Affliction Entertainment was an American

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

(MMA) promotion company created by Affliction Clothing in 2008. The UFC prohibited its fighters from wearing Affliction clothing after learning Affliction was applying to become an MMA fight promoter. Although the promotion company bore the Affliction name, it was run independently of Affliction Clothing. In July 2009, Affliction announced that it would exit the fight promotion business and that Affliction Clothing would become a UFC sponsor.

Events

Affliction Entertainment promoted two

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program g ...

(PPV) MMA events. The third (Trilogy) was scheduled for August 1, 2009, but was canceled July 24, 2009 due to

Josh Barnett Joshua Lawrence Barnett (born November 10, 1977) is an American mixed martial artist, submission grappler, professional wrestler and color commentator currently signed to Bellator MMA, where he competes in their Heavyweight division. Barnet ...

testing positive in the pre-screening drug test. On July 24, 2009 it was announced that Affliction had folded their MMA Promotion and would sponsor the UFC once again.

''Affliction: Banned''

Affliction entered the world of MMA fight promotion with the announcement of its event '' Affliction: Banned'' which took place on July 19, 2008 in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

at the

Honda Center The Honda Center (formerly known as the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) is an indoor arena located in Anaheim, California. The arena is home to the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League. Originally named the Anaheim Arena during construction, ...

. The card at ''Banned'' featured many of the top MMA heavyweight fighters. The main event was the return of

Pride FC PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts even ...

Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fighting against former UFC Heavyweight Champion

Tim Sylvia Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best kn ...

. Emelianenko submitted Sylvia thirty-six seconds into the first round to win in convincing fashion. The event saw victories by former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski and

and former UFC Light-heavyweight Champion

Vitor Belfort Vítor Vieira Belfort (; born 1 April 1977) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight and Middleweight divisions. Belfort previously competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he fought in the Heavyw ...

. Affliction's total attendance (14,832), with a paid attendance of (11,242) and live gate of ($2,085,510) The total disclosed payroll for the event was $3,332,100.

''Affliction: Day of Reckoning''

'' Affliction: Day of Reckoning'' was the second event by Affliction and took place on January 24, 2009 in

at the

. The main event featured Fedor Emelianenko against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski. Josh "Babyface Assassin" Barnett fought on the card and defeated Gilbert Yvel. In a light-heavyweight match former Strikeforce Champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral beat

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Nkamhoua (; born April 18, 1984), mostly billed simply as Sokoudjou, is a Cameroonian professional mixed martial artist. A professional competitor since 2006, Sokoudjou is the former KSW Light Heavyweight Champion, and ...

. Matt Lindland was reassigned from a 195-pound catchweight bout with Sobral to a middleweight matchup against former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort. Headlining the undercard, which was broadcast on HDNet Fights, the first and last IFL Light-Heavyweight Champion Vladimir Matyushenko lost to

PRIDE Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

veteran

Antônio Rogério Nogueira Antônio Rogério Nogueira (; born 2 June 1976), also known as Minotouro or Lil Nog, is a Brazilian former mixed martial artist who most recently competed in the UFC. He is the twin brother of Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the "Minotauro ...

''Affliction: Trilogy''

'' Affliction: Trilogy'' was to feature a fight between Fedor Emelianenko and

as its headline event at the

on August 1, 2009. On July 22, 11 days before the scheduled event, the California State Athletic Commission announced it would not license Barnett because he tested positive for a banned substance. Later that day, the CSAC issued a press release which stated that anabolic steroids was the substance detected in Barnett's drug test.

Cancellation aftermath

Many of the fighters on the card were able to find another promotion to work for shortly after Affliction Entertainment's demise. The Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi bout was moved to Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg for Sobral's Light Heavyweight Title, while Jay Hieron fought Jesse Taylor on the same card.

Zuffa Zuffa, LLC () is an American sports promotion company specializing in mixed martial arts. It was founded in January 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada, by Station Casinos executives Frank Fertitta III and Lorenzo Fertitta to be the parent entity of th ...

also picked up several fighters with the LC Davis vs. Javier Vasquez bout being moved to WEC 42, the Mark Hominick vs. Deividas Taurosevicius bout being moved to WEC 43, the Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley bout moved to UFC 104 and Vitor Belfort main eventing UFC 103. As well Paul Daley, Dan Lauzon, and Rafaello Oliveira have signed contracts with Zuffa. The

Jessie Gibbs Jessie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jessie (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Jessie (surname), a list of people Arts and entertainment * ''Jessie'' (2011 TV series), a 2011–15 Disney Channel ...

vs.

Rob Broughton Rob Broughton (born 3 March 1983) is an English former mixed martial artist who competed in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor between 2004 and 2015, Broughton is a former British Cage Rage heavyweight champion and has also co ...

bout was moved to M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough. While Lucio Linhares from the other

M-1 Global M-1 Global (Mixfight-1) or MMA-1 (Mixed martial arts-1) is a mixed martial arts promotion based in St. Petersburg, Russia which organizes between 10 and 20 competitions per year. It hosted its first major show (rather than co-promoting with othe ...

bout was also moved to the card, with a new opponent, he ended up fighting Mikhail Zayats.

References

{{MMA organizations Mixed martial arts organizations Entertainment companies established in 2008 Organizations disestablished in 2009 Mixed martial arts events lists