Fedor Rocks Arlovski;
Capacity Crowd Rocks Honda Center

Dennis Bernstein & Maxwell Cohen @Ringside
 
ANAHEIM, Calif. (Jan. 24, 2009) - A near capacity crowd rocked the Honda Center in Anaheim on Saturday night for Affliction M-1 Global "Day of Reckoning", the promotions second highly successful MMA event. A paid attendance of 13,228 turned up for the loaded fight card including 11 action-packed bouts headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski.
 
The six-fight blockbuster pay-per-view telecast is STILL AVAILABLE to be purchased for viewing until February 23rd.  Contact your pay-per-view provider to order.
 
Ringside at the event were the ever-present Donald J. Trump alongside Oscar De La Hoya.  The Hollywood caliber of audience included the likes of Jason Statham, Michael Clark Duncan, Scott Cahn among others.  The crowd was also punctuated by presence of MMA fighters Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler and the legendary Royce Gracie. 
 
Affliction M-1 "Day of Reckoning" was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions and brought to you by Trump's Affliction Entertainment and its partners, Donald J. Trump and M-1 Global.
 
Official Results
 
MAIN EVENT - HEAVYWEIGHTS - 5 ROUNDS
Fedor Emelianenko of Stary Oskol, Russia, defeated Andrei Arlovski of Chicago, IL by KO at 3:14 in the initial round.  Emelianenko improves his record to 29-1 (7 KO's) while Arlovski became 14-6.
 
Emelianenko: "I feel great.  I feel really good about it.  I want to thank God for my victory and thank everyone that was behind me." 
"I knew that Arlovski was prone to making mistakes and at that moment I caught him." 
"I really didn't think I would knock him out but it happened.  You don't expect it to happen but it did."
(When asked if he wanted to fight Barnett next he shook his head and said in perfect English) "He is my friend."
"He is a very interesting fighter.  It was very interesting to be in the ring with him.  He is quick.  I had a feeling he was going to make a mistake and I was waiting to capitalize." 
"I noticed that after he attacked he opened up and I was just waiting for his next attack to strike."
 

HEAVYWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Josh Barnett of Seattle, WA defeated Gilbert Yvel of Amsterdam, HOL by submission at 3:14 in the third round with Yvel tapping out.  Barnett improves his record to 26-5 while Yvel became 35-13-1.
 
Barnett:  "He came so hard.  There was a point in the first round when blood started coming from my mouth and my nose.  It affected me."
"My game plan was to finish him right away. I thought they might stop it in the first round.  Now I have to get my nose fixed." 
"I'm not happy with my performance.  I went for the armbar and it slipped."
 
 
MIDDLEWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Vitor Belfort of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil defeated Matt Lindland of Eagle Creek, OR by TKO at :37 of the initial round.  Belfort improves his record to 18-8 (12 KO's) while Lindland became 21-6.
Belfort: We trained a long time for this and I know I have fast hands.  When I saw the opening I reacted.  Sometimes you want to celebrate but I feel bad and I just pray for the best."
 
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Babalu Sobral of Costa Mesa, CA, defeated Thierry Sokoudjou of San Diego, CA, by submission at 2:36 in the second round.  Sobral has now improved his record to 32-7 (3 KO's) while Sokoudjou became 5-4.
Sobral:  "I was looking for openings.  That is my favorite choke.  He opened up for it."   "I've been working with Josh Barnett and with some good wrestlers."  "He was pretty strong.  He got me on my left side and he was throwing elbows." 
 
HEAVYWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Paul Buentello of San Antonio, TX, defeated Kiril Sidellnikov of Stary Oscal, Russia by TKO at 4:18 in the third round.  Buentello has now improved his record to 27-10 (17 KO's) while Sidellnikov became 5-3.
Buentello:  "The training camp was hard.  This was the best sparring I've done in seven weeks  I'm usually on the other end of this.  I found a home for my jab.  I was landing everything solid and he kept coming at me.  I think I was standing in front of him too much but I listened to my corner and I was able to correct it."
 
LIGHTWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Dan Lauzon of Boston, MA, defeated Bobby Green of California's Inland Empire by submission at 4:38 in the initial round.  Lauzon has now improved his record to 12-2 while Green became 7-2.
Lauzon:  (When asked when low kicks/blows made contact)  "Pretty much.  The last one kinda skipped it but it took its toll.  I don't think any were intentional." 
"His back was open and I went for the choke.  I was off to the side but I was able to finish.  I didn't look good though.  He came at me real aggressive and caught me off-guard a little bit." 
(When asked about the replacement of Hordecki by Green) "There wasn't really much for me to find out about him.  I had a good game plan for Chris and I knew what I was gonna do going against him but I didn't have much time to prepare for Green."
 
Green:  "I took this fight on 24 hour's notice.  I didn't have any time to train.  I literally did no training for this fight.  I work 12 hours everyday.  We just had a baby six months ago and I when I got called for this fight I left work and I took it.  I had no other option.   (Talking about the low blows) The second was definitely wrong.  I didn't mean to do that.  The first and the third was "iffy" though.  The third was on the beltline.  Thank you.
 

HDNet MAIN EVENT - LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Antonio Nogueira of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, defeated Vladimir Matyushenko of El Segundo, Calif., by TKO at 4:26 of the second round.  He improves his record to 16-3 while Matyushenko falls to 21-4.     
Nogueira: "I'm very happy.  He is a very good fighter.  I am excited to be part of the Affliction show.  I knew we had two strong guys.  It is very dangerous at the beginning.  I started to figure out what I needed to do.  (About the first round) I think that he is dangerous and I thought he wanted to put me down.  I created some space and distance. (About being stunned) I was surprised.  I felt it but not too much.  I have good conditioning and when you are in good condition you can recover faster. 
We've fought before, maybe eight years ago, and I knew his game."
 
FEATHERWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
L.C. Davis of Kansas City, Mo., defeated Bao Quach of Irvine, Calif. by unanimous decision.  He improves his record to 12-1 while Quach fell to 15-9.
 
Davis: "I feel that I have some weaknesses that I have to work on.  I am new to the game and I'm still learning.  I'm still really young to this sport and I've got a ways to go.  I definitely have to work on my ground game.  I came into this as a wrestler but I've been working on everything else."
 
FEATHERWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Albert Rios of Los Angeles, defeated Antonio Duarte of Tijuana, Mexico by unanimous decision.  He improves his record to 11-3 while Duarte became 11-2.
Rios: "It was good. I thought it was going to go that way.  I knew I wasn't going to have to stand up.  Antonio was tough. I felt that in the second and third rounds I was initiating but in the first round he was catching me."
 
WELTERWEIGHTS - 3 ROUNDS
Brett Cooper of Long Beach, Calif., defeated Patrick Speight of San Diego, by TKO at 4:10 of the second round.  He improves his record to 8-4 while Speight drops to 7-2.
 
Cooper: "It went great.  I started slow but pulled through and knocked him out in the second round.  I was nervous because I hadn't fought in six months.  I was rusty so I hope I get to fight again soon and can represent Affliction well."
 
Full Report & Photos To Follow