An announced sellout crowd of 13,998, including Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Jenna Jameson, Bill Goldberg, and Stone Cold Steve Austin witnessed the devastating Russian heavyweight MMA kingpin, Fedor Emalianenko hammer former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia with punches, get on his back, and force him to tap out to the Rear Naked Choke. This entire sequence took 36 seconds, and the Affliction:Banned MMA pay per view gave people something to talk about, and investor Donald Trump plenty to brag about.

 

The show had some early problems, particularly with the reported 30x30 oversized boxing ring Affliction MMA chose to use. On three occasions, fighters fell through the ropes, forcing the referee to halt the action so they could get back in the ring. Several bouts failed to deliver, and the crowd was getting restless.

 

Andrei Arlovski, however, did not disappoint, and won a brutal slugfest against former IFL Heavyweight Champion Ben Rothwell. Arlovski, after an exciting match, knocked Rothwell out at 1:13 into Round 3.

 

Josh Barnett beat Pedro Rizzo in another heavyweight contest when referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 1:44 into the 2nd Round.

 

Other fights saw Mark Hominick beat Savant Young by submission to an arm bar  at 4:25 into Round 2. Renato "Babalu" Sobral beat Mike Whitehead by unanimous decision after 3 Rounds.
Matt Lindland beat  Fabio Negao by unanimous decision after 3 Rounds.
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira beat Edwin Dewees by TKO  at 4:06 into Round 1.
Mike Pyle beat  J.J. Ambrose by submission to the rear naked choke at 2:51 into Round 1.
Vitor Belfort beat Terry Marin by KO at 3:12 into Round 2.
Paul Buentello beat Gary Goodridge by Unanimous Decision after 3 Rounds. The card did not start off well, as both men came out, went back, and came back out because of time concerns in coordinating the live TV special and the pay per view event.

 

Randy Couture did come into the ring after the main event. Fedor said that's the fight he wants, and Couture

said he was hopeful it could happen. The contract dispute and multiple lawsuits continue with Couture, who was the UFC Heavyweight Champion at the time of his walkout, and UFC. In case you haven't read it, we have a detailed report on Mark Cuban's desire to promote Fedor vs Couture, which you can read HERE. It was very interesting watching Affliction MMA take the risk of having Couture enter the ring, especially with all the lawsuits flying back and forth, and Dana White so determined to just get rid of the Affliction challenge as soon as he possible can. There will obviously be much more to this story, and we will keep you up-to-date on the situation as it develops. 

 

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