Former UFC competitor Edwin Dewees (35-12) has been slated to replace deposed light heavyweight Vernon "Tiger" White at the Affliction: Banned pay-per-view on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
White, who was originally scheduled to face Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in a televised match airing on FSN, was yanked from the card after testing positive for a banned diuretic following his match against Jeremiah Constant at Xtreme Cage Combat 6 on May 31.
While "Tiger" vehemently denies any wrongdoing, a July 9 hearing with the NSAC didn't leave Affliction officials with enough time to replace him should he be found guilty.
Prior to the Dewees signing, Affliction replaced the scrapped Nogueira-White bout on FSN with the light heavyweight match between Vitor Belfort and Terry Martin.
Dewees is coming off a submission win over Richard Blake at No limit Fighting last April. That victory snapped a four fight losing streak including a loss to Jorge Rivera at the UFC Ultimate Finale 4 in 2006.
Despite going 0-3 in the UFC, "Babyface" has the tools and the experience to make this a competitive fight. And fans may be getting the better of the deal. At 26-32-2, White wasn't exactly tearing up the circuit.
Still, Dewees will have his hands full against Nogueira. "Minotoro" (13-3) is the twin brother of UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and recently stopped Todd Gouwenberg via TKO at HCF: Destiny back in February.
Affliction — one of the most recognized and popular clothing brands out right now — made its bid to become the latest mixed martial arts promoter official a few months back during an episode of "Inside MMA" on the HDNet network.
It’s been known for some time now that Affliction would throw its hat into the MMA ring. In fact, the UFC and Elite XC recently banned their fighters from wearing Affliction gear during events because of the looming competition.
And if the inaugural pay-per-view (PPV) fight card slated for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on July 19 is any indication of things to come, then Affliction will indeed pose some stiff competition.
So stiff in fact, that UFC President Dana white has whipped up his own little card for the 19th as well. UFC Fight Night 14 will air live from the The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada on SpikeTV.
Should be one hell of a night for MMA fans.
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