The colossal Affliction “Day of Reckoning” fight card has now been finalized with explosive bouts set for both Pay-Per-View and HDNet telecasts.
The scheduled 11-fight MMA extravaganza, including the much-anticipated main event battle between two of MMA’s most notorious heavyweights: Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko and Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski, promises to be an entertaining night of raging, all-star fight action.
“Day of Reckoning” takes place on Saturday, January 24 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California and will be televised live on Pay-Per-View at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The show is stacked with great match-ups and some of the best talent in MMA today. The Emelianenko vs. Arlovski bout will decide who will be the reigning heavyweight champion of the world.
Emelianenko (28-1), universally recognized as the most dominating heavyweight in MMA, is the former undisputed PRIDE® Heavyweight Champion and Russian M-1 legend. He defends his newly acquired World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Heavyweight Championship belt against hard-hitting striker and former UFC® Champ, Andrei Arlovski (14-5), who is on a five fight winning streak, with impressive performances over Ben Rothwell at “Affliction Banned” in July and most recently, Roy Nelson on the October 4 EliteXC show. When “The Emperor” and “The Pitbull” meet in the ring, it’s sure to be a fiery clash of will and technique.
Produced by Belmonte Productions, the blockbuster PPV telecast, which has a suggested retail price of $44.95, features other top-tier MMA stars battling it out in the ring, including Josh “The Baby Faced Assassin” Barnett (23-5), who is one of the top 10 heavyweights in the world, a celebrated wrestling star in Japan, and (formerly) the youngest UFC® Heavyweight Champion of all-time. He will go toe-to-toe with the hot-tempered Gilbert “The Hurricane” Yvel (35-12), in a match that has been labeled ‘highly combustible.’
Rounding out the Pay-Per-View telecastwill be Brazilian fighter and former UFC® Light Heavyweight Champ, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort (17-8) facing off against former Olympic wrestler and Oregon State politician Matt “The Law” Lindland (21-5).
Brazilian National Wrestling Champ and former UFC® Heavyweight Title Challenger, Renato “Babalu” Sobral (31-7), will fight Cameroonian mixed martial artist Thierry “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou (5-3). Lightweight standout Chris “The Polish Hammer” Horodecki (12-1) will face off against rising star Dan “The Upgrade” Lauzon (11-2), who is the brother of lightweight champ Joe Lauzon.
As a prelude to the epic PPV event, fans can tune in early to HDNet for the rest of the impressive “Day of Reckoning” undercard, with five additional fights. The telecast features the marquee light heavyweight rematch of Antonio “Minotoro” Nogueira (15-3) vs. Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko (21-3) as the main event, live at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. Lil’ Nog will be looking to extract his revenge from “The Janitor” in this re-match which has been six years in the making.
Also on the HDNet telecast, former IFL® Welterweight Champion Jay “The Thorobred” Hieron (16-4) will fight undefeated welterweight champ Jason High (8-0); nine-time TKO Featherweight Champion Mark “The Machine” Hominick (16-8) fights life-long wrestler LC Davis (12-1); and teacher and Cage of Fire Champion Albert “Al Boogey” Rios (11-3) squares off against Mexican Lightweight Champion of UCM Antonio “El Tigre” Duarte (11-1).
Promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and brought to you by Affliction Entertainment and its partners, Donald J. Trump and M-1 Global, Affliction “Day of Reckoning” is scheduled to include 11 rousing bouts of fierce, full-throttle battle headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski. The event will take place on January 24, 2009 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA and live on Pay-Per-View beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.
Ticket prices range from $50-$450 and can be purchased through Ticketmaster (available online at www.ticketmaster.com or at all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone at 714-740-2000) and at Honda Center Box Office (714-704-2500).
FIGHT CARD LINE UP
Pay-Per-View Fight Card:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidellnikov (Baby Fedor)
HDNet Fight Card:
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jay Heiron vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. LC Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight