Affliction 'Trilogy' to feature Takanori Gomi vs Rafaello Oliveira for Aug. 1
by Stefan Manojlovic on Jul 6, 2009 9:37 AM EDT
32 comments
Former PRIDE FC lightweight champion Takanori Gomi (30-5) has agreed to make his Affliction debut against Rafaello Oliveira (8-1) at "Trilogy" from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1, the organization today confirmed.
"The Fireball Kid" recently snapped a two-fight losing skid in the Sengoku promotion.
After dropping a split decision to Russian journeyman Sergey Golyaev (13-7) at Sengoku 6 last November, Gomi came up lame against Satoru Kitaoka at Sengoku "Rebellion" in January, tapping out to an Achilles lock just 1:41 into the very first round.
It was a major setback for a fighter as revered as he is. Gomi didn’t look like the same dominant fighter who once tore through PRIDE’s lightweight ranks with ease, which led to people questioning his heart and whether he still had what it takes to compete on an active level.
Gomi managed to silence some of his critics and get back to his winning ways by obliterating Takashi Nakakura with a barrage of strikes in an exciting showdown this past May when he went back to his roots and paid homage to the organization that kickstarted his career at Shooto "Final Tradition."
Now with that victory it appears he’s refocused and motivated to once again climb up the lightweight ladder, continuing that journey when he clashes against Rafaello Oliveira at Affliction 3: "Trilogy."
"The Tractor" has already competed three times in 2009, taking all three contests including a unanimous decision win over John Mahlow at Xtreme Fighting Championships (XFC) from the Thompson-Bowling Arena last April in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Oliveira, who's only loss came to the up-and-coming Lyle Beerbohm at Sho XC in October 2008, now faces the biggest challenge of his career against Gomi and a win would boost his stock considerably.
Affliction 3: "Trilogy" will feature a main event between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and top-ranked division player, Josh Barnett. Former Dream middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi is also expected to make his fighting debut on American shores against Renato "Babalu" Sobral in a light heavyweight showdown.
To check out the latest fight card and rumours for Affliction 3: "Trilogy" click here.
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Hate to say it but me thinks he’s lost it…no more mystery surrounding him and guys are no longer afraid or intimidated…sad to say its kinda like Wand
by McArthur on Jul 6, 2009 9:41 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
He’s been done for a while. To answer all you guys below, the reason why he didn’t sign with the UFC is easy. He can’t beat BJ, so what’s the point. Also, UFC isn’t in the business of paying has beens more than they are worth. From what I’ve heard, Gomi wanted way too much money and was a real hassle to work with. It’s funny, I was going to bring him up today as I was thinking about when he’d fight next last night at work.
by kevin on Jul 6, 2009 12:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
climb up the lightweight ladder? in affliction? i don’t think so. if he really wanted to compete and ‘climb’ he would have signed with the UFC.
by Phil Baloni on Jul 6, 2009 9:46 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Why would he sign with the UFC? They aren’t going to pay him the ammount of money he wants, they won’t give him the fights he wants, and they won’t ever let him go fight in another Org. This is why big names outside the UFC don’t often like to sign with the UFC.
by Cogito Ergo Sum on Jul 6, 2009 9:48 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
true but if you say you want to test your skills against the best than you go to the UFC…if you say you need some cash then maybe not
by McArthur on Jul 6, 2009 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
NO U DONT McArthur! If you want to really test yourself as a Welterweight, then you go to the UFC. If you arent going to pay a lightweight fighter what he is worth, then FOCK THE UFC! Fact of the matter is that the UFC only has about 3 top 10 LIghtweights. If you want to test yourself against top lightweight wrestlers, then sign with the UFC. Fact is that MOst of the top ranked lightweights arent signed to exclusive contracts, so Affliction should have no problem bringing in top lightweights over to Affliction to TEST Gomi.
YOU match up Gomi against just about aNYONE, and I am happy!
Affliction 3, just got a little juicier for me!
by JOhn G on Jul 6, 2009 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Gomi again failing to meet expectations. Really? The former Pride champion fighting another unknown? How many “tune up” fights is this loser going to need?
by Syn on Jul 6, 2009 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It still would of been nice to see him in the ufc and fight Bj, florian or Diego. ufc’s lightweight division needs a new fighter with a different skill set then the wrestlers they currently have and gomi would of been a amazing addition.
by matthew on Jul 6, 2009 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i would match BJ, Kenny, Diego, Sherk, Maynard, Nate against any top 5 LW’s anywhere in the world and lay $$ that the UFC fighters would win 75% of the time…why?? like you said, because of the wrestling…just my opinion but Aoki, Mach, Hanson. Alverez, and Thompson wouldn’t do as well as you think…one of those things we might never know I guess
by McArthur on Jul 6, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
and although it seems like I’m hugging the nuts of the UFC I don’t think I am…I haven’t missed many MMA events in general over the last 4-5 years and stand by my generalization that other than the HW division the UFC has the best fighters in the world
by McArthur on Jul 6, 2009 11:35 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Agreed Mac; I’d take any of the fighters you mentioned over hellboy, Aoki, Alvarez, Thompson, Melendez, Noons, etc.. And I’d add Frank Edgar and Tyson Griffin to that list as well.
by O damn he got caught on Jul 6, 2009 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Although just about any of those match ups would be killer fights.
by O damn he got caught on Jul 6, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
And Guida could probably find a way to hug his way to victory over almost all LW fighters outside the UFC.
by O damn he got caught on Jul 6, 2009 12:30 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
mcarthur, they have the best HW’s too (other than fedor and barnett)
by ---Caesar--- on Jul 6, 2009 12:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I dunno Mac. Dream’s LW stable is pretty thick. Aoki would be a nightmare for a lot of guys. Him and Eddie Alvarez are top 5 LWs. I would definetely pick them over Nate and probably Sherk and Maynard as well. Admittedly I’m not too familiar with Hellboy, but at this point I think he’d have trouble with Maynard.
But I will stand by the FACT that Gomi is history.
by Syn on Jul 6, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
its very close to call is my point I guess…to say any org has the best LW’s at this point is silly
by McArthur on Jul 6, 2009 3:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
McArthur- about the wrestling tip, looking at guys like Ishida, or Kawajiri, i would think they can hold their own against UFC LWs especially since they have better overall grappling skills. Even with sean sherk on top of him, i would bet aoki or even more so shaolin can win by sub. How many guys would you give a chance standing with Alvarez or JZ besides Penn. As far as stylistic matchups we can’t solely rely on wrestling. Also in the UFC, wrestlers prefer to “stand and bang” due to the pressure to be exciting instead of winning so with all these things, i am very much content with the current rankings as they are.
by NameNotRequired on Jul 6, 2009 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Absolutely NNR: Kawajiri, Alvarez, and Ishida can wrestle with anyone that the UFC has to offer!
by JOhn G on Jul 7, 2009 8:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
do you wanna work for dana white? at the even rumour of crocop not signing, he cursed him out in a press conference … he forced liddell to retire.. etc
who are you to tell these people to take less money just to work for a tyrant?
by danasmassiveego on Jul 6, 2009 9:53 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I agree with that.
I for one hope that Fedor never signs with the UFC.
I would never sign their slave contracts.
by Lester The Pimp on Jul 6, 2009 11:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
am sick of all this whole ufc needs to let other fighters to fight in other orgs look they have the best talent .after josh babyface who next for fedor who has a chance no one at all only thing left is ufc
by tz swanger on Jul 6, 2009 10:06 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
And who in the UFC has a chance?
Nog?…..nope
Couture?….nope
Mir?….LMAO
Brock?….LMAO
Fedor doesn’t need to fight the #6 and #7 guys to be the best….they need to fight him.
by introvert on Jul 6, 2009 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Ya but who IS he going to fight next then introvert? Brett Rogers? Overeem?
Fedor is obviously going to be the huge favorite against anyone, so why not fight the (comparative) best?
If Fedor’s priority IS NOT fighting the best (ie., being able to do sambo tournements), thats fine I respect that. But if it is, after Josh there is really only the option of going to the UFC.
by WB on Jul 6, 2009 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nice!!!! Gomi may have lost a step, but I always enjoy watching him fight.
Bring on Gomi / Diaz II …. I’m sure Strikeforce and Affliction can come to terms on cross-promoting that one.
by introvert on Jul 6, 2009 10:26 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Holy fuck, would you guys get off the UFC nuts already.
The UFC has stacked WW and LHW divisions…other than that they do not have any more talent in their other divisions than Affliction, Strikeforce, Dream, etc…obviously if you pit them up against one of these other orgs they will have more talent…but these other orgs cross-promote, so when looking at the 3 of them compared to the UFC’s talent pool….it’s a wash.
by introvert on Jul 6, 2009 10:30 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
+1.
I actually thought the first two Affliction cards were shitty looking, but this one looks good. I want to see Mousasi vs. Babalu and Santiago vs. Belfort. Hopefully they can talk Daley into dropping down a weight class (which he can) and fighting Gomi.
by Bill Maher on Jul 6, 2009 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Introvert:
Please explain to me how the UFC’s MW division isn’t completely stacked? First of all, there’s Anderson Silva! Then there’s Okami, Marquardt, Maia, Henderson, Leites, Sonnen, Bisping, Akiyama, an now probably Wand and maybe even Belfort to come soon.
That leaves only LW and HW in which Zuffa doesn’t dominate…and don’t forget that their FW and BW divs in the WEC are pretty stacked, too.
by Josh on Jul 6, 2009 12:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
1. A. Silva
2. Okami
3. Marquardt
4. Santiago
5. Henderson
6. Lawler
7. Belfort
8. Misaki
9. Akiyama
10. Maia
UFC is represented well, but every single fighter on this list (sans Silva) is pretty much interchangeable if you ask me. Lawler (and maybe Vitor), would give any UFC middleweight a tough fight right now.
by introvert on Jul 6, 2009 12:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lawler is overrated, i hope vitor is back, but we won’t know for at least 1 more fight. i wouldn’t give lawler much of a chance against okami, marquart, or hendo, and after we saw what shields did to him. maia would tap his ass in no time.
by bullsh*t on Jul 6, 2009 4:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
So much for Brett Cooper, but it’s nice to see Gomi on an Affliction card. Personally I think that the UFC has the strongest LW division, certainly stronger than Affliction’s, but there are still some quality LWs outside of the UFC so Gomi doesn’t need to sign for them in order to fight strong competition.
by David on Jul 6, 2009 12:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
WOW… Rafael is the head trainer of Premier Martial Arts right here in good ol’ Knoxville, TN! I can’t believe someone local has such a BIG fight!! … WOW!!
by The Prodi-G$ on Jul 6, 2009 6:45 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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