Affliction “Banned” Official Press Release

Affliction’s debut event “Banned” was made official on Wednesday morning when the clothing company issued a full press release for their upcoming show.

The show is scheduled to take place at 9pm ET/PT on July 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.

Appropriately named “Banned”, after literally being banned from the UFC and EliteXC, the event will be available on PPV for a price of $39.95. Tickets go on sale through Ticketmaster on Tuesday, May 20. The event is being co-promoted with M-1 and Roy Englebrecht Events.

Affliction will be holding two press conferences in an effort to promote their debut show. The first will take place on Tuesday, May 20, in Los Angeles at the Westfield Mall in Century City at 12:30pm PT. The second conference will take place on Thursday, May 22, in New York City at the Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue at 10:30am ET. Both conferences will be open to the public.

With 4 confirmed, possibly 5, top ten ranked heavyweight fighters on the main card, Affliction’s inaugural show could turn out to be the best Mixed Martial Arts event in 2008. “Banned” also marks the return of “The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko as he takes on 6′8″ giant Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia in the main event of the night.

Other highly anticipated match ups include Barnett vs Rizzo, Lindland vs Nascimento and Babalu vs Whitehead. Ben Rothwell, who is currently awaiting an opponent, will also appear on the main card. His opponent is rumored to be Andrei Arlovski but nothing has been confirmed as of yet.

As if the talent stacked card isn’t enough, Affliction’s VP, Tom Atencio, announced on Inside MMA that a live band (rumored to be Korn or Slayer) would be performing at the July 19 event.