The Weekly Wrap: July 25 - July 31

Affliction Boosts UFC

The collapse of Affliction may not have led to Fedor Emelianenko coming to the UFC, but it certainly benefited the company on several fronts.

Vitor Belfort has signed with the promotion and will headline UFC 103 in Dallas on Sept. 19 against Rich Franklin, the UFC announced. Belfort was set to face Jorge Santiago at Affliction’s Aug. 1 show after picking up two impressive wins at middleweight inside the promotion. Belfort will face Franklin at 205 pounds. The UFC had originally announced Franklin would rematch Dan Henderson on the card but switched plans because of fan backlash, UFC President Dana White said.

Belfort, who’s ramped up his game at Xtreme Couture, last fought in the UFC in 2005 after making his name in the Octagon using lightning-fast punches to score emphatic knockouts. The reshuffling means Henderson will be the next to challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title.

The UFC also signed former Affliction fighters Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Paul Daley, Dan Lauzon and Rafaello Oliveira and was in talks with eight or nine others. The heavyweight bout between Rothwell and Gormley, planned for Affliction “Trilogy,” will take place at UFC 104 on Oct. 24, Sherdog.com reported. MMAJunkie.com reported Lauzon vs. Oliveira was booked as a lightweight fight at UFC 103. The company also signed three fighters to compete in the World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight class. The Javier Vazquez vs. L.C. Davis bout, also originally planned for Affliction, will now happen at WEC 42 on Aug. 9 in Las Vegas. Mark Hominick was also signed to a WEC deal.

Hours after folding on July 24, Affliction issued a statement saying it had reached a deal with the UFC to allow Affliction clothing in the Octagon again. It had been banned since it became clear the company had designs on promoting its own events. Yahoo! Sports reported Affliction was primed to exit the MMA promotional game whether its third event went off or not. The promotion had only sold 3,000 tickets for “Trilogy” in the 18,000-seat Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., according to Inside MMA.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog Affliction was interested in cutting a sponsorship deal with the promotion, but it fell through. Coker, who was in Italy on vacation during much of last week’s disorder, speculated that his reluctance to offer Brett Rogers to replace Josh Barnett against Emelianenko on Aug. 1 could have created last-minute animosity between the parties.

Several of Affliction’s major players did, however, end up in Strikeforce. That promotion announced the Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi match set for Affliction will instead take place at its Aug. 15 event in San Jose, Calif. Sobral, Strikeforce’s light heavyweight champion, was already under contract to the promotion, and Mousasi told Sherdog.com he signed a three-fight deal with the outfit. In addition, Jay Hieron will step in to face Nick Diaz on the show.