(Igor Vovchanchyn vs. Francisco Bueno @ PRIDE 8, 11/21/99. Josh Barnett makes the tree-analogy at the 0:41 mark.)
Edson Barboza‘s spinning heel-kick knockout of Terry Etim at UFC 142 wasn’t just an instant-classic because of the technique itself — it was also unforgettable because of the devastating effect it had on Etim, who stiffened up and toppled straight to the mat in slow motion like a felled spruce. The “falling tree” knockout is a rare, brutal moment in combat sports that always gets a rise out of fans. Here are nine of our favorite examples from MMA fights, in no particular order.
(Gina Carano, rising above her fears. Pic: MenVersus.com)
When signing a business contract, one must be acutely aware of the fine print. Companies often try to sneak in language and terms which may later allow them to catch the other party off guard and emerge victorious in the battle for the almighty dollar.
I’d like to think that signing a contract for an MMA bout is a bit more straightforward. You’re told upfront in no uncertain terms that the opposing party’s objective is to physically hurt you. It’s a special breed that can accept those terms and believe in themselves enough to sign on the dotted line.
Despite that rampant self-confidence—or perhaps because of it—many fighters attempt to psyche out their opponent and gain the upper-hand before the first punch has even been thrown. When successful, it makes for an easier night’s work. When it fails, the would-be intimidator is left looking foolish. The comeuppance may come in a laugh at his expense or a lop-sided asswhooping, but either way it’s a sight to behold.
Join us for a closer look at what happens when fear is not a factor in mixed martial arts.
Tomasz Narkun and Saparbek Safarov getting into it at the weigh-ins. GIFS from Emelianenko vs. Malikov after the jump. Props: IronForgesIron.com
As we anxiously await the UFC’s debut on Fox, let’s take the time to celebrate an event that did not go nearly as smoothly as we hope UFC on Fox 1 goes: M-1 Challenge 28. The event was initially set to be headlined by a welterweight championship bout between Shamil Zavurov and Rashid Magomedov, but Shamil was forced off of the card with a last minute injury. In place of the championship bout, M-1 quickly booked Aleksander Emelianenko to fight 3-1 prospect Magomed Malikov. Okay, lackluster main event with a guy we at least know of. It could get worse, right? Don’t worry, it did.
Add on the above tussle from the event’s weigh-ins, and things were spiraling out of control pretty quickly. At least we can still count on Aleksander Emelianenko to crush a hapless can, right? Right?
(Don’t worry Bob, it can only get better from here. That has to be true at least once in a while.)
Imagine this scenario; you’re an up and coming fighter in the cut-throat world of MMA who’s finally earned his shot at the big time. The packed stadium, the camera crews, the ring girls, they’re all there. And best of all, your fight is about to be broadcast for the world to see. “I’ve made it,” you think as you bathe in the bright lights shining down on you.
But then, before you know what hit you, you’re looking up at a large, possibly Rastafarian man, who’s asking if you know where you are. And for the rest of your life, you are dubbed “that guy who got destroyed by ______ .” No matter what you accomplish, you will always be known for one bump in the road that just about everyone happened to witness. Well, here at CP, we know this story all too well, so we decided to check up on a few of these poor suckers, VH1 style, and find out what they were up to. Because knowing is half the battle. Enjoy.
What he’s been up to: As it turns out, Dos Caras Jr. has actually had a rather successful career since nearly being decapitated by Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic back at PRIDE – Bushido 1. His real name is Alberto Rodriguez, and he actually wasn’t that bad of a fighter. Honestly, considering he both wore a mask and went by a fake name, he was a pretty damn awesome fighter, and easily the most successful. After dropping a unanimous decision to Kazuhiro Nakamura at Pride 27, “Two Faces” went 6-1, with all wins coming by way of stoppage. He even managed to pull out a head kick KO of his own back in 2010 against 3-8 fighter Arthur Bart.
It’s hard to define someone like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, a man who is perhaps the most multi-faceted, not to mention intriguing figure in MMA. Aside from his incredible list of credentials including time in both the Croatian elite Special Forces Unit and Parliament, the man has amassed a mixed martial arts and kickboxing resume that reads like a Hall of Fame list in either sport.
But come Saturday night at UFC 137, Cro Cop will simply be fighting for the right to continue his career, or maybe just to end it on his own terms. In a way, Filipovic is kind of like the Metallica of the heavyweights, with his 2006 Pride Grand Prix win being his Master of Puppets. And, like Metallica, everything since then has been well…just kind of downhill. The devastating loss to Gabriel Gonzaga was his ReLoad, the bittersweet win over Pat Barry his Death Magnetic, and the back-to-back knockout losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schuab his Lulu. Except, unlike Lulu, those losses only felt like an hour and a half of pure shit.
But as fans of the sport, we are pulling for Cro Cop to put on a hell of a performance on October 29th. Even at the cost of our parlays, it would be awesome to see some flashes of the old “Cro Cop” in what could be the last fight of his incredible career, which Old Dad has already promised us Mirko will do.
Look at me, blabbering on like some school girl. Let’s take a look and listen at Cro Cop’s greatest hits, “California Dreamin‘” aside.
MMA history is littered with badass sets of brothers — the Nogueiras, the Shamrocks, the Ruffos — but we wouldn’t necessarily want to see them cage-fight to the death. There are, of course, a few exceptions to that rule. In honor of tomorrow’s release of Warrior, which features two estranged brothers who [SPOILER ALERT!] beat the crap out of each other at the end, we humbly present our top-five dream fights between bros. Enjoy…
With all the times that Jason has slapped his brother in the face before UFC fights, you’d think that Clay might want to give some of it back, just once. Sure, the Carpenter would be at a solid 50-pound weight disadvantage, but I think he’d take it by decision due to his pace and his wrestling. Besides, it’s been too long since we’ve had a good open-weight freak show fight in this country.
This is basically the 2011 version of “I wonder what would happen if Shogun and Ninja fought each other?” With a 17-1 record and a Bellator Season 4 tournament sweep to his credit, Patricio Pitbull is undoubtedly one of the greatest featherweights outside of the UFC. (Notable moments: His TKO of Georgi Karakhanyan and destruction of Wilson Reis.) Patricio’s lightweight brother Patricky is just as ferocious, as proven by his knockout of Rob McCullough and highlight-reel flying-knee against Toby Imada. Make it happen, Bjorn.
I’ll be honest, I kind of assumed that Aleksander’s busy schedule of crushing cans, getting prison tattoos and not having hepatitis left him zero time to actually train. For that matter, I also assumed that when you’re a decorated Russian criminal and Fedor Emelianenko’s younger brother, you wouldn’t need to practice to be really good at hurting people. Different strokes, I suppose.
(Aleks looks like he’s coming off of a particularly bad vodka bender in that photo)
Alex Emelianenko revealed over the weekend that he will face his next inexperienced opponent October 28 in Poland. The younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko confirmed the news with FightCard.plthat he will take on Tomasz Nowak (2-0 MMA, 27-4 kickboxing) at an event called Strefa Walk.
(If Aleks hadn’t gone and contracted Hep C, they could have sorted things out the old fashioned way. – vid courtesy of YouTube/Sakuraba78)
When Russians fight, they don’t beat around the bush.
In an interview he did over the weekend with Valetudo.ru in which he responded to claims from Aleksander Emelianenko that his brother’s loss to Dan Henderson over the weekend was the fault of Fedor’s trainers, Sergei Kharitonov called Lil’ Emel “a drunken, diseased drug addict who wasn’t raised properly and who was a mistake.”
“When I read his interview I laughed out loud. Although he is 30 years old and that’s certainly not the reason for laughter. Firstly, for guys like Aleks I am not ‘Serezha’ but rather ‘Sergei Valeryevich.’ Secondly, it’s about time for him to learn how to compress thoughts and, above all, to think before he speaks. He didn’t get a proper upbringing, I guess, but I don’t want to go deeper in it – he doesn’t deserve so much honor. He is a great trash-talker, but real fighters prove their strength in the ring. Aleks is a drinker, he is always brawling. Normal men like me or Fedor would never drink to alcoholic mania and fight in the street. But I often hear about Aleks getting into scraps like this in different corners of our country,” he says. “He rampages, harasses the waitresses and other girls, lies, cries on every corner that he is a champion of the world and the strongest man on Earth. I guess, this is some kind of a drug effect.”
Can-crusher (n.): MMA fighter who makes his reputation by destroying the weak and inexperienced, but falls apart when faced with an opponent who’s half-decent. In no particular order, here are the eight fighters who have defined "can-crushing" more than anybody else in the sport, beginning with one who should still be very fresh in your minds…
BRANDON VERA (11-6) Notable cans crushed in the last three years: Reese Andy, Mike Patt Biggest win in the last three years: Krzysztof Soszynski Recent losses: Thiago Silva, Jon Jones, Randy Couture A cautionary tale about believing your own hype, Brandon Vera’s career has unfolded in two distinct phases: The "sky’s the limit" phase, in which Vera hacked through every opponent in his path, culminating in his beat-down of former champ Frank Mir at UFC 65 — and the "when is this dude getting fired?" phase, marked by contract disputes, unchecked ego, underwhelming performances, and a half-dozen losses. Following the Thiago Silva fight at UFC 125, we expect the Truth to be sent back down to the minors where he can prey on scrubs for a while.
ALEKSANDER EMELIANENKO (17-4) Notable cans crushed in the last three years: Miodrag Petkovic, Eddy Bengtsson, Ibragim Magomedov, Sang Soo Lee Biggest win in the last three years: Honestly, he hasn’t beaten anybody worth mentioning. Recent loss: Peter Graham Fedor’s younger brother built a fearsome reputation in PRIDE for his ice-cold demeanor and lightning-fast knockouts of equally scary-looking mofos like James Thompson and Ricardo Morais. But ever since he left the Japanese scene in 2006 to compete almost exclusively in Europe, his career has drifted steadily out of relevance. A 2008 deal with Affliction signaled a return to meaningful competition, but it didn’t work out — reportedly because of health issues that he has denied ever since. His painful loss to Peter Graham last month suggested that even his can-crushing days might be coming to an end.
(Props: 187872 via MMAScraps. Fight starts at the one-minute mark.)
Aleksander Emelianenko was back in action Saturday night in Khabarovsk, Russia, where he faced Australian K-1/Sengoku vet Peter Graham in the main event of Draka: Governor’s Cup 2010. Despite Graham’s decorated kickboxing background, he came into the fight with an underwhelming MMA record of 3-5, with notable losses to Kazuyuki Fujita, Rolles Gracie, and Jim York (all by first-round choke).
But this was no ordinary MMA match — special rules were in place so that fighters would be stood up after just 30 seconds. Not that it would matter to Aleks, who hasn’t needed much more than his fists lately. In fact, The Other Emelianenko had finished all of his previous eight opponents in the first round. True, most of those opponents were no-name punching bags who looked like they didn’t belong in the ring with him, and his April win against Eddy Bengtsson was one of the dive-iest dives in diving history. Would Graham be another conquest on Alek’s can-crushing streak? As the headline of this post should have already informed you, no, not at all.
(The Rampage Jackson Diaries, vol. 1: A quick look at Rampage’s secret training camp for UFC 123.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– A Lean BJ Penn Already on Weight For UFC 123 (MMA Convert)
– Tim Boetsch Talks Davis Fight, Learning From Past Losses (Heavy.com/MMA)
(Ortiz and Liddell will settle their grudge once and for all on New Year’s Eve…OR WILL THEY?? / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle)
One of my weekly MMA must-reads is the "Sunday Morning Rumor Mill" column on MiddleEasy, which features a bunch of juicy stories that just might be true. In homage to our pals, we’d like to start a similar feature on CagePotato — except ours will work a little differently. Of the eight items you see below, seven have been pulled directly out of our asses. The other one is absolutely, positively, 100% true, and has been confirmed by inside sources. Which one is it? We’d rather not say, due to legal reasons. You’ll have to figure it out yourself…
– Vinicius Quieroz wasn’t the only fighter who was caught by the UFC’s independent drug-testing at UFC 120. There was a second guy who pissed hot for the same steroid, but the company decided to let him off with a private (but very stern) warning. Hint: Main card, but not main event.
– Arianny Celeste has been dating a former UFC fighter for the past year, but has kept the relationship hidden from the public, in order to protect the fantasy that she’s "available" to her fans. We can’t reveal her boyfriend’s name, but his initials are Tiki Ghosn.
Just a month after he scored a first-round TKO over Eddy Bengtsson via mind-bullets, nomadic heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko was back in the ring this weekend at an Azerbaijan Pankration Federation event, proving absolutely nothing against another middle-of-the-food-chain European opponent. This time it was Miodrag Petkovic (29-12-1), a 40-year-old Serbian who holds wins over Igor Pokrajac, Tim Hague, and Travis Fulton. I wish we had a better video of this — perhaps, one that shows how Petkovic originally ended up on his back, and didn’t include another fight tacked onto the end of it, and didn’t look like it was edited together by Azamat Bagatov — but the basic gist is, Aleks spent the majority of the fight smashing Petkovic from the top until the ref stopped the fight at the 3:00 mark. It was Emelianenko’s eighth consecutive first-round victory. But of course, quantity is no replacement for quality. Did he forget about his plan to come to America and beat everyone in the UFC?
(Skirting the Unified Rules, Lil’ Emel uses the Force Choke to incapacitate his opponent)
For years now, fans and reporters have hypothesized that Fedor Emelianenko is some mystical being whose powers were not of this world — a Jedi, perhaps.
It seems that his younger brother, Aleksander, has similar gifts.
(We’re not sure, but this may be the best translated fighter "documentary" since the one on Mirko Filipovic. Fourteen seconds in and he’s declared "one of the strongest guys on the planet." That really sets the tone for what’s ahead.)
Though Aleksander Emelianenko and his possibly tainted blood are no longer welcome to fight professionally in the U.S., he’s been surprisingly active in Russia of late. At least, you know, for a guy who may or may not have Hepatitis B. Just last year he beat Ibragim Magomedov and also made his pro boxing debut, and more recently he won the Russian Combat Sambo Championships. Now MMAFighting.com reports that he’s found himself another MMA opponent willing to take the risks for a shot at glory and money, and it’s Swedish fighter and former Olympic wrestler Eddy Bengtsson, who will face Emelianenko in Moscow on April 23.
Bengtsson is 3-1 and he’s only been a pro since 2008, so there are at least two reasons why this fight would have a hard time getting sanctioned in any country that cared for the well being of the individual. But dammit, we can’t hate on Aleks or Eddy for trying to ply their trade. In fact, it’s refreshing to see two guys throwing good sense aside in an attempt to hurt one another.
At the same time, after watching some of Eddy’s fights we’re a little concerned that he may get straight-up murdered by MMA’s favorite tattoo enthusiast. Obviously he’s a good wrestler, but Emelianenko isn’t just some punk he can toss around with ease. He’s a big scary dude who has a little bit of experience at this MMA stuff, and Bengtsson really doesn’t. See what we mean after the jump.
(‘And now I join you in holy matrimony, for better or for worse, until one of you starves or is eaten by wolves.’)
Here’s how unconcerned Fedor Emelianenko is about fighting Brett Rogers on Strikeforce’s November 7 show on CBS: instead of training his ass off with a single-minded focus on destruction, he took some time out to get married this weekend.Fedor took the plunge for the second time in his life (his first marriage ended in 2006), and he did it in a Russian Orthodox ceremony which involves a lot of awesome symbolism, such as being crowned the king of your own home. The typical Orthodox wedding also usually involves a couple days worth of celebrating, but we’re hoping that Fedor postponed that, along with the honeymoon, so he could be back hitting tires with sledgehammers and sparring in public parks by Monday morning.
Seriously, it’s great that Fedor has entered once again into wedded bliss, and we’re very happy for him, but couldn’t this have waited until after the Rogers fight?Judging by the pictures, his bride wasn’t eight months pregnant, so they could have conceivably put it off until after the fight if they wanted to.At this point we have to assume that Fedor knows how to prepare for a fight, but these distractions are starting to take on a little bit of a “Rocky III” kind of feel, and – we’re just putting it out there – Brett Rogers and Clubber Lang have very similar haircuts.
We don’t speak the Russkie, but according to rough translations of the above shout-out video, Aleksander Emelianenko would just like to say thank you to all his fans, and vows to come to America soon to "beat everyone in the UFC." Yes, everyone — even the lightweights, we’d have to assume. And sure, Aleksander seems to pop up every few months to make similar proclamations, despite the fact that the CSAC’s Bill Douglas once stated that he’ll never be licensed to fight in the U.S. again. But things feel a little different now…and dare we say, hopeful.
Back in March, Aleks said he was pondering an offer from the UFC. At the time, we pointed out that his Affliction contract would get in the way of a UFC signing happening in the immediate future, but now that Affliction is toast, he’s basically a free agent again; remember, he no longer has any official ties to M-1 either. Just spitballin’ here, but could the UFC pick him up to put in European shows, thereby skirting his blacklisted status in the U.S.? (After all, the CSAC never came out and said "Hep B" — that was just the widespread rumor.) Or is this one of those pipe dreams that will never materialize, no matter how many ethical guidelines are bent?
You have to give Ivanov this much, for a guy with zero professional experience in MMA he’s certainly diving into deep waters right away. Fujita and Aleks Emelianenko may not be at the top of anyone’s heavyweight list, but they’re both experienced, dangerous opponents. It seems we’ll find out in a hurry whether winning a Sambo tournament makes you an instantly credible MMA fighter. Our guess is no, it probably doesn’t.
Beginning with one of the greatest face-offs in MMA history — which pitted Thompson’s theatrical fury against Aleks’s nose-picking stoicism — it was clear that this fight was going to provide an entertaining clash of styles. Thompson’s ridiculous “gong-and-dash” routine actually succeeds in catching Emelianenko off-guard, but as soon as the Grim Reaper springs back to his feet, reality sets in. Thompson proceeds to eat punch after punch until his legs give out, thus proving a very important lesson: It doesn’t matter how big you are, or how angry you look — real power comes from having tons of Russian prison tattoos.
I can already say where I’m getting offers to continue my career — from Holland’s Golden Glory, Japan’s DREAM, president of the UFC Dana White wants me to fight for them. All the contracts offered are long term, so I have not made up my mind yet where I will compete.
UFC, huh? Of course Aleksander would have to complete his three-fight U.S.-exclusive contract with Affliction first, and he’s fulfilled zero of those three fights so far. But you have to believe that Dana White would want to sign Aleks to the UFC as a thumb in the eye to his brother Fedor. Oh! Delicious! By the way, not to beat a dead horse, but Aleks could totally compete in America if it came down to it:
I did not get in on the first Affliction show because there were some problems with documents. I flew in, and passed the medical commission. Everything was fine. Then they tell me that I flew in too late and cannot compete. And before the second event, I injured my hand. I sensed that I would not be able to compete at full strength and asked them myself not to schedule the fight. I’m hoping to compete on the third Affliction show this summer in America.
("It is our destiny to become an advanced race and to kill the earth in the process, only in all probability to be crushed by an even more advanced and complexed system. One day we will find other human like creatures that have noses on their arms and we will find them ugly and they will find us ugly." More from this insane rant after the jump! Photo props to HolyTaco.)
El Famous Burrito on "The Potato Index: UFC 96 Aftermath": The UFC needs to get Vince from the Shamwow commercials to pitch title fights to guys: "Ok Rampage, if you act now, and call your manager in the next 20 minutes, because we can’t do this all day, we’ll send you to Vegas to fight Rashad Evans for the title. And as a bonus we’ll throw in a fight at UFC 99, because we all know the Germans need good fights, you can even use the Shamwow to wipe down those greasy Jackson fighters. You’ll be saying wow every time." [Ed. note: Hey, it worked for Lyoto "SlapChop" Machida.]
(Eric Pele gets ready to hand Antonio Silva his only career loss at a Bodog Fight event in December 2006. Four months later, Pele got his ass kicked by Aleks Emelianenko. You do the MMA-math.)
Though they don’t offer much in the way of sources or details, Fighters Only Magazine just published this juicy rumor:
Earlier today, it emerged that [Antonio] Silva — who has a three-fight non-exlcusive deal with Sengoku — might be facing Aleksander Emelianenko in his next bout. Coincidentially, Emelianenko has also experienced difficulty with CSAC after being removed at short notice from Affliction’s debut MMA show in July last year.
In my opinion, both Silva and A. Emelianenko sit just outside the heavyweight top ten, so a match between them would be both exciting and meaningful. It’s been too long since either man has faced high-level competition, and the fight makes logical sense: the guy who’s exiled from the U.S. because of a steroid suspension facing the guy who’s exiled from the U.S. because of NOT HEPATITIS. (Though let’s be honest, if Aleks’s last-minute dropout from "Banned" was simply a case of late paperwork, don’t you think he’d get his shit together in time to be on the"Day of Reckoning" card?) Make it happen, Sengoku equivalent of Dana White.
Also mentioned in the Fighters Only article was Bigfoot’s recent rant on the Brazilian MMA TV show Brasil Combate regarding the marquee heavyweight in his old fight organization, EliteXC:
"The EliteXC matchmaker told us that Kimbo Slice wouldn’t last more than thirty or forty seconds with me…Kimbo has all my respect but he didn’t deserve all attention of the organisation. I bet the rest of my career that any Brazilian lightweight fighter can beat him easily"
(“Well, it was nice knowing you.” Photo courtesy of M-1 MixFight; props to BloodyElbow for the heads-up.)
M-1 is holding an M-1 Challenge event today in St. Petersburg, Russia, with Team Russia Red Devil taking on Team Korea, and Team Russia Legion facing Team Holland; the full lineup is here. Headlining the team competition will be two “superfights” that reflect the card’s nation vs. nation theme. The Legion/Holland main event will be 1-1 rookie Alexander Timanov vs. Dutch bad-boy Gilbert Yvel, while the Red Devil/Korea feature will be none other than Alexander Emelianenko vs. Spirit MC/DEEP/M-1 vet Sang Soo Lee (10-4). Soo has won four of his five fights this year, including a submission victory over Emelianenko’s Red Devil clubmate Roman Zentsov. The Korean fighter may be a step up in competition from Aleks’s last opponent, but we still think The Grim Reaper should be able to take this one relatively easily. More photos from yesterday’s weigh-ins are after the jump, courtesy of M1MixFight.com.
This week’s Fighter caption contest — which centered on a chance encounter between The Grim Reaper, Pooty-Poot, and the Muscles from Brussels — was an overwhelming success, hauling in 440-ish entries, nearly all of which revolved around some combination of hepatitis and homoeroticism. Three of them were good enough to earn copies of Fighter, courtesy of Viking and Coach. But first, some honorable mentions:
crookshark: In spite of his fighting skills, Aleksander Emelianenko proved to be terrible at musical chairs.
Destro: Jean-Claude breathed a sigh of relief…finally, someone who was even more underdressed than he was.
Horror Fighter: Frank Dux stopped smiling when Aleks reached into his shorts and pulled out Jackson’s Harley-Davidson bandana.
Dangada Dang: Jean Claude recovering from what will go down in history as THE most awkward boner.
*previous record held by….Jean Claude Van Damme
(Aleks’s sledge-hammer rears its head over the airspace of Tireland.)
When Aleksander Emelianenko was pulled from July’s Affliction: Banned card at the 11th hour, American MMA fans were robbed of seeing “The Grim Reaper” compete in the U.S. for the first time. Though rumors persisted that the CSAC blocked Aleks from fighting due to health concerns, he has always insisted that late paperwork was to blame, and that his health is good. Good enough to fight outside of the States, at least: M-1 has announced that Fedor’s younger brother will be headlining M-1 Challenge 9 against Sang Soo Lee, on November 21st at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Lee (9-4) is a Korean fighter who has fought under the SpiritMC, DEEP, MARS, and M-1 banners, and is on a three-fight win streak. His last match was a first-round triangle-choke submission of Roman Zentsov at M-1 Challenge Korea in August — and now Aleks is going in to avenge his Red Devil Sport Club homey’s loss. The Emelianenko/Lee match will be supported by fights between Team Korea and Team Russia Red Devil, and Team Russia Legion vs. Team Holland.
But before that, M-1 will make it’s first appearance on U.S. soil. Says M1MixFight.com:
On October 29th 2008, the M-1 Challenge will come to Kansas City, Missouri for the 8th installment of this new fight series. 3 time All American Wrestler of Missouri and UFC and IFL veteran Mike Whitehead (22-6) is slated to take part in the event as the superfight participant.
Whitehead had a 13-fight win streak snapped at Affliction: Banned when he dropped a decision to Renato Sobral. As for Aleksander Emelianenko, he expects to compete at Affliction’s January event, and may also “fight around Christmas-time in Japan.”
(Oh yeah, finding opponents won’t be difficult at all…)
According to a new article by Fighters Only, Aleksander Emelianenko claims that he will be returning for the next Affliction show. He also mentions that the medical rumors surrounding his ejection from the last Affliction PPV are simply untrue. That’s right. Just didn’t happen. Looks like the CSAC was mistaken(?) when one of their top execs had this to say regarding Fedor’s little:
“The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Emelianenko) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially denied a license and that will stand for all of the United States of America.”
Hmm. Well that’s not encouraging. Despite the harsh words from the Golden State, Emelianenko remains optimistic.
“I am going back to the States next week to do interviews and make some film for the January event,” he said.
“But I don’t know about any opponent yet, all that is in the process of being sorted out.”
Aleks added that he may also “fight around Christmas-time in Japan.”
“But there will be no problem this time – everything is cool.”
And by cool, he means it’ll be a piece of cake to find a top level fighter who is willing to fight a potential case of Hepatitis B. This can’t bode well for Affliction, as Fedor has made a history of mandating that his brother be included in all shows he does.
(Is Jay Hieron the latest IFL refugee to be rescued by Affliction?)
Some more news and rumors emerging about Affliction’s October 11th show in Las Vegas…
— Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell’s agent Monte Cox has informed Five Ounces of Pain that the two Miletich big boys are unlikely to be added to “Day of Reckoning,” though they could be part of Affliction’s third event.
— According to Tom Atencio, Aleksander Emelianenko “still faces licensing problems” and will not fight at “Day of Reckoning.” Said the CSAC’s Bill Douglas: “The one thing that I can absolutely say is that he (Emelianenko) was not and will not be cleared to fight in California. He is officially denied a license and that will stand for all of the United States of America.” The reason for Emelianenko’s rejection is still unclear, though he and his camp continue to refute reports that he tested positive for Hepatitis B before “Banned.”
— According to MMA Junkie, the middleweight bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort that was slated for “Day of Reckoning” could be scratched due to a hand injury suffered by Belfort. No word yet on who might replace him on the card against Lindland.
— And finally, some good news: Junkie also reports that IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has been approached by Affliction and is expected to compete at their October event against an opponent to be determined later. If this is true, Hieron would be the third reigning IFL champion that Affliction has picked up, after Roy Nelson and Vladimir Matyushenko. Of the remaining three, middleweight champ Dan Miller signed with the UFC, Ryan Schultz is heading to Japan to be a part of Sengoku’s lightweight GP, and featherweight champ Wagnney Fabiano is apparently still weighing his options.
Skip to the 2:02 mark of this video taken backstage at Affliction: Banned, where Josh Barnett gives Aleksander Emelianenko a piece of his mind. The backstory to all this starts with an interview Emelianenko did with Sherdog last month in which he claimed that Barnett was refusing a re-match with Emelianenko because he knew he’d lose. (Barnett previously defeated Emelianenko at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute in May 2006.) The Babyface Assassin responded thusly on his MySpace blog:
Aleksander Emelianenko must have hit something mighty powerful to think I am afraid of fighting him. The only offer I ever had to fight him was the one time I did fight him…and I won. His version of asking for a rematch is doing so in a locker room after beating Bobish while I visited his brother. “Sure we can fight. Why not for free even, I mean who does this to make money right!?” He’s not an “insane” fighter. He’s just delusional.
He thinks I have been “running” from him because “I know I will lose”. He says he lost because he had a, and I am not making this up, a temperature of “98.6″. No, he doesn’t mean Celsius because his organs would have cooked off like fireworks at the kind of heat (208.6C). Go back to rapping about….fuck who cares!? Have you heard that shit!?
I was asked if I would fight him in this Affliction event and I said “In a heart beat”. Ask Tom or Todd. I will walk up to him when I see him next and let him know too. You will never beat me. I will fight you anytime and you will lose again. You can make all the excuses you want but when they’re picking up what’s left of you the proof will be for all to see…splattered all over the ring.
Awkward confrontations are even more awkward when done through an interpreter, and it seems like Aleks doesn’t know what to make of Josh’s diatribe. If there are any Russian speakers reading this, please let us know how accurately the translator is relaying Barnett’s words to Aleks. Because if the dude was like “Josh says he apologizes for ducking you, and he acknowledges your superior masculinity, and would you please shake his hand now,” we wouldn’t be that surprised.
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