The Fight Network lands Canadian deal for Affliction Banned

THE FIGHT NETWORK LANDS EXCLUSIVE DEAL IN CANADA WITH HISTORIC AFFLICTION BANNED EVENT

TORONTO, ON – June 21, 2008… The Fight Network’s President and CEO George Burger announced today that it has secured the exclusive rights to air the live star-studded, one-hour undercard for July 19^th’s Affliction Banned  Pay-Per-View event on its Network.  

Mr. Burger made the announcement at a packed news conference at Toronto’s MMA Expo, alongside Tom Atencio, Affliction’s Vice President;  Fight Network Senior Vice President, Strategy and founder Mike Garrow;  and  two MMA superstars: Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovksi and “Big” Ben Rothwell who will face each other on Pay-Per-View.

“This is a stellar card, arguably the best collection of heavyweights under one roof in the history of MMA. The Fight Network is excited to be working side by side with Affliction in taking the launch of this promotion worldwide,” said Mr. Burger. “Not only are we showing the undercard live and exclusively on our Network, a great lead-in to the Pay-Per-View event, but we are also distributing the Pay-Per-View in Canada , Australia , the United States and the United Kingdom .”

The 60-minute broadcast on the Fight Network will air in Canada at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT, and is expected to feature at least two of the five scheduled preliminary bouts, including a heavyweight clash between former UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello and Aleksander Emelianenko. The pay-per-view broadcast will follow starting at 9 pm ET.

“With this card, Affliction vaults into the front ranks of what is the fastest growing sport in the world,” said Mr. Atencio.  “We have a long relationship with The Fight Network and are pleased to share this momentous event with them.”

Affliction Banned is the monster mixed-martial-arts promotion presented by Affliction, the premier fashion label for men who love hard rock and fast living, in association with Roy Englebrecht Events. Earlier this month, Donald Trump announced his involvement and partnership with the promotion.   The main event features the return of Russian combat fighting icon Fedor ”The Last Emperor” Emelianenko against former two-time UFC® heavyweight title-holder Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Mr. Burger also announced that The Fight Network’s on-air MMA experts Mauro Ranallo and legendary MMA pioneer and Fight Network analyst “Big” John McCarthy will be calling the action for this worldwide event.

Along with the Emelianenko-Sylvia match-up, former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett will take on Pedro Rizzo in a rematch of their February 2001 bout, Team Quest founder Matt Lindland will return to action against Fabio “Negao” Nascimento, and UFC veterans Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Mike Whitehead will collide as well.

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