The Affliction 3 fight card is scheduled to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California on August 1, 2009. The main event will headline a heavyweight bout between former PrideFC veterans Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko vs. Josh “The Babyfaced Assassin” Barnett. In one of the most anticipated heavyweight match-ups in the history of mixed martial arts, Fedor is set to put his WAMMA title on the line.
Although no opponent has been revealed, Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia has announced his return to the MMA ring at Affliction this August.
As part of the Affliction lightweight division, Dan Lauzon has agreed to fight Chris Horodecki. Both men were supposed to fight back in January at the Affliction “Day of Reckoning” event, but Horodecki was denied a license to fight by the California State Athletic Commission for failing his physical exam. He was suffering from a bulging disc in his neck which made him lose approximately 80% of his strength in his right arm. Now, it seems like he is clear and ready to go so expect an exciting lightweight match-up.
Gegard “Young Vagabond” Mousasi recently fought at DREAM 9, defeating Mark Hunt by way of kimura in the first round. The submission specialist has won 12 consecutive bouts and 8 of his victories came within the first round. Immediately after his win over Hunt, Mousasi agreed to take the bout against the former UFC light heavyweight champion and current Cage Rage light heavyweight champion, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort. Belfort has won 4 fights in a row including his most recent Affliction wins over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland.
Snip from Mousasi himself:
“I could not make [middleweight] anymore. I am a natural heavyweight, I always had to cut from 93 kilo’s to middleweight. It was just too hard for me to do…. Yes, the (rumors) are true and I will be fighting Vitor Belfort.”
The former UFC fighter and the last IFL welterweight champion, Jay “The Thoroughbred” Hieron, has also agreed to participate in the Affliction 3 event. Hieron will be taking on current Cage Rage welterweight champion Paul “Semtex” Daley.
