said the 21-year-old IFL vet was off the card because he failed a neurological exam, "The Polish Hammer" is actually suffering from a bulging disc in the base of his neck, which is restricting most of the strength in his right arm. Horodecki was supposed to face Dan Lauzon on the "Day of Reckoning" pay-per-view broadcast; Affliction is currently trying to lock down a replacement for Horodecki so Lauzon can still compete.

But on the bright side, at least "DoR"’s co-main event will still be happening. Gilbert Yvel has officially been cleared to face Josh Barnett after submitting his final paperwork yesterday afternoon. Said CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas:

Sure, Yvel told everyone that he’d be on his best behavior, and maybe he even believed it. But it’s like the story of the scorpion and the frog — no matter what the consequences, getting DQ’d is simply his nature.

The big problem with this Fedor video blog is not that it’s an obvious rip-off of Dana White’s video blog (though it is), but rather that the subject – Fedor – does not speak enough English to really be an active participant.  He’s essentially a spectator, which means they have to fill time with way too much Jerry Millen, who has all the charm of a used car salesman on coke.  

This is one more example of the way Affliction always goes wrong when they try to do a shoddier version of what the UFC does.  Their strength with “Day of Reckoning” is the fight card itself.  They’ve got some great fights on there, and instead of playing that up in the days before the event, we get to watch Fedor and his priest Rasputin look sad while Jerry Millen screws around in a limo and Donald Trump name-drops his way through press conferences.

Please, no more.  Can’t we just focus on the fights?

(Think of it this way: if Gilbert asked to "borrow" money, would you consider that a good idea?  It’s the same with betting on him.)

Just in case picking the winners in our official Affliction Pick-em Contest isn’t enough action for you (after all, you don’t stand to lose anything except time and self-respect), you can also wager actual money on the proceedings thanks to the internet and the wonder of off-shore gambling.  Here are the best betting lines on the World Wide Web, thanks to BestFightOdds.com:

Fedor Emelianenko (-350) vs. Andrei Arlovski (+336)
Josh Barnett (-500) vs. Gilbert Yvel (+491)
Vitor Belfort (+160) vs. Matt Lindland (-160)
Renato Sobral (-155) vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou (+125)
Chris Horodecki (-220) vs. Dan Lauzon (+180)
Paul Buentello (-200) vs. Kiril Sidellnikov (+160)
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (-110) vs. Vladimir Matyushenko (-120)
Jay Hieron (-275) vs. Jason High (+215)
Bao Quach (+160) vs. L.C. Davis (-200)
Albert Rios (+195) vs. Antonio Duarte (-245)
Brett Cooper (-200) vs. Patrick Speight (+160)

Thoughts…

(‘You may now resume bartering!’)

Fedor Emelianenko and the rest of the Affliction/M-1 traveling circus showed up to ring the Nasdaq opening bell this morning, thus signaling that everything is going to be a-okay in the financial world.  Just to make sure everything went smoothly, Fedor again wore his special sweater.  Either that’s the only article of clothing he brought to America, or Fedor didn’t go back to his hotel room last night because he wandered around the city looking for scary rollercoasters until morning.

- Sean Sherk will not be wrestling Roger Huerta out of the UFC, as was initially rumored, but will instead be taking on Frankie Edgar at UFC 98.  Edgar, who’s coming off a win over Hermes Franca at UFC Fight Night 14, was held down for three rounds by Gray Maynard for his first UFC loss back in April, so at least he knows the drill by now.

- A bout between Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Mark Coleman is rumored to be a possibility for UFC 99 in Germany this summer.  Dana White said he wouldn’t offer Cro Cop a one fight deal to accommodate his retirement plans, but says he’s open to bringing him back if they can come to terms.  The other opponent the UFC may be offering him?  Tito freaking Ortiz, seen above bro-ing down with Affliction.  

“UFC sources” say that they’d like to get Ortiz back for the Germany show to cash in on his popularity over there.  Apparently he’s a sort of MMA David Hasselhoff, which makes a lot of sense when you think about it.  The biggest obstacle between a Cro Cop vs. Ortiz or Coleman bout right now (aside from the fact that only one of those three men is under contract with the UFC) is the difference in weight classes.  Cro Cop doesn’t want to cut to 205, it seems.  Someone should remind him that Alistair Overeem is considering signing on as a heavyweight.  See if that doesn’t change his mind while also creating an ache in his loins.

(Fedor’s greatest enemy: nothingness)

We were so pleased with how many of you participated in our UFC 93 Pick-em Contest – despite the fact that most of you tasted bitter, humiliating defeat – that we’ve decided to run it back this weekend for “Affliction: Day of Reckoning.” 

Once again you get your chance to predict the results and win a prize, and once again you have to get your picks in to this forum thread by Saturday (1/24) at noon EST, or else you’re dead to us (for the purposes of this contest anyway).

But we learned a thing or two about how to do these bad boys after last time, so pay attention to our guidelines:

(Oscar, his life partner Tito, and their mentally-challenged adopted son Fedor. Mad props: MMA Mania.)

Earlier today in New York, Affliction held a press conference featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Oscar De La Hoya, Tito Ortiz, Donald Trump, Tom Atencio, and Vadim Finkelchtein. (I totally would have been there if not for the fact that something completely historic was happening at the same time; awesome scheduling as always, guys.) All the star power in the room was unfortunately upstaged by Fedor’s horizontally-striped pastel-hued Ultimate Sweater, which probably made De La Hoya and Ortiz very self-conscious about their boring tailored suits. When asked about his sweater, Emelianenko replied, "you dress for job you want, not for job you have."

Just kidding. But according to this Sherdog recap of the presser, here’s what actually went down:

— De La Hoya called MMA’s progress “incredible” and said he expected his company’s success in boxing to follow in MMA through working with Affliction. 

— Affliction VP Tom Atencio said he plans to promote four MMA events per year with Golden Boy. On the UFC’s counter-programming tactics, he said: "They’re going to do what they have to do to make sure that they’re the only game in town. With the organization that we have and the partners we have, I just don’t see that happening."

— "Day of Reckoning" color-man Tito Ortiz said he looked forward to “possibly” fighting for Affliction. 

— Fedor Emelianenko explained that prior to his World Sambo Championships loss in November, he wasn’t as prepared as he should have been, but he’s "fully motivated" for Arlovski. Regarding Arlovski’s much-publicized training with Freddie Roach and Roach’s criticism of Emelianenko’s boxing technique, Emelianenko said, "I never claimed that I had the best boxing technique in the world…[Roach] has trained a lot of great fighters and maybe he’s right, but we’ll see what happens in the ring. We’ll see what Andrei has to offer. We’ll see what I have to offer him.”

After the jump: M-1 Vice President Jerry "Gary" Millen completely bites Dana White’s style with his own video blog, which covers yesterday’s press engagements. What Fedor is wearing at the 4:42 mark may shock you.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

We were all a little shocked when Affliction’s impressively bloated salaries were made public following their "Banned" show last July. But the word on the street was that the super-high payouts were more of a publicity stunt than a part of the actual business model, and several fighters were reportedly asked to take pay cuts for their next Affliction appearance. Well, it looks like at least one "Day of Reckoning" fighter will be taking in considerably more bread this time around. Yahoo! Sports has the scoop:

Assuming Affliction keeps half of each $44.95 pay-per-view purchase, Arlovski would need to pull in nearly 44,500 buys himself this Saturday to justify a million-dollar salary. Tom Atencio was adamant that "Banned" drew over 100,000 buys, which is impressive for a non-UFC event, but when your total fighter payroll is over $3 million, you’re kind of effing yourself in the A, financially speaking. Plus, Donald Trump Jr. gets his cut whether Affliction turns a profit or not. And Affliction’s partners/underminers in Golden Boy have already sold 17,000 seats to the Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito boxing match in L.A. on the same night as "Day of Reckoning," which should steal a lot of spectators and media attention from Affliction. And of course, many MMA fans will be saving their money for "UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2" on January 31st.

So yeah, a million bucks sounds about right.