The Ultimate eXperience 01.26.09: Affliction Thoughts

Posted by Ryan Seymour on 01.26.2009

A run through all the important fights at Affliction 'Day of Reckoning'. Also a look to the future for both the winners and losers on the Affliction PPV. Where does Arlovski go from here? Who could Belfort face next? Is he really Baby Fedor?. All that and much more on The Ultimate eXperience.

Light Heavyweight bout:
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira suffered his first loss against Vladimir Matyushenko and he was out to get revenge. Matyushenko is a wrestler, so you would think he would come in a shoot for a takedown… well he didn't. Matyushenko didn't once try to takedown Nogueira, instead he tried to outbox the gold medal winning boxer. This fight was pretty slow but had glimpses of entertainment, Matyushenko looked very average boxing, but when he had Nogueira hurt at one time in the fight, his boxing suddenly looked much better. Nogueira used a big knee to drop Matyushenko in the second round and great revenge on Matyushenko with a TKO victory. Even though Antonio Rogerio Nogueira got the win, he didn't look very impressive and it was more Vladimir Matyushenko looking terrible then Nogueira looking good.

WHATS NEXT ~ It is tough to see where Matyushenko goes from here. He may be able to get a fight with someone like Sokoudjou in Affliction or maybe he goes back to smaller shows to try to get back on the winning ways. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira should face Renato "Babalu" Sobral or even the commentator of the night in Tito Ortiz. Both would be great fights and we would be able to see how Antonio Rogerio Nogueira goes against better competition. We have seen Nogueria get caught by strikers with unorthodox striking and his ground game would be tested if he faced Ortiz or Sobral.

Lightweight bout:
Dan Lauzon vs. Bobby Green

Dan Lauzon, brother of UFC lightweight Joe Lauzon. Dan faced of against Bobby Green who stepped in to fight on about 30 hours notice. We all knew that Dan Lauzon was a tough competitor but we didn't know what Bobby Green would bring to the table. Green came out very aggressive in this fight, mixing up his strikes. Bobby Green hit Dan Lauzon, not once, not twice but three times in the groin….this is all in the first round. Maybe Bobby Green has been training with Chieck Kongo to perfect the groin strikes or something because three times in one round is unbelievable. After the third strike to the groin, Green was deducted two points, which would have made it almost impossible for him to win, if it went to a decision. It didn't the judges though, as Lauzon was able to sink in a rear naked choke and Bobby Green tapped with five seconds left in the opening round.

WHATS NEXT ~ Bobby Green was actually cheered at the end of the fight as people like the aggressive nature of his fighting. Even though he loss, he was able to get his name out there fighting on this Affliction PPV. Green also took this fight on 30 hours notice, so if he is able to fight someone with a good gameplan, he might be able to be a more impressive fighter. I would like to see Dan Lauzon against other top lightweight fighters to see where he stands in that division. Spencer Fisher is the only top level lightweight he has faced, Lauzon loss that fight by TKO in the first round. I would love to see him against fighters like Cole Miller, Jorge Gurgel and Jeremy Stephens.

Heavyweight bout:
Paul Buentello vs. Kirill Sidelnikov

BABY FEDOR? NOT QUITE. You can't really call someone baby Fedor when the get dominated by Paul Buentello and now have a MMA record of 5-3. Kirill Sidelnikov had all the hype going into this fight, everyone thought this fighter would be a dominate force in the heavyweight division. Paul Buentello is a fighter who seems to beat average fighters but when he gets his chance to fight against the elite heavyweights in the world, he stumbles. This could arguably be the biggest win in Buentello's career; Buentello looked very impressive in this fight. He used his height and reach advantage perfectly, using the extended jab powerfully and keeping Kirill Sidelnikov of guard the whole time.

WHATS NEXT ~ Kirill Sidelnikov looked a bit out of shape for this fight, he trains with the impressive Red Devil team, so it should be a matter of time before that is fixed. Although Sidelnikov is a good Sambo fighter, he needs to work on his stand up because there are a lot better strikers in the heavyweight division. He is only 20 years old so he has a lot of time to become a better all round MMA fighter. Maybe the pressure put on him being "baby Fedor" may have got to him. Paul Buentello needs to back this fight up with another big win. I would like to see him face other good strikers in Gilbert Yvel, Pedro Rizzo or even a rematch against Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski.

Light Heavyweight bout:
Renato Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

This was a very entertaining fight to watch. Sokoudjou looked impressive in the first round, stuffing all of Babalu's takedown attempts. Sobral tried to throw Sokoudjou but it ended up with Sokoudjou on top of Babalu. Sokoudjou was in Babalu's half guard and was reigning down with some impressive ground and pound. In the second round, Babalu was able to get Sokoudjou to the ground. Once on the ground, Renato "Babalu" Sobral was able to lock in an Anaconda Choke to finish Sokoudjou and make him tap. This was the same submission that landed Renato "Babalu" Sobral in how water with the UFC; he locked it on David Heath at UFC 74 and didn't let go of the submission till Heath was out. Luckily Babalu let go of the choke this time.

WHATS NEXT ~ Renato "Babalu" Sobral called out two opponents after his decisive win over Sokoudjou. Firstly he called out Antonio Rogerio Nogueira after he had witnessed Nogueira win earlier in the evening. The other fighter he called out was the commentator asking him the questions after the fight, "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Tito Ortiz. Both of those fights would be interesting to watch, with the latter creating a lot of interest due to the popularity of the former UFC light heavyweight champion, Tito Ortiz. Sokoudjou coming out of PRIDE looked as Joe Rogan would say "FOR REAL", but now not so much. Since those brutal KO wins over Ricardo Arona and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Sokoudjou has gone 1-3. Can Sokoudjou still hang it with the good light heavyweights or has his Judo and explosive striking become too predictable for his opponents? Only time will tell.

Middleweight bout:
Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort

Lindland ranked as one of the better middleweights in the world faced of against a fighter who has been very inconsistent in his MMA career, Vitor Belfort. Who would have picked Vitor Belfort finishing this fight in 37 seconds by delivering Lindland the most devastating knockout in his career. The stretcher came in, Lindland was out for a good few minutes and the neck brace even went on Lindland. It wasn't a great sight to see for new MMA fans just tuning into this fight. But amazing power for "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort; Belfort actually stopped his powerful hammer strikes when he noticed Lindland was out.

WHATS NEXT ~ Vitor Belfort needs to back up this huge win with another big win. Being consistent has always been Belforts problem in his MMA career. There isn't any middleweight fighter ranked higher then Lindland outside the UFC. I for one hope he gets another chance in the middleweight division of the UFC, so many interesting fight could happen there. Just imagine Vitor Belfort fighting guys like Nate Marqaurdt, Yushin Okami, Rich Franklin or even a rematch against Wanderlei Silva (who Vitor holds a win over). As for Lindland, this is his first loss in four years against an opponent of the same weight. Where does he go from here, he will probably face of against a lower tier middleweight fighter and get back on the winning tracks. His stand up might not be the best but his wrestling is really strong and if he can get a hold of you, 99% of the time you will be going down. He is 38 years old, how much is left in them old legs, did he have distractions due to him running for house of representatives? A lot of excuses can be made but at the end of the day, Lindland got KTFO.

Heavyweight bout:
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel

"The Babyface Assassin" did what was needed to book a spot with the WAMMA Heavyweight champion. Josh Barnett wasn't incredibly impressive in this fight but he was still able to get the finish late in the third round. Barnett said he was going to stand with Gilbert Yvel, which may have just been smack talk. Barnett took Yvel down at will and was easily able to get to the mount position on numerous occasions. The surprising thing was Barnett wasn't able to lock in a submission to get the victory, also at one point Yvel was able to switch Barnett when he was mounted to end up on top of Barnett. It was entertaining to watch but a very dominate performance by one of the top heavyweights in the world, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett.

WHATS NEXT ~ Josh Barnett booked a spot against WAMMA Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. What a fight that will be. Can Josh Barnett find a way to beat the almost unstoppable Fedor Emelianenko. What are the ways to win against Fedor, only one fighter has beaten him and that was from an illegal shot. I expect Gilbert Yvel to go back to traveling around the world, fighting in whatever organization gives him a shot. I wouldn't mind seeing him in DREAM fighting of against heavyweights like Mark Hunt, Semmy Schilt and Alistair Overeem.

WAMMA Heavyweight Championship bout:
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski

This was meant to be Fedor Emelianenko's toughest test, most thought that standing Arlovski had the advantage and on the ground Fedor had the advantage. Well it looked that way early in the fight as Arlovski looked more then comfortable to stay on his feet and trade with Fedor. Arlovski was getting the better of the first round and looked to have Fedor hurt in the corner of the ring. But just when he looks hurt, Fedor impresses everyone. Just like his fight against Kevin Randleman where he got dropped on his head and then ended up winning via submission. Arlovski had him hurt, and went for a flying knee which has worked out for him in his recent fights. It didn't work out this time as Fedor threw a great looping punch which made Arlovski fall face down on the mat in a extraordinary knockout. This was the first time in a while we had seen Fedor being troubled by his opponent, Arlovski was easily winning the opening round until that huge shot landed.

WHATS NEXT ~ Obviously Fedor has Josh Barnett in his next fight. I would love to see what UFC president Dana White has to say after calling Fedor a "farce" and claiming he hadn't beaten anyone of significance recently. In his last two fights, Fedor has beaten two former UFC heavyweight champion's, one who was ranked the #2 heavyweight in the world. Arlovski is still a good heavyweight, maybe a fourth meeting against Tim Sylvia is on the cards. He shouldn't take to much disappointment in losing to Fedor, everyone else has.