AfflictionTrilogy Posts -- FanHouse

Latest AfflictionTrilogy Stories

Gegard Mousasi Turns 24, Trains With Freddie Roach

Posted: Aug 1st 2009 3:18PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: MMA Videos, Strikeforce, M-1 Global

If Josh Barnett hadn't failed a drug test, Gegard Mousasi would be celebrating his 24th birthday by fighting Renato "Babalu" Sobral at Affliction Trilogy. Instead, his fight has been pushed back two weeks to the August 15 Strikeforce show, and Mousasi is celebrating by training at Freddie Roach's gym in Los Angeles.

Continue Reading Gegard Mousasi Turns 24, Trains With Freddie Roach

Josh Barnett Hopes to Fight Positive Test: 'I Have People Working On It'

Posted: Aug 1st 2009 8:28AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction, FanHouse Exclusive

10 COMMENTS

Josh Barnett was supposed to have the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career this weekend, a bout with Fedor Emelianenko that, had he won, would have made him the heavyweight champion of MMA. But Barnett isn't fighting this weekend, and in a brief phone interview with FanHouse Friday night, Barnett sounded upset and dejected while vowing to keep fighting the failed steroid test that led to his fight being called off.

Continue Reading Josh Barnett Hopes to Fight Positive Test: 'I Have People Working On It'

Paul 'Semtex' Daley Still in Negotiations with UFC, Others

Posted: Jul 30th 2009 12:54PM by Ray Hui (author feed)
Filed under: MMA Rumors, FanHouse Exclusive

0 COMMENTS

British welterweight Paul "Semtex" Daley is still in negotiations with a number of promotions and a deal with the UFC has not yet been finalized, contrary to the reports Wednesday of a four-fight deal.

Continue Reading Paul 'Semtex' Daley Still in Negotiations with UFC, Others

Strikeforce Adds Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato 'Babalu' Sobral Title Fight

Posted: Jul 27th 2009 4:49PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction, Strikeforce

3 COMMENTS

Picking through the wreckage of the scrapped Affliction Trilogy card, the Strikeforce MMA promotion has added a very good fight between Gegard Mousasi and Renato "Babalu" Sobral to its August 15 show. Although Mousasi-Sobral was originally slated to be part of the Affliction card, Babalu is actually Strikeforce's light heavyweight champion, so this will now be a title fight.

Continue Reading Strikeforce Adds Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato 'Babalu' Sobral Title Fight

MMA Twitter Mailbag: UFC on ESPN, Tito Ortiz, Ricardo Arona, Fedor

Posted: Jul 26th 2009 5:58PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: UFC

10 COMMENTS

Our latest MMA Twitter mailbag delves into the potential for a relationship between the UFC and ESPN, the possibility that Tito Ortiz will return to the Octagon, the whereabouts of Ricardo Arona and still more about what's going on with Fedor Emelianenko after Affliction Trilogy was canceled.

The mailbag is below.

Continue Reading MMA Twitter Mailbag: UFC on ESPN, Tito Ortiz, Ricardo Arona, Fedor

Fedor Emelianenko Was the Last to Learn His Fight Had Been Canceled

Posted: Jul 25th 2009 6:51AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction

10 COMMENTS

On Friday afternoon, the whole MMA world was talking about the cancellation of Affliction Trilogy, the card that was set to feature heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the main event. But one person found out about the cancellation long after the rest of us: Fedor himself.

Yes, as I noted on Friday, Fedor was on a plane to Los Angeles at the time that Affliction pulled the plug on the show, and Fedor's promotion, M-1, released a statement Saturday saying that Fedor knew nothing about it until he found out at the airport, several hours after every MMA web site had weighed in on it.

Continue Reading Fedor Emelianenko Was the Last to Learn His Fight Had Been Canceled

Winners, Losers of 'Trilogy' Debacle

Posted: Jul 24th 2009 9:00PM by Ray Hui (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction

2 COMMENTS

The last-minute unavailability of Josh Barnett and the lack of time to promote a new fight has led to the cancellation of Affliction "Trilogy," the third offering from the event-by-event existing promotion.

FanHouse examines the winners and losers out of the "Trilogy" cancellation.

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Joe Riggs Out, Strikeforce and Affliction Should Combine Cards

Posted: Jul 24th 2009 10:22AM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction, Strikeforce

4 COMMENTS

Another day, another report that we've lost a high-profile fighter who was scheduled for a high-profile fight: Joe Riggs, who was scheduled to fight Nick Diaz for the Strikeforce welterweight title, is reportedly out of the August 15 card. That's the second title fight Strikeforce has lost this week (heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem pulled out of his bout with Fabricio Werdum), and it comes the same week as the news that Josh Barnett can't fight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Trilogy.

That means neither Affliction nor Strikeforce is giving its fans nearly as good a card as they were told they were getting when they purchased tickets, ordered pay-per-view and subscribed to Showtime. So now Affliction and Strikeforce should do the right thing for themselves and for MMA fans: Combine their cards.

Continue Reading Joe Riggs Out, Strikeforce and Affliction Should Combine Cards

Sobral on Mousasi: When I Started Fighting, He Was Still on Mother's Lap

Posted: Jul 24th 2009 8:22AM by Mike Chiappetta (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction, FanHouse Exclusive

0 COMMENTS

Since making his debut in 1997, Renato "Babalu" Sobral has seen more than a few hot prospects capture attention before fading away. His Aug. 1 Affliction: Trilogy opponent, Gegard Mousasi, is perhaps the latest in a long line of hyped young stars who has excited observers with his potential.

And while only time will tell if Mousasi meets the predictions that many are forecasting for him, Sobral can only concern himself with the present. And what he sees is a talented kid who is a bit short on experience.

"He's a Dream champion. He's not overrated; he's just one more guy," said Sobral, whose fight will air as one of the featured matches on the 9PM ET pay-per-view broadcast. "He's a young guy, upcoming. But when I started fighting for the first time, he was still on his mother's lap."

Continue Reading Sobral on Mousasi: When I Started Fighting, He Was Still on Mother's Lap

Randy Couture: Vitor Belfort Has a Good Chance Against Fedor Emelianenko

Posted: Jul 23rd 2009 10:56PM by Michael David Smith (author feed)
Filed under: Affliction, UFC

27 COMMENTS

Randy Couture has always desperately wanted to fight Fedor Emelianenko, once going so far as to leave the UFC in an unsuccessful attempt to fight Fedor elsewhere. But while Couture's fight with Fedor is probably never going to happen, Couture does hope that his friend Vitor Belfort gets that chance.

And Couture says that Belfort would have as good a chance as Josh Barnett -- or anyone else -- of beating Fedor, if Belfort is, as many expect, the man who steps in for Barnett and challenges Fedor on August 1 at Affliction Trilogy.

Continue Reading Randy Couture: Vitor Belfort Has a Good Chance Against Fedor Emelianenko