'Affliction: Banned' Review

The much-hyped inaugural "Affliction: Banned" event came to us live Saturday from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. with perhaps the best heavyweight card in MMA history.

The event, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia, took place in a ring and utilized the same basic rules of combat that the UFC does. In other words, elbows on the ground were legal.

The first fight of the night saw Mike Pyle taking on J.J. Ambrose after an opening performance by Megadeth.

Ambrose came out aggressively swinging and clinched with Pyle in the corner. There the two did some switching back and forth before Pyle gained a body lock and took Ambrose down. From there, Pyle mounted his adversary and soon after took his back. Several softening up strikes ensued before Pyle sunk in the rear naked choke.

Pyle looked very good in this one.

Mike Pyle wins via rear naked choke at 2:51 of the first round.

Next up was a match between Antonio Rogerio Nogueira and Edwin DeWees. Beforehand, commentator Frank Trigg noted that he felt DeWees was overmatched.

In the end, it turns out that he was right.

DeWees started things off by hitting home with multiple kicks. Though Nogueira only connected with a few punches early on he did eventually gain a takedown before deciding to stand and let his opponent up. Bad move?

Nope.

Soon after Nogueira connected with several knees inside, then a flurry of punches, and followed all that up with a hard left that floored DeWees. Several punches later on the ground and the referee had no choice but to stop the fight.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira wins via TKO at 4:06 of round one.

“I prepare myself for all situations,” said Fabio Negao before taking on Matt “The Law” Lindland in the Team Quest fighter’s long awaited return to MMA. Of course, most fighters believe that they are prepared for all situations until they end up in the ring with a terrific fighter. So would that be the case in this fight?

Lindland started the bout off by connecting with a hard left that floored his opponent. Then came a guillotine choke attempt that lasted for over a minute and nearly ended the fight. Still, Negao persevered through.

From there, Lindland hit home with some significant ground and pound before the two stood up. On their feet, both fighters looked somewhat fatigued. Regardless, Lindland won the initial round easily.

The second stanza started off with Lindland taking the fight to Negao with dirty boxing. But soon after Negao connected with a hard elbow that hurt his opponent. Then he opened up on The Law, continuing to hurt him with elbows and punches. In fact, this eventually caused Lindland to look for the takedown, something that he eventually got.

For the rest of the stanza Lindland executed some strong ground and pound, including big elbows.

Even with Negao’s elbow early in the second, this was Lindland’s round.

The third saw Negao doing a lot of running early on. Though there were some exchanges in the stanza, beyond a hard knee by Lindland late in the contest nothing really showed through.

In the end, this was a clear victory for The Law, even if Negao did demonstrate some toughness.

Matt Lindland wins via unanimous decision.

“Each fight means the world to me,” said Mike Whitehead coming into his bout against Brazilian Jiu Jitsu wizard, Renato “Babalu” Sobral.

The first round saw both fighters land some strikes, with Babalu hitting home with low kicks early on and Whitehead connecting with some decent punches. By the end of the round, in fact, it was really hard to determine who took it.

The second round saw Babalu connect with a significant amount of jabs and body shots. Though Whitehead ended up on top of Babalu for a moment or two on the ground, an omoplata attempt by him caused Whitehead to decide to stand. While on top, the two clinched and Babalu landed some knees.

Babalu took home the second round, but this isn’t turning out to be the most exciting bout.

In the final round, Babalu landed some decent shots again before Whitehead went for a takedown. However, the takedown took Babalu through the ropes; even so, he seemed to have a guillotine going when the referee stood the two up.

Babalu continued to hit home with several punches and a very nice body kick, causing Whitehead to look for a takedown again. Once again, Babalu almost caught him in a guillotine. But before we could see if it was going to happen, the referee stood them up again (because they had gone through the ropes).

After a few more strikes by Babalu, Whitehead took his opponent down once more. And, as was becoming the customary, Babalu almost caught Whitehead in a guillotine. Though that didn’t happen, Babalu then nearly pulled off an omoplata.

Due to a lack of action soon after, the referee stood them up. From there, Babalu connected with two big shots and a nice front kick moments later. Then he hit home with a spinning back kick. For the rest of the stanza, Babalu connected with knees in the corner.

Babalu should win this fight. The referees agreed unanimously.

Next up was a match between Mark Hominick and Savant Young. Early on in the first, Young connected with several nice low kicks and grazed Hominick with quick combinations. But as the round went on, Hominick started to pepper Young with jabs and quick rights while stalking him. It was a close and rather uneventful stanza, but one that Hominick likely won.

In the second, Young succeeded in tripping his opponent to the canvas. But then Hominick made a great move, transitioning to a triangle choke. That said, Young picked him up and slammed his way out of it. Hominick then looked for an armbar. Soon after, he looked for the triangle. Neither worked.

But the next armbar that followed did.

Mark Hominick wins via armbar at 4:25 of round two.

“Josh can expect the best Pedro Rizzo in the ring,” said Rizzo before taking on Josh Barnett, a man that he once defeated. Was the best Pedro Rizzo still better than the Babyface Assassin?

Barnett started off connecting with some nice front kicks to the body. Though Rizzo shirked a takedown attempt by Barnett, the big man continued to look good on his feet for a period of time, keeping Rizzo at bay. For the most part, that’s how the fight went during the initial stanza.

Josh Barnett won the first round on his feet.

The second started out much as the first did. Then out of the blue Barnett landed a very hard left hand that dropped Rizzo. And with that shot, Barnett had exacted his revenge for a loss to Rizzo earlier in his career.

Josh Barnett wins via KO at 1:44 of round two.

“For me it’s an honor to fight someone of his caliber. A huge chance to prove that I’m in the top ten for a reason,” said Ben Rothwell before his fight against former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Andrei Arlovski. Of course, he wouldn’t feel it was an honor if he got taken out. So would the good feelings continue for Rothwell?

Arlovski started things off aggressively by nailing Rothwell with low kicks. Though Rothwell forced the clinch, there was little action there. That is, until the Russian fighter took him down. Then Rothwell got off the ground and avoided an ankle lock attempt on the way.

Later in the stanza, Rothwell came forward with fervor and got hit with a hard flurry for his efforts. Arlovski also hit home with a nice low kick, before Rothwell connected with a hard right.

Then the bell. Arlovski takes a pretty good round one.

In the second, Arlovski connected with a huge left- right combination that hurt Rothwell. From there, he hit home with a ton of strikes. Still, Rothwell somehow managed to stay on his feet.

Until Arlovski took him down, that is.

The aggressive Andrei Arlovski that we used to know is back.

After some ground and pound, Arlovski went for a heel hook that missed. Big mistake, as Rothwell ended up on top dropping big elbows. Though Rothwell’s nose was bleeding, it wasn’t slowing him down at all initially. However, Arlovski then started doing a good job of keeping damage to a minimum, prompting the referee to stand the two up.

When he did that, Arlovski went off, connecting with several huge shots including a head kick, several punches, and a terrific knee.

Yet somehow Rothwell stayed on his feet. This is turning out to be an excellent fight.

Arlovski takes round two. Rothwell needs a stoppage in order to win.

The third started off with a pretty inactive clinch in the corner. However, upon separation Arlovski connected with a huge right and followed that up with a right uppercut.

Finally, the big man fell. In fact, he was out. What a very tough guy Rothwell is; but this was Arlovski’s night.

Andrei Arlovski wins via KO at 1:13 of round three.

“It’s a fight that I’ve wanted for a long time,” said Tim Sylvia before taking on Fedor Emelianenko in perhaps the most hyped MMA heavyweight battle ever in the main event. “I keep the fight standing up the whole time, I’m gonna win this fight.”

Would Sylvia’s words prove prophetic, or would he just end up being another in a long list of fighters that fell to the Russian decisively?

This is how it all went down. The two got in close. Fedor connected with three consecutive hard left hands and then a flurry that floored the big man. From there, Fedor hit home with a few more blows, took his back, and finished the fight via rear naked choke.

Fedor Emelianenko wins via rear naked choke after 36 seconds. Holy bleep!

I repeat: Holy bleep!

Any wonder about who the best heavyweight fighter in the world is now?

In the end, this Affliction: Banned event came through when it mattered most. Josh Barnett’s knockout victory over Rizzo was fun. Andrei Arlovski’s knockout victory over a very tough Ben Rothwell was excellent. But Fedor’s showing against Tim Sylvia was simply legendary.

The wow factor was there.