Fedor Emelianenko lives up to the hype, again. After a relatively standard night of fights (with the exception of the Andre Arlovski Fight, more on that later), Fedor ‘The Last Emperor’ Emelianenko decided he was sick of people suggesting he wasn’t, in fact, the baddest MMA fighter on the planet, and crushed Tim Sylvia, an extremely game opponent, in 36 seconds. The fight started out looking a lot like Sylvia v. Couture. Both men approached the center of the ring, Sylvia looking to keep the distance and jab, using footwork to stay out of the Russian’s deadly grip. Fedor had none of it, and threw a left hook that landed flush on Tim Sylvia’s ridiculously groomed face. Tim panicked and made probably the worst decision he’s ever made in a fight by clinching with Fedor. This is Emelianenko’s bread and butter zone, he landed several more punches, left, rights and uppercuts, wobbling the giant and sending him to the canvas. Fedor, a combat Sambo national champion (Sambo is a Russian grappling art, similar to Judo or Brazilian JJ) quickly sunk in the hooks from back mount and finished with a brutally old school forearm choke.

Randy Couture then hopped in the ring for some fight buildup. Here’s to hoping Randy cleans up his legal issues with the UFC. (more…)

Perhaps you’ve heard of Affliction clothing? Even if you haven’t, you’ve seen it. It’s everywhere on television. The shirts with all the flaming skulls and crazy designs on them with the word ‘affliction,’ somewhere. These shirts first started popping up on MMA fighters at UFC events, but have suddenly disappeared from the cage. This is because they were banned by UFC President Dana White and company as soon as Affliction announced they would be hosting their own MMA fight card, which is scheduled for July 19^th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

This wouldn’t be that big of a deal, typically. As MMA has grown in the U.S., we’ve seen plenty of MMA organizations pop up; the IFL, Adrenaline, EliteXC. But Affliction is different in that for their first event, they have assembled what is probably the most ridiculous fight card of 2008. If you don’t recognize these names, its because the UFC doesn’t talk about them (they couldn’t manage to sign them), but the card boasts several UFC veterans as well.

Here’s our breakdown and predictions for some of the more important fights on the card. (more…)