Barnett vs. Arlovski to decide top contender for WAMMA heavyweight title; other “Day of Reckoning” details emerge
August 7, 2008 by Sam Caplan
The World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts issued a press release on Thursday announcing that the heavyweight main event between Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski that is scheduled for Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view on Oct. 11 will determine the number one contender to the WAMMA heavyweight title currently held by Fedor Emelianenko.
“We couldn’t be more excited to see Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett faceoff for the right to take on Fedor for the WAMMA World Heavyweight Championship,” WAMMA CEO Dave Szady is quoted as saying in company-issued a press release. “In the spirit of crowning undisputed champions, we couldn’t be happier than to have two of the fighters who arguably deserve a shot at Fedor fighting it out for the chance to take on the champ.”
Both fighters competed at Affliction’s first-ever event on July 19 and both were victorious, with Barnett recording a second round knockout over Pedro Rizzo and Arlovski knocking out Ben Rothwell in the third round.
In other Affliction-related news, MMAjunkie.com was on hand to cover the promotion’s press conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Junkie is reporting that HDNet will broadcast a one-hour pre-show for the Oct. 11 event that will include several undercard matches being televised.
In addition to fights between Barnett vs. Arlovski, Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, and Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland having been confirmed, Junkie is reporting that undercard bouts between Roy Nelson vs. Paul Buentello and Mike Pyle vs. Jason High were also announced.
Finally, Junkie is also reporting that there is concern whether the Belfort vs. Lindland fight will take place, as Belfort is still not fully recovered from a hand injury suffered during his win over Terry Martin during Affliction’s first event.
wicked, cannot wait to see that fight!
A #1 contender’s fight is great and all, but I will not be happy until both get their shot at Fedor.
If Barnett doesn’t win this fight, I don’t think we will ever see him tangle with Fedor.
Well, even if he does win, there’s a good chance Affliction will fold and we won’t see it anyway.
The whole problem is this: If Fedor is intent on fighting some joke match on New Year’s Eve in Japan, when will this championship fight happen? Most likely not until at least April of 2009, assuming Fedor doesn’t get injured on New Years. That means at least 8-9 months since he fought Tim Sylvia, all 36 seconds of fighting!! Straight up bullshit.
I’m pretty sure Barnett will knock Arlovski out then he will fight Fedor which will be an awesome fight on the next affliction card.
I could give a rat’s ass on what WAMMA thinks. Their rankings mean didley squat. The only division in which they can establish a champion is the HW division.
Imagine you’re an entrepreneur who starts a business in 1993. Business is pretty good for the first year or two but suddenly a senator from AZ labels your business “Human CockFighting” and suggests that all cable and sattelite providers stop broadcasting your show. 8 years later you’re forced to sell your “baby” to a couple of new owners because your operation is hemorhhaging money.
These new guys start hemorraging money as well and are in debt for more than $40 million! They’re competing with a very successful show in Japan and losing many top fighters because the competing promotion pays better.
Finally, the new guys get a TV deal in 2005 and the money starts rolling in as the sport gains popularity.
My point is that the UFC has been through some real shitty times and now they’re finally able to reap the rewards of their hard work.
WAMMA is just another shitty promotion/sanctioning body trying to ride the UFC’s coat tails in order to legitimize their cause. Unfortunatley for them their cause is lame because the number one fighters in the LHW, MW, WW, LW, FW, and BW divisions belong to Zuffa.