Affliction Banned - Fedor Emelianenko VS Tim Sylvia review

Introduction

Mixed martial arts clearly became a significant form of both mass entertainment and - as Bruce Lee put it - an expression of the human body, the latter being, no doubt, the original field of operation of these ancient traditions, now living and breathing through competitive events around the world. Though many may consider men who enter the proving grounds little more than hired human pitbulls to rip each other apart for hard cash and radical amusement, I tend to utterly reject this rudimentary view, concluding that professional level mma is the combat of highly disciplined human spirits, opposing each other for the duration of the bout, probably ending up as unified in the process as we could conceive, simply through their magnificent shared experience of being in a cage where the damage one suffers is the wit one failed to exhibit. That is how, in my opinion, the mma fighter fights against herself/himself.

Japanese people compete to gain an insight of their own current abilities through the collision process of their skills with that of other's. To me, the ultimately glorious moments of mixed martial arts are not of those of KOs and submissions. They are of those of hugging the formal rival at the end of the bout, circulating the most honest, uncompromised, pure respect each fighter deserves simply by stating themselves on the proving grounds, regardless of the results. The ensuing peace between fighters after a good collision is such a palpable, legit sensation that it never got old so far - and won't ever will.

This here is a review of the first Affliction event, Affliction - Banned, time to punch that Read more button, baby!

Introductory thoughts about the more significant lineups

The world's leading mma organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship made an exceptionally fruity decision when it banned the Affliction clothing brand from all of the UFC broadcasts, as this particular affair led Affliction to team up with business- and media mogul Donald Trump, a collaboration to give you a brand new mma organization which delivers one of the most stacked cards in the sport's history via it's masterfully titled Affliction - Banned debut event. You feel you have heard about those stacked cards a million times before? I surely do feel for you, yet I urge you to reconsider this time: it is not an exaggeration to state that Affliction gives you a series of lineups you simply can not miss upon and call yourself a fan of mixed martial arts.

Some interesting things to note: Affliction Banned acquired former UFC Referee Big John McCarthy, who now interviews fighters after the bout. Surely, Big John was evidently at the top of his game all the time. You see, he has the charisma to dominate the proving ground as Primal Third Force, representing a supersolid authority to yell: "Don't! Hit! The! Back! Of! The! Head! Or! I! Will! Disqualify! Your! Ass! You! Got! That?!" Yet, what is even more better than this: Big John proves to be an absolutely top notch interviewer, as well: he asks totally relevant and subtle questions, delivers firm thoughts and sentences - it's very good to see the dude again around the effective soul and body of mma.

Affliction Banned gives yet another considerable extra: the event is spiced up by live performances of the great metal band Megadeth. Let me clarify something here: you can't possibly be serious about elegant and weighty music AND despise Megadeth at the same time: they unleash highly complex and intense guitar warfare that radiates pure musical subtlety via a cunning, darker mood and tone, and they surely give the audience one helluva' ear- and soul molestation. And, before you ask: yes, among other great, fresher songs of the band, they DO perform Symphony of Destruction as well, one of the most successful statements of the band from 1992. Hah, in fact, they perform it when the fighters do come in to line up. Now, let me tell you: this is how an mma organization should debut, girls and boys.

While the focal points of the night do concern illustrious personalities of the sport, Affliction Banned offers a solid series of lineups on the undercard. Being true to the title of this here section though, let us first scrutinize the attractions you will likely construct your secretive (?) delicate (?), but nevertheless, good old anticipation factor on. How about Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett taking on Pedro Rizzo? The two have done battle against each other already seven years ago, a bout that left a knocked out- and vengeful Barnett on the canvas, a super-aggressive yet very intelligent fighter who now looks to claim revenge on Rizzo, the mma phenomena who - as Josh states - kicks damn harder than Mirko CroCop does. Once you hear this from a person who have fought against both of them - you can not help but give credit and an inherent awe to the statement.

Though Renato "Babalu" Sobral is particularly noted of the highlight reel on which he tries to stop Chuck Liddell's foot with his head and does not exactly succeed, he nevertheless is as complete of an mma fighter as you will ever see. A keen readiness to exchange on the feet, combined with absolutely top level Jiu-Jitsu are the traits to characterize Sobral's arsenal, now ready to be unleashed on Mike Whitehead. This intact warrior is an experienced wrestler with knock out potential in both hands, confident that he is able- and ready to pack Babalu up and send him back to Rio.

Charismatic Contemporary Spartan Gladiator with 300 Beard and 300 Look Included Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski takes on Ben Rothwell, your "everyday", "average" Leatherface who JUST decided to leave the chainsaw at home, otherwise he has the classic temper, mindset and physical composure to measure up to the mma fighting style of the aforementioned motion picture phenomena. A quick, versatile skill set versus raw, yet well-directed meatpower collides herein by the night.

And for the main event of the evening: you have the most successful pound-for-pound fighter of the world, the warrior the UFC could not make a contract with, regardless the fact that they have offered the highest figures the organization ever put on paper. The warrior whose only "defeat" comes from a - quite frankly - silly stoppage following an illegal blow that was utilized by the opponent, and - logically - not even by him. This man, though he is widely considered as a one-of-a-kind fighter, was recently accused of being extremely protected by his organization, keeping him from fights, so he could reign number 1. This statement seemed to stumble considerably when the man whom we are about to name submitted the Techno Giant Hong Man Choi in an armbar at the very end of 2007, now stepping up against former two times UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia. A rendition of a debut performance in front of an even wider audience. Let us notice a quite delicate circumstance: since not many have submitted Choi in an armbar at 2007 New Year's Eve, now it is safe both to suspect and to clearly state that Affliction Banned gives you: Fedor Emelianenko, the Last Emperor, and it is indeed Fedor whom Affliction gives you to do battle against the Maine-iac.

I stated already that I am sort of OK with Tim, especially as he is a huge anti-fan favorite, you can't witness the guy performing without fans giving the intense BOO! to him all the time, he nevertheless fights both for the old fashioned destruction AND for the respect he probably longs more for than he longs for spilled blood and scalps on all four walls around. A consensus former claim against Tim was that he prefers to deliver "only as much" that earns him the win, but is not too keen to take risks - this is not something that fans or promoters are interested in, indeed. Sylvia thinks he could succeed against Fedor if he can manage to keep the Last Emperor at the outer quarters by utilizing his - meaning, his own - huge reach advantage. He will try to stay away from the ground and hopes to stop Fedor via standup. Many have hoped. Many have failed. Sylvia states that he is absolutely aware of how good Fedor is, feels tremendous respect for him, yet adds that he is not afraid to do battle against The Last Emperor. Well, picture if Tim would have said:

"Yeah guys, I will fight Fedor, but, heck, I AM afraid of him!"

As for the Last Emperor, there is not many things - if anything - you can show for him that he has never seen before. Pride! Heavyweight Champion and Number 1 Ranked Heavyweight Warrior, Fedor fought and triumphed with-and over such fighters as Mirko CroCop, Heath Herring, Minotauro Nogueira, Semmy Schilt, Mark Hunt - Dr. Octopus though was wise 'nuff and chickened out of the contest prior it could have had a start. The night of Affliction - Banned delivers you both the question and the imminent answer: IS Fedor Emelianenko as good as his resume suggests him to be? Can he stop a two times UFC Hevyweight Champion, OR will the Maine-iac recite a statement that will be heard across both the Whole Wide World AND the WWW? We Will: SEE.

Myke Pile vs JJ Ambrose

JJ Ambrose emerges triumphant, as now he possesses perfect awareness of the very meaning of the following Japanese saying: "The Defeated Reigns Victorious." Ambrose goes away with the spiritual win by letting Myke Pile taking him to the ground in the first period, and he even shows the considerable generosity of letting Pile soaking an arm in to utilize a rear naked choke that registers the aforementioned spiritual win for JJ without any doubts whatsoever. A nice showdown both to demonstrate a textbook-perfect submission, and to start off the organization's very first collision.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs Edwin Dewees

A little blood never hurts, some more blood though is a matter to be extremely cautious about. Edwin Dewees was a contestant in Season 4 of the Ultimate Fighter Reality TV Show and suffered such an unpleasant cut during one match that one must give all the respect one can circulate for Dewees for going away with the W despite the gallons of blood he left in the cage. Season 4, Episode 2 in case you are interested. Dewees now looks to capitalize on the opportunity of stepping up against "Little Minotauro", as this particular Antonio is indeed the brother of the "Big Minotauro", who, as of the date of this here review, reigns as Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion. Sympathetically, Dewees states that he is so prepared mentally that he can not see any ways he could lose this collision by, an unfortunate condition though is Little Minotauro who happens to bring a whole array of alternative prospects for the suggested dilemma. Edwin looks solid and composed in the stand up, yet he seems to be relatively unfamiliar in the ring environment - Antonio lures him to the corner with sober tactics and tenaciousness, where he lands a huge left to the temple and manages to bang out a victory on the grounded rival.

Paul Buentello vs Gary Goodridge

Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko was supposed to fight against Paul Buentello, but he - Aleksander - was not accepted due to licensing requirements. Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge jumps in as replacement, AND looses a decision to Buentello in an acceptable fight of the standup character which though seemingly failed to set the world on fire. By the third round, Goodridge is significantly exhausted, yet Paul can not capitalize on this circumstance to deliver stopping power. Or at least I failed to notice tremendously.

Fabio Negao vs Matt Lindland

Matt Lindland is a hardened veteran, coming back to the proving grounds after a significant, fifteen months pause period. He states that a dude called Fabio must be a hard nut to crack, since a guy with such a name must have had a whole lot of fights to punish vicious, dire children who have made fun of the name itself. This prefight interview actually registers in a quite hilarious way as Lindland accounts this aforementioned circumstance in the most rigorous, pretty much scientific manner, as he would indeed offer deep insights of his gameplan and all the inherent stuff related. He manages to connect right away on the talented Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, who goes down and finds himself in a vicious submission attempt in the very first round. Negao though manages to escape, even offers very solid resistance in the second period: a truly intense exchange ensues at the corner, with Lindland showing off that he, as a mature fighter, is not afraid to deliver answers for a younger warrior, yet Fabio proves to be a contestant who has quite a few - of course, metaphorical - questions to top those - of, course, still metaphorical - answers. The second period culminates with Lindland's relentless ground and pound delivery that leaves a relatively exhausted Fabio to the final period. In this here cited third and concluding sequence, Lindland manages to emerge as evident aggressor, yet proves to be incapable to stop Fabio in a definite fashion. A deserved decision goes for the veteran nevertheless, while Negao walks away as a fighter who has the definite chin to face top level opposition.

Mike Hominick vs Savant Young

The Machine Mike Hominick plays a sober, calm standup game, rendering himself as patient aggressor, waiting for Young to reveal some quality holes in his defense that he could utilize to deliver punishment through. This though never happens: Savant puts up solid opposition, giving you a pretty balanced standup period in the first round, that flows unto a brief ground episode short after the second round had the chance to greet the warriors. Hominick hereby utilizes his trademark triangle choke, yet Savant escapes from it with a nice, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson-style slam. The Machine must have seen the cited action himself though, thus he blunts the impact in time and comes out of the situation with but minimal damage, though he has an impressive triangle attempt to say goodbye to, for sure. According to Young, it is still the ground though that proves to be a fruity method to wrap this battle up on: he tries to unleash some quality ground and pound on The Machine, yet such an entity possesses both the tendency and the capacity to get a grip on your harming arm and bend it towards the non-guaranteed direction. This is exactly what happens to Savant: Hominick utilizes a solid armbar that forces his adversary to tap out of this contest.

Vitor Belfort vs Terry Martin

Randy Couture competed against Vitor Belfort on three occasions in the UFC, now, instead of doing battle with him, Randy trains this young veteran who possesses very firm boxing- and Jiu-Jitsu skills. Terry Martin has professional boxing experience, and possesses immense punching power - nevertheless comes short of further surprises when Belfort is urged to go after him when the second period starts off, bidding farewell for an evenly paced back-and forth round that exhibits no significant moments. In the second though, a more aggressive Vitor you will witness: he connects with an impressive flying knee and delivers consecutive strikes to knock Martin out. It is worth noting and - logically - mentioning that Belfort does not unleash yet another blow on the collapsed adversary, though he is absolutely free to do so. A ring behavior which registers as very mature, classy and sympathetic to me. There is no doubt that Vitor is a more cautious and patient fighter now, the work with Couture evidently serves him well even now, and, probably in the future that is upon us, as well.

Renato Sobral vs Mike Whitehead

A fight going to the distance, Sobral and Whitehead both do show willingness to collide via exchanges in the standup position, though not many - if any - of the impacts prove strong enough to deliver rocking power to the opponent. By the times the confrontation reaches ground level, Renato goes for decent submission attempts, yet, unfortunately, a submission is never good enough as long as you must regard it as but an attempt: as top level wrestler, Whitehead proves to be well versed in submission defense, thus manages to escape from situations that are about to turn dire for him. As stated, the bout is characterized by longer standup periods that do not deliver significant impacts until the final round, in which Babalu manages to land two impressive looking kicks to the head - one is a roundhouse! - that do solidify your assumption even further about the imminent conclusion: a well-deserved decision going for Renato, AND considerable credit going for Whitehead for a tenaciously fought confrontation in which he though did not manage to state a verdict of stopping power. Renato looked good and solid in this fight: he no longer seems to get carried away by emotion, yet it was something that he had a tendency of doing previously - a great example of such occasions would be his match against The Iceman Chuck Liddell. Why would you want to assault a warrior who has immense notoriety as a counter-punisher? Babalu asked this question before, we do know what primal conclusion it lead to, yet, fortunately, it evidently made a better fighter of him at the end of the day.

Josh Barnett vs Pedro Rizzo

Great, sober, sane standup delivery here. I was particularly impressed by Barnett's ability to lean away from strikes, meaning the periods in which he managed to do that and not ate a kick in to the side of the head - in this here bout though, he hardly does that on multiple occasions. A punch sometimes comes from a direction whose existence you wasn't even aware of before: seemingly, this is the exact circumstance Pedro must- well: face- SIC! - with. Barnett has the Definite Extra Fist in his arsenal this time, delivering a blatant left hook on Rizzo that results in an instant knock out. Is the term "instant knock out" an oxymoron, I wonder? Josh claims revenge for his previous loss against Pedro, now they are 1 and 1, thus a third confrontation already weighs in as a legit prospect among those that a bright future could- and should - hold for us.

Andrei Arlovski vs Ben Rothwell

Slugfest. Arlovski is an exceptionally precise standup fighter, yet now he confronts with a huge opponent of the bear-like caliber who happens to be here to rip someone in two - if this someone goes by the name- and with the reputation of The Pitbull - then it is even better. Though Arlovski proves to be capable to deliver strikes with more precision than Rothwell, the punishment resistance of the mma variant of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface proves to be extraordinary: Arlovski introduces effective assault foams, the one that concludes the second round is of special note among these: Andrei delivers pretty much anything in his arsenal, - huge strikes, flying knee, you name it - yet Rothwell is still there, ready to wage the war on. Apart from brief ground periods of mild efficiency yet dangerous prospects, this particular persistency to deliver continuous combos of precise attacks do claim a toll on- and some blood of Rothwell by the third- and final round. Following a brief, not too intense yet very peaceful period by which they are hugging each other for a while, The Pitbull explodes again and knocks the immense opponent down with a combination that finishes via an uppercut of relentless power. An impressive slugfest and a very mature Arlovski we had chance to witness, let alone how this experience will turn Rothwell into more better of a fighter than he came to this bout as.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Tim Sylvia

Fedor came. Fedor have seen. Fedor jumped in. Fedor unleashed three-four veeeery precise shots on Tim. Tim went down. Fedor offered some punches to the head. Fedor then grew bored of this. Fedor thus soaked his arm in. Fedor forces the Maine-iac to tap. Fedor stands up with the same, supercalm expression which he came in with. You check the time. It shows: 0:36 in the first round. This is the amount of tiny consecutive moments the Last Emperor needed to stop the two times UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia. Wow, and wow! There is truly no reason, nor chance anymore to doubt this brilliant fighter. Tim behaves very classy after the bout, he states that Fedor is easily the best fighter he has ever faced. He adds that Fedor punches so hard that he does not even think that he - Fedor - is human. As for The Last Emperor, I am as much baffled by his extremely calm and friendly nature as a human being as I am impressed by his fighting skills. What a being! Yet again: What. A. Being. With this win over Tim Sylvia, Fedor Emelianenko reigns as Champion of the independent, promoter-free WAMMA organization, The World Alliance for Mixed Martial Arts.

When Big John asks Fedor if there is anyone out there whom he would keenly fight against, The Last Emperor gives you the answer you probably and secretly (?) was longing for, and he gives it via his mother tongue of the Russian language - nevertheless you catch the pleasant moment, I guarantee you. Something like - "randeekhoothoor" - rings a bell? Or two? As you may have already suspected via the review of Vitor Belfort's fight, Randy Couture was present at the event. He approaches the ring, and after greeting Fedor and circulating the intact mutual respect, Couture expresses his keen willingness to do battle against The Last Emperor. The UFC will have to put up one immense of a card to counter THAT event. As solid of a debut for an mma organization that one could possible conceive, Affliction Banned delivers, and it delivers rampantly. Great night of fights with classic moments, including an immense showcase delivered by Fedor Emelianenko, the World's Baddest, even Baddestest Man With The Calmest Nature. Thank you for reading the review of the event, and see you next time.

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