According to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, Andrei “The Pit Bull” Arlovski will face Fedor Emelianenko on October 11, 2008 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. This will be Affliction’s second show and coincidentally, it will be Fedor’s second appearance at the Thomas & Mack Center. Both Fedor and Arlovski are coming off very impressive wins at Affliction: Banned. Fedor earned the WAMMA Heavyweight Title defeating Tim Sylvia and Arlovski stopped a formidable Ben Rothwell. Personally, considering the situation of everything at this point, I can’t think of a more exciting match-up for Fedor than the “Pit Bull” Arlvoski. It seems Arlovski has found his rhythm again and the days of Fedor fighting sub-par competition thankfully seem to be a thing of the past. Both, Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski are from Russia. They both have Sambo backgrounds. Both are extremely fast, athletic, and powerful. This match-up has the potential to be one of the greatest heavyweight bouts of all time.
How will Dana and the UFC react to Affliction coming right into their hometown and pitting Fedor against yet another UFC veteran? Chances are slim to none the UFC will be able to counter the Affliction October 11 event with another free live show of their own considering Spike is airing Fight Nitht Live on September 17 and then UFC 89 in Birmingham, U.K. on October 18. I don’t even think David Blaine has the magic to produce another free live event in that small of a time frame.