UPDATED: UFC appears ready not just to take on the upstart Affliction mixed martial arts organization, but to try for a first-round knockout.
MMARated.com and F4Wonline.com are reporting that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva -- widely regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world -- will fight on Spike on July 19, the same night that Affliction has a pay-per-view show.
The reports say it will be Silva's first fight at light heavyweight, and that his opponent will be James Irvin. According to MMA Rated, Silva is not planning to relinquish his middleweight belt. He'll fight Irvin at 205 pounds and then cut back down to 185 for a middleweight bout down the road. Hermes Franca vs. Frankie Edgar is reportedly part of the undercard.
The event will apparently be part of the Spike UFC Fight Night series.
Affliction's July 19 show is in serious trouble. Although Affliction has put together a good card, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko, it's going to lose a fortune if there's a UFC show headlined by Silva simultaneously. Very, very few people will pay to see Affliction if Silva is fighting for free. Affliction may want to consider canceling.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-17-2008 @ 6:52PM
Farthammer said...
It's very simple: watch Affliction live; TiVo or DVR UFC. That's what I plan on doing.
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6-17-2008 @ 7:38PM
JoeT said...
Lots of great fights...I like it!
http://www.fromthecage.com
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6-17-2008 @ 8:42PM
Shonda said...
Hell yeah! I'm excited to see Silva fite again. Dana's not playing around. I get the TiVo/DVR thing, but I can't stand watching sporting events on DVR!
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6-18-2008 @ 1:02AM
claytor said...
This is idiotic.
So youre trying to tell me that an event featuring two legit heavyweights, one of whom is the best fighter UFC will NEVER sign because of its slavedriver mentality, is going to be outbid by -wait for it- Anderson Silva.
Fighting in a different weight class.
NOT defending the title in his natural weight class.
Ill make it really simple here...
Fedor > Silva
Dont get me wrong, love em both, but uh Fedor will be fighting three time UFC champ Tim Sylvia, and Andersons going to counter with...what amounts to an exhibition match against a guy who favors the superman knee?
And as mentioned in previous remarks, theres this thing called dvdr, or tivo now.
Nice try, Dana King, er White.
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6-18-2008 @ 9:03AM
Woody Wood said...
And, let's not forget, Tim Sylvia was never really liked by UFC fans because his style of fighting was always cautious and only did enough to win the fights instead of finish them. Hardcore fans, let's be real, Elite XC ratings were because of headliner Kimbo Slice, not because of Elite XC itself. There is nobody on this card that will draw a significant amount of people for Affliction to break even. UFC is dominant MMA brand or MMA is UFC, whether you like it or not.
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