Tito Ortiz to appear as a special guest at Affliction press conference!
In what is definitely huge news in the world of MMA, it's been announced that former multiple-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz will be appearing at the Affliction press conference tomorrow afternoon in Los Angeles to promote Affliction's upcoming January 24th PPV event, Day of Reckoning, headlined by a WAMMA Heavyweight Title bout between champion Fedor Emelianenko and challenger Andrei Arlovski.
Speculation is running rampant that Ortiz's appearance (he appeared at Affliction's inaugural PPV event, Affliction: Banned, and was announced as one of the special guests in attendance with his girlfriend, adult film star Jenna Jameson) could spark a major turning point for the upstart MMA promotion based out of Affliction Clothing. Ever since losing to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84: Ill Will this past May, Ortiz has since become one of the hottest free agents in MMA today. Ortiz appeared on EliteXC Heat and announced that he was about a week away from signing a major deal with the company until EliteXC's parent company, Pro Elite, folded sometime after their very last event six days later.
After recently appearing on the popular HDNet Fights weekly MMA program, Inside MMA, Ortiz hinted that he would make his impending return to MMA in July after recovering from surgery to repair his injured back. It seems that Ortiz is gunning to make his return to MMA by signing with Affliction, but at the same time, despite major heat between Ortiz and UFC President Dana White, has not ruled out a possible return to the company that made him who he is, the UFC.
The complete lineup for Affliction: Day of Reckoning to be held on January 24th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California is as follow:
WAMMA Heavyweight Title: Fedor Emelianenko (c) vs. Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight
Paul Buentello vs. Kiril Sidelnikov
Semmy Schilt to return to MMA at Dynamite!! 2008!
Three more bouts have been added to Dynamite!! 2008! The first big fight added will see three time K-1 WORLD GP Champion, former King of Pancrase Champion and current K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Champion Semmy Schilt facing the 2007 K-1 WORLD GP IN HAWAII Winner Mighty Mo! The last time both of these men faced each other was at the K-! WORLD GP 2007 IN AMSTERDAM event where both men fought under K-1 Rules with Schilt successfully defending his K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Title. This time around, both men will be facing each other under DREAM Rules.
Prior to becoming one of the most dominating K-1 WORLD GP Champions in recent history, the 6'11" Schilt made his start by competing in Pancrase and winning its coveted King of Pancrase Title held by such prominent MMA fighters such as Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, Bas Rutten, Minoru Suzuki, Masakatsu Funaki, Josh Barnett, Guy Mezger and Yuki Kondo. He had a short stint in the UFC before moving over to PRIDE and finally, making a name for himself, winning three K-1 WORLD GP Championships by defeating established fighters such as fellow Dutchmen Remy Bonjasky, Peter Aerts and Ernesto Hoost (whom he faced in Hoost's final-ever K-1 fight) and currently holding the K-1 WORLD GP Super Heavyweight Title.
The other two bouts will see two young and talented WORLD MAX fighters, two-time K-1 WORLD MAX JAPAN Champion Yoshihiro Sato taking on the 2008 K-1 WORLD MAX Finalist Artur Kyshenko under K-1 Rules while Hideo Tokoro and Daisuke Nakamura look to tangle in what could be an exciting bout under DREAM Rules!
DREAM Rules Matches
Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura
Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias Calvancante
Jerome LeBanner vs. Mark Hunt
Shinya Aoki vs. Eddie Alvarez
Semmy Schilt vs. Mighty Mo
Hideo Tokoro vs. Daisuke Nakamura
K-1 Rules Matches
Musashi vs. Gegard Mousasi
Kozo Takeda vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: HIROYA vs. Shota Shimada
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Semi-Final: Ryuya Kusakabe vs. Koya Urabe
K-1 KOSHIEN Tournament Final: Winner of HIROYA/Shota Shimada vs. Winner of Ryuya Kusakabe/Koya Urabe
Yoshihiro Sato vs. Artur Kyshenko
UFC fighters to star in a brand new mixed martial arts film!
Five of the UFC's elite fighters spanning all five major weight classes will star in a new mixed martial arts movie set in the world of underground street fighting, similar to movies such as Bloodsport. Titled Never Surrender and directed by world-famous martial artist, Hector Echavarria (who also stars in the film as the main character, Diego Carter), the film also stars the UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva, established heavyweight veteran Heath Herring, UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn and former UFC Light Heavyweight and PRIDE Middleweight Champion Quinton Jackson with Herring playing as Diego's friend, Stone, while the other fighters are competitors in the film's mixed martial arts tournament.
According to Echavarria, Never Surrender is a film best described as "an erotically charged, controversial action-thriller set in the world of underground street fighting where an MMA fighter who has been drawn into the world by an erotic and sexy promoter, quickly realizes that there is no way out, other than death."
The film is slated to be released in spring 2009.
Source: MMAFighting.com
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