In Saturday's upcoming battle of counter-programming with the UFC, Affliction has again raised the stakes with its debut "Banned" card.
Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) that Saturday night's pay-per-view broadcast will run a full four hours and will feature eight bouts. Additionally, FSN will air three bouts, rather than the previously reported two fights.
In other words, between FSN and PPV, the entire "Banned" fight card will be televised.
Saturday's event features a headline bout between longtime PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight title-holder Tim Sylvia. Other notables such as Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Matt Lindland, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Vitor Belfort and Aleksander Emelianenko have formed what many are calling the greatest fight card in MMA history.
"Banned" was previously set to feature two fights on FSN and five fights on PPV. Four preliminary fights were expected to go un-televised.
However, Atencio said that will not be the case.
"Every fight except the three that are going to be on [FSN] will be on pay-per-view," Atencio said.
"Affliction: Banned" takes place Saturday at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The FSN broadcast begins at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT), and the PPV portion kicks off at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT).
The event goes head-to-head with UFC Fight Night 14, which airs the same night on Spike TV. Affliction faces some stiff competition. The UFC is putting one of its biggest stars and arguably the world's top pound-for-pound fighters on free basic cable television as UFC middleweight champion meets James Irvin in a non-title light-heavyweight bout. Brandon Vera, Hermes Franca, Frankie Edgar and other notables are also in action.
Atencio has continually stated that he's "flattered" by the UFC's decision to counter-program and that it only proves that UFC President Dana White considers Affliction a legitimate threat.
The full "Banned" card now includes:
MAIN CARD (PPV)
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia
Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell
Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead
Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Nascimento
Edwin Dewees vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
J.J. Ambrose vs. Mike Pyle
Ray Lazama vs. Justin Levens (swing bout)
PRELIMINARY CARD (FSN)
Paul Buentello vs. Aleksander Emelianenko
Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin
Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young
Affliction to broadcast entire card!
Linear Mode
