(Jorge Santiago gets to his feet after choking out Kazuo Misaki in the fifth round of their title fight at Sengoku no Ran 2009, while UFC superfan Satoshi Ishii [bottom left] tries to comprehend what the hell he just witnessed. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
After racking up five-straight wins in Sengoku and earning the promotion’s middleweight belt, American Top Team fighter Jorge Santiago will be making his U.S. return at Affliction’s third event on August 1st. MMA Weekly has confirmed that the top-ten-ranked 185′er — who has gone 9-0 since leaving the UFC in 2006 — will collide with Vitor Belfort in a match that’s expected to be on "Trilogy"’s main card.
Formerly a light-heavyweight competitor in the UFC, PRIDE, and Cage Rage, Belfort has gone 2-0 as a middleweight in Affliction, with knockout victories over Terry Martin (at "Banned" last July) and Matt Lindland (at "Day of Reckoning" in January). With this bout in place, the pay-per-view lineup for Affliction’s third and not final MMA event is looking pretty kickass. Get caught up after the jump…
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (HW)
Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral (LHW)
Tim Sylvia vs. Paul Buentello (HW)
Jorge Santiago vs. Vitor Belfort (MW)
Jay Hieron vs. Paul Daley (WW)
Dan Lauzon vs. Chris Horodecki (LW)
r8ge i think you got the parley $ maker. this card kicks ass! i don’t understand why These events don’t bank more than the UFCs they need better hype n advertising i think.