Affliction Heavyweights Give Their Views

Affliction: Banned was hailed as a success by most within the world of MMA.

After the event - the fighters talked to the press about the show.

Fedor Emelianenko destroyed Tim Sylvia in the main event and was delighted with his night’s work. He said:

“I was very pleased with my performance. Everything I wanted to do I was able to do.

Yeah I was hoping I would end the fight then (first time he took Sylvia to the mat). I was prepared to fight standing up, but I knew I had a better chance to end it on the ground.

You never know how short or long the fight will be, but I just wanted to end it as quickly as possible. I just wanted to show the fans my skills.

I was very pleasantly impressed by how many people came out and I hope to come back soon.

I would be very honored to fight Randy Couture.”

Tim Sylvia could not hide his admiration for Fedor:

“He got off first and then I had so much going through my mind. He got off first, landed the big punch, jumped on me, and got the submission”.

I was amazed at how good he is. The guy’s a stud. I don’t think he’s human. He’s incredible. I don’t think anybody’s going to beat him for a while”.

Another impressive performer was Andrei Arlovski. The former UFC champ KOd Ben Rothwell in the third round.

Arlovski said:

“I think they got their money’s worth tonight. I did a lot of work on my boxing.

The game plan was to take him down. I didn’t think I’d get him down but I did come back. I didn’t show my jiu-jitsu but I showed my boxing. I won the fight.

I want to dedicate the fight to my grandmother who passed away a few months ago.

Tomorrow I’ll see what I did wrong, but tonight I’m going to celebrate this victory. I’m very excited. I’ve fought many great fighters and tonight I wanted to show my best performance.”

I want to fight Fedor, Josh or anybody Affliction chooses.”

Freddie Roach (Arlovski’s boxing trainer) said:

“I think boxing is what won the fight. The other guy was good on the ground and controlled it a little bit. Andrei’s boxing helped. His hands are really good and we’ve been talking about being a professional boxer.”

His defeated opponent, Ben Rothwell, is not used to tasting defeat. He said:

“I hit him with some shots. Obviously it wasn’t enough.

I was wearing him down but it didn’t do much, considering the combination he pulled off.

My shots slowed him down a little bit but it didn’t do much.”

Josh Barnett also put in an impressive display to defeat Pedro Rizzo. He said :

“He’s as stellar fighter and it could have been me laying on the canvas.

I wanted to take him down; you can’t chase a guy like that. He holds back because he waits to gauge you. When I’m in the ring with him I know what he’s doing.

I heard the crowd boo but I made up for it.

Floyd Mayweather is No.1 for a reason. His defense is unbelievable. When I made him miss two or three punches, I was loving it.

The win is great. Even though he beat me I hate that I had to beat him. Pedro Rizzo has a heart of gold.

I was changing levels a lot. My footwork wasn’t what I wanted. I clipped him at the top of the head and when he put his foot back, he wobbled. When I saw he was unstable, I came forward. I knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the way.”