Affliction Adding New Blood

Affliction is preparing the line up for their second event, which is to take place in Las Vegas on October the 11th. With the news that Fedor will not be able to participate, due to a hand injury, Affliction has gone out and signed some new faces. They have joined the UFC in scouring the remains of the IFL for fighters to sign. Their efforts have led them to sign two reigning champions of the IFL. Light heavyweight Vladimir Matyushenko of Midwest Combat and heavyweight Roy Nelson, who trains with Lions Den will be making their debuts for Affliction at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Roy "Big Country" Nelson (13-2), the 32 year old from Las Vegas, is coming off two title defenses. His first defense was against Brazilian Fabiano Scherner and his last title defense was against fellow American, Brad Imes. Currently on a 5 fight win streak, with his last lost coming against Ben Rothwell in a split decision, where many fans thought he deserved the victory. The signing does make a rematch with Big Ben a good possibility, so this may be on the mind of Roy and Affliction as well. His first bout is going to be with fellow new signee and Xtreme Couture fighter Jay White (2-5), who confirmed the bout over the weekend.

Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko (21-3), the 37 year old has an impressive record and solid victories over big names like Rizzo, Nogueira, Wiuff and Kondo. One of those he's beaten, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira is likely to be his first opponent come October 11th. Nogueira will be looking to avenge his loss, while Matyushenko will try to continue to impress and improve his 8 fight win streak. He's coming off his only title defense, which was against Jamal Patterson four months ago. His last loss was against fellow Belarussian and fellow Affliction fighter, Andre Arlovski.

Two solid signings by Affliction. Nelson and Matyushenko are clearly not the biggest names in the sport, but both are on the cusp of most mma site's Top 10 rankings. A couple of big wins for either fighter in Affliction and they could see themselves crack the Top 10 rankings. Another potential signing may be Tito Ortiz, who has been making some mumblings about fighting Renato "Babalu" Sobral. Stay tuned.