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Seven years ago tonight, the second and ultimately final event from Affliction hit pay-per-view from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The event was headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski, who was entering just his second fight outside of his run in the UFC. That Jan. 24, 2009 event also featured several names well known then and still known today. Take a look back in time with our live report for that pay-per-view card from 2009 below:
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Originally published on Jan. 24, 2009
It's time for Affliction's second pay-per-view offering. Day of Reckoning brings six fights headlined by the major Fedor vs. Arlovski WAMMA Heavyweight Title bout. Stick around for round-by-round coverage here throughout the pay-per-view broadcast, and check back for reviews and thoughts on the fallout from this show throughout the week.
-Sean Wheelock broke down the night's card after the opening video. Ortiz said Yvel told him he's going for the knockout in the first round. With the ring behind them it does give off an HBO boxing event feel to it.
-Freddie Roach continues running his mouth in a backstage interview. This came off as an amateur hour backstage segment.
-The ring announcer introduced the show, and with all 12 guys up on stage he introduced each of them individually. It's a better start than Megadeth, at least. Arlovski seemed to get a bigger response than Fedor.
FIGHT ONE: DAN LAUZON VS. BOBBY GREEN (LIGHTWEIGHT)
PRE FIGHT: Apparently Bobby Green's fighting style is "hood." Seriously, that's what his fighting style was listed as. Green said he was just at home wondering about bills and he got the call. He said he'll take on anyone at any time. They're doing the "announce them as they come down and announce them in the ring as well. It's going to be twenty minutes into the show before the first fight!
ROUND ONE: Green throws a few shots but Lauzon catches him with a big right. Lauzon goes after Green but Green grapples him and goes for a guillotine. He lets it go and starts throwing wildly with knees and punches, but he doesn't seem to be doing too much damage. Lauzon is staying back as Green is swinging wildly. A hard kick from Green goes low and Herb Dean steps in to give Lauzon a break. The crowd (which has many noticeably empty seats, by the way) is starting to get restless as Lauzon recovers here. They're booing quite a bit. Lauzon is finally recovered and they restart. Lauzon throws a couple of kicks and then shoots in. Green holds him off and Lauzon tries to pull guard. Green stays on top though and starts throwing a ton of shots and landing with damage. Green gets a suplex and some other shots in and then he swung too wildly and fell and Lauzon went for a triangle. He couldn't get it locked in and Green recovered. Finally they stand up and Green throws a bunch of shots and throws a knee that lands low. Dean tells Green he's got a warning but one more and he'll deduct a point. Ortiz is callingout Lauzon for a bit of acting on that one. It was low, but I'll agree with Tito it didn't look as bad as the first one. Lauzon may be using this to recover, as Green's been laying on the punishment. This five minute first round is going on nine right now. They start it up again. Green stalks Lauzon down and lands a nice jab. Lauzon misses a kick. Green throws another wild shot and then lands a third kick to the groin. That one was a glancing blow across the cup and Green's going to get a point deducted. That one was the weakest of all of them. Green's pissed. Green walks up to the ropes as Dean is talking to the refs and he rambles in shock at Oscar De La Hoya in the crowd. 2 points were deducted for that. Wow. The fight starts again and Green presses again. He grabs a leg from Lauzon and gets a take down and Green passes. He throws a bunch of rights as Lauzon goes for the heel hook with a minute left. Green got himself out of it but Lauzon took his back and goes for the choke. Green taps with nine seconds left. Wow. The crowd boos the hell out of him.
WINNER: Lauzon via submission (choke) at 4:51 of the first round. (or 15:50 real time give or take)
STAR RATING: (**) While it was fast paced for a bit when the round was not delayed, it was sloppy as all hell and Lauzon milked the low blows, two of which looked to the crowd to be kind of weak. He pulled off a very nice submission with not much time left in the round, but it was not a "great fight" as Tito Ortiz tried to claim.
FIGHT TWO: PAUL BUENTELLO VS. KIRILL SIDELNIKOV (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Big John McCarthy is here to ref tonight. Nice. Sidelnikov lands a left early. Buentello lands a shot. Big combos are being thrown by Sidelnikov but he doesn't land much. Buentello lands a hard left. Sidelnikov pushes Buentello up against the ropes and into the corner. Sidelnikov is keeping busy and throwing a bunch of punches in the clinch. Buentello pushes him off finally. Sidelnikov comes in with another left and throws an inside leg kick. Sidelnikov throws a combo on Buentello on the ropes. He moved out of the way and took Sidelnikov into the corner, but Sidelnikov pushed him back. Sidelnikov landed on a combo before backing off. Buentello throws a high straight kick. Sidelnikov missed the Superman punch. They trade up by the ropes with Buentello landing a big uppercut. They trade shots clinched in the corner. Sidelnikov backs off again. Sidelnikov lands a nice left jab. Buentello with a big right hand. Buentello with a left jab. They clinch on the ropes again and Buentello throws a couple of knees. Sidelnikov gets a couple of elbows. Buentello throws a big knee as the round comes to a close. Very close first round.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Buentello. Even though Sidelnikov pushed the action more throughout, Buentello did the most damage. It was very close, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if that round went the other way.
ROUND TWO: Sidelnikov threw a right kick and slipped but then recovered. He came in with a combo. Buentello returned the favor with a hard shot. Big body shot from Buentello. Another big left from Buentello. Sidelnikov came in for a couple of shots but didn't land anything. Buentello landed another shot. Big one two from Buentello. Sidelnikov missed a big shot. Big straight left to the body from Buentello. They trade in the middle of the ring. Sidelnikov through a barrage of punches but Buentello held him into the corner and wagged his finger that he was alright. They trade knees clinched in the corner. Sidelnikov threw a coulple shots as they separated again. buentello lands another big left hand. Sidelnikov shot in but got no where and they stood right up again. Buentello landed a huge left hand. He gets in another uppercut but Sidelnikov keeps coming. Big left again from Buentello and Sidelnikov threw a high kick. Buentello with another left. Buentello went for a head kick and barely missed. He lands another big shot. He lands another one. Sidelnikov counters one with a punch.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Buentello. Sidelnikov took a ton of punishment in that round and he's still coming forward. Wow.
ROUND THREE: Buentello starts with some more body shots. Sidelnikov tries to run him down to the corner but he keeps eating body shots. Leg kick from Sidelnikov. More left jabs land hard from Buentello. Another body shot from Buentello. Sidelnikov tries to grapple and Buentello throws a big uppercut. Another left jab from Buentello. Big right from Buentello as Sidelnikov threw a kick. Sidelnikov came into the corner swinging wildly and Buentello almost got a choke in. He let Sidelnikov get up. Another big left from Buentello. A leg kick knocks Sidelnikov down and he loses his mouthguard so McCarthy paused it. Buentello throws a few more jabs. He lands another flurry on Sidelnikov. Another big left jab. Sidelnikov's head is just a punching bag right now. Sidelnikov's mouthpiece comes out again and McCarthy stops it once again. The doctor came to look at Sidelnikov and the bout was called. Good stoppage, he was out on his feet almost that entire round.
WINNER: Buentello via tko (doctor's stoppage) at 4:18 of the third round.
STAR RATING:(**+) Very good fight through two rounds, but Sidelnikov was just out on his feet in the third round. The kid can take an inordinate amount of punishment, and the doctors made a good call in ending that fight. I do like the use of Compustrike on the show. 121 punches to 50 landed for Buentello.
FIGHT THREE: RENATO "BABALU" SOBRAL VS. RAMIEU THIERRY SOKOUDJOU (LIGHT HEAVY WEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: They trade shots early. Sobral lands a leg kick and tries to shoot but backs away with no luck there. Sokoudjou lands a leg kick and Babalu tries to take hime down. Sokoudjou fights it back to the feet and they clinch on the ropes trading knees. Sokoudjou's arm was around the ropes and the ref separated them. Sobral missed a kick and Sokoudjou landed a hard body kick. Babalu took him down and Sokoudjou went through the ropes. McCarthy separated them and put them back into a similar position. Sobral again went for a takedown and Sokoudjou ended up in his guard. He through a couple of big righ hands. He backs away and goes for a big shot. Sokoudjou tried to go for a judo throw but Sobral recovers. Babalu grabs a single leg and pushes Sokoudjou into the corner. Sobral throws a knee. He continues to throw knees to the thigh of Sokoudjou. McCarthy separated them again. Straight kick from Sobral. The round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Sokoudjou. Good takedown defense and some hard ground and pound shots swung it in his favor barely.
ROUND TWO: Sobral pushes in early and lands a bunch of shots. He shot in and got Sokoudjou down. Babalu started on some ground and pound and passed to half guard. He throws a couple of elbows and continues throwing a bunch of shots on the downed Sokoudjou in the ropes. McCarthy starts them back up in the middle of the ring. Babalu moves into the half guard and continues to throw shots. Sokoudjou tried to get up and Sobral hooks in the anaconda choke and forces Sokoudjou to submit.
WINNER: Sobral via submission (anaconda choke) at 2:36 of the second round.
STAR RATING: (**+) Good fight with a very nice submission by Sobral. This fight was another example of why a cage is superior for MMA. Stoppages and position restarts due to getting caught in the ropes really takes away from the action.
POST FIGHT: Tito propositions Babalu for a bout as he's interviewing him after the fight.
FIGHT FOUR: MATT LINDLAND VS. VITOR BELFORT (MIDDLEWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Belfort barely misses an early kick as they both feel each other out. Belfort dropped Lindland with a left hook and followed with a couple of shots before the ref steps in. Lindland is out cold. That's an incredibly unexpected knockout. Lindland is in bad shape. He's in very bad shape as he begins to come to. This is not good, he needs to stop trying to get up. They bring the stretcher into the ring and finally get him seated. They put a neck brace onto him and finally get him calmed down a bit and he's starting to come around. They take the neck brace off after Lindland says he wants to get up on his own accord and he gets up. That was scary as hell, but Lindland's ok.
WINNER: Belfort via ko at :37 of the first round.
STAR RATING: (***-) That's for the shocking and unexpected knockout from Belfort. On replay the ref let two extra shots get in that were absolutely unnecessary with how clean the last two were. Lindland got up on his own accord, at least, so that's the good news.
POST FIGHT: The crowd boos Belfort for some reason. Belfort says he wants to glorify the name of Jesus. Yes, Jesus is the one that helped you knock out your opponent, Vitor. Ortiz,when back on the mic, says he thinks Belfort could take out Anderson Silva.
FIGHT FIVE: JOSH BARNETT VS. GILBERT YVEL (HEAVYWEIGHT)
ROUND ONE: Barnett tries to throw a right but misses. Yvel lands a hard leg kick. He goes for a big kick but Barnett catches it. Yvel tries to throw a bunch of shots but Barnett takes him down and gets into half guard. He starts dropping some elbows and body shots. He moves Yvel away from the ropes and throws some more shots from the top. Barnett goes for a kimura but loses the grip. Barnett throws another elbow. Barnett continues to throw a ton of punishment from the top and then he moves to side control. As he tries to move to mount Yvel gets out of it and gets Barnett back into half guard. Barnett finally moves into full mount and he starts raining down punishment from the top with a minute left. Yvel is trying to survive and he gives up his back. Barnett continues to throw shots as Yvel is trying to keep moving and get out of the round. Yvel survives and gets back to his feet as Barnett tried to go for an armbar at the end.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-8 Barnett. Unbelievable that Yvel survived that round. He was nearly submitted twice and had Barnett in the mount on top of him for a full minute, but he did enough to survive.
ROUND TWO: Yvel tried to come out swinging but Barnett took him down and got side control. He threw an elbow after trapping an arm. Barnett again goes for the Kimura but can't get it locked in. Barnett postures up and lands a few shots after Yvel was hitting him from the bottom. Barnett mounts again. Yvel keeps himself in it by trying to through punches from the bottom as Barnett throws some shots intermittently. Barnett continues to throw shots but Yvel is actually landing some shots from the bottom. Yvel lands a short elbow. Barnett is not trying to do too much here with this position and Yvel is landing more from the bottom. Barnett finally throws a flurry of shots. Barnett throws a few more shots. Barnett again goes for an armbar and Yvel moves to the top. Yvel steps up and throws a shot as the round ends.
Penick's Scorecard: 10-9 Barnett. He had dominant position but almost took more punishment on top as Yvel unloaded a bunch of shots from the bottom. Very good round.
ROUND THREE: Yvel lands a flurry of shots early but Barnett picks him up and slams him. He moves to mount again.. He throws some more shots while holding the position. The crowd starts to boo for some reason. Barnett keeps throwing shots in and out. Barnett throws some more shots as he just holds his position. The crowd doesn't like that Barnett isn't trying to really finish it here. Barnett finally starts with a big flurry and Yvel had enough and tapped to strikes. According to B.J. Penn that makes him a bitch.
WINNER: Barnett via submission (strikes) at 3:05 of the third round.
STAR RATING: (***+) That was an exciting fight, although Barnett should have finished that in the second. Give Yvel a ton of credit for not only surviving but continuing to throw punches from the bottom for almost two full rounds.
POST FIGHT: Barnett is talking and then the feed cuts out and a technical difficulties screen pops up. Barnett apologized for not giving the fans "bombs being dropped and kick ass submissions." Barnett brought up the Justin Levens murder/suicide along with a trainer of his being rear ended and ending up in ICU as things that keep happening around him, and he didn't want to let anyone down.
FIGHT SIX: FEDOR EMELIANENKO VS. ANDREI ARLOVSKI (WAMMA HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE BOUT)
PRE FIGHT: They replayed the entirety of the Fedor/Sylvia fight before going to the fighter interviews.
ROUND ONE: Arlovski landed a hard body kick first. They trade shots and Arlovski gets in a nice right hand. He lands with another one. Body kick from Arlovski again. Another kick from Arlovski. Big right from Arlovski. He lands a couple more kicks as well. Fedor with a huge combination with a body kick. Fedor misses and eats a counter punch. They clinch at the ropes and Arlovski fails at a takedown attempt. Fedor throws a couple of knees in the clinch. They trade knees in the corner. Fedor lands a body shot. Knee to the gut lands by Arlovki. Fedor with a couple of hard punches in the corner and McCarthy separates them. Leg kick from Arlovski is checked. Right hand lands from Arlovski. Body shot lands from Arlovski and a big right hand a big forward kick sends Fedor backward. Andrei jumps forward and Fedor knocks him out cold with a one punch right hand. That man is amazing.
WINNER: Emelianenko via ko at 3:14 of the first round to retain the WAMMA Heavyweight Title.
STAR RATING: (****) That was everything Affliction could have hoped for. Arlovski was getting the better of the striking and was going in for that flying knee and Fedor dropped him with an unbelievable right hand. What an incredible finish to a great one round fight.
POST FIGHT: Oscar De La Hoya was in the ring taking pictures with Fedor and Tom Atencio. Fedor thanks Andrei. Tito makes the statement that he's now knocked out two former UFC Champs in consecutive fights, and there's no doubt he's the best heavyweight in the world. No arguments there. Fedor says he's just thinking of Barnett as a friend, not as an opponent yet. Tito butchers Fedor's name as he tries to announce him in a sendoff. We get a little accidentally caught audio from Tito as he goes back towards the announcer's spot. Donald Trump comes in and shakes Fedor's hand. The announcers continue to speculate on Fedor vs. Barnett which will be the next in line for the two as well as going through the fight that just took place. Someone walks across the screen in front of the announcers, making it really look like amateur hour for the broadcast.
-The announcers run through the fights from the night with highlights. And apparently that's how they're going to end it. The fight between Jay Hieron and Jason High was scrapped from the HDNet broadcast due to time, and here with an hour left on their allotted pay-per-view time they end the show.
Well that looks like that's all for the second Affliction pay-per-view, and the main event did not disappoint. If you ordered just to watch the main event, it was a great back and forth round until Fedor just did what Fedor does and that's pull out a massively powerful shot to knock out an opponent. Arlovski was winning the round until that flying knee attempt. Had Fedor not thrown that right hand the knee may have landed and may have looked like a good idea, but in hindsight it was ill advised and he came in with his hands down. That's just incredible power out of the best heavyweight on the planet. The show also had a great fight between Barnett and Gilbert Yvel and a completely shocking knockout from Vitor Belfort on Matt Lindland. Outside of that, the show was as good as could have been expected, and it remains to be seen how many actually watched the show.
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