Many say it was his high profile losses to both Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rodgers that drove Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski to play the high risk game of Russian Roulette, a game during which a revolver is loaded with a single round, the cylinder spun, and then placed against the temple. The player pulls the trigger, chancing the bullet could end their life.

"It's when you don't care about anything," stated the 30-year-old Belarusian mixed martial artist to Fighters.com.

But Arlovski's spokesman, Keith Gelman, stressed to a reporter from the website that the former UFC Heavyweight Champion "has never contemplated taking his own life".

All this after two devastating losses -- one to Brett Rodgers at a Strikeforce event in June, the other to Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at an Affliction: Day of Reckoning event in January. After his second loss, Arlovski returned to his home in Belarus to spend time with family and reconsider his future ambitions.

"I cried a lot after my fights, you know. When I lost to Fedor, I cried. When I lost to Rogers, I cried," he stated.

And now, the top ranked fighter says he wants to box, and plans to train with boxing coach Freddie Roach. Arlovski says he plans to debut his boxing career in September or October of this year. As for his future in mixed martial arts...

"I don't want to make any predictions," he said.

UFC President Dana White made a surprising revelation Saturday that he would like to see former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort take on current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

White teased the matchup on the "Inside The Octagon" segment during The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale broadcast on Spike TV.

"While Anderson Silva is fighting Forrest Griffin, I'm working on some other 185-pounders," White told host Amir Sadollah. "Vitor Belfort, he is a former heavyweight who moved down to 205. Now he's at 185 pounds, he's got great hands, he's good on the ground and if his head is right he can be a very dangerous guy. I think that would be a great match up."

It's surprising White would even bring up Belfort's name since the Brazilian is currently signed to fight Jorge Santiago at Affliction: Trilogy on August 1. Does White have something under his sleeve? Or will there simply be a massive bidding war between the UFC and Affliction after Belfort's fight on August 1?

Fresh off of his first round submission victory over heavyweight Mark Hunt at DREAM 9 event, former DREAM Middleweight Champion Gegard Mousasi confirmed that his next fight will be against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort at Affliction 3 on August 1.

Prior to his win over Hunt, Mousasi (25-2-1) last competed on K-1 and DREAM's co-promoted K-1 DYNAMITE!! 2008 back on New Year's Eve. He TKO'd Musashi in the first round of their kickboxing bout.

Mousasi's last mixed martial arts tussle came in September when he put Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza to sleep in the first round of the Middleweight Grand Prix Finals. With the victory, Mousasi became the first ever middleweight champion of the organization.

Since exiting the UFC over four years ago, Belfort (18-8) had struggled to find his hold form. He dropped three of his next five, however has rebouded nicely to take his last four.

Belfort tells Brazilian MMA magazine TATAME that he would face Mousasi only at middleweight. Belfort has been very successful as a middleweight, winning both of his Affliction fights with devastating knockouts over Terry Martin and Matt Lindland.

Mousasi, who will be making his US debut at the event, extended his win streak to ten with his submission win at DREAM 9 against Hunt in the opening round of the Super Hulk Tournament. Outweighed by 68.4 pounds, Mousasi took Hunt to the mat and snatched an arm for the kimura. Mousasi will face either Ikuhisa Minowa, Hong Man Choi or Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou after the Belfort fight.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the twin brother of former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, was victorious Saturday at Jungle Fight in Fortaleza, Ceara, Brazil.

Interestingly, it was Nogueira's first fight in Brazil. Nogueira has fought in Japan, Canada and USA but had previously never competed in his home country.

Nogueira took on 30-year-old striker Dion Staring in the main event and submitted the Golden Glory fighter with a triangle choke in the third round.

Nogueira improved to 17-3, while Staring fell to 15-6.

Nogueira was coming off a knockout win over Vladimir Matyushenko in January at Affliction: Day of Reckoning and the win over Staring extended his win streak to five.

Former IFL Light Heavyweight Champion Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko will take on fellow UFC veteran Jason "The Punisher" Lambert at "Call to Arms 1" at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California on May 16.

Matyushenko in January had an eight-fight win streak snapped by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Affliction: Day of Reckoning in Anaheim, California. Matyushenko was knocked out with a knee in the second round. He had previously only been knocked out once, against Andrei Arlovski at UFC 44 in September 2003. After leaving the UFC on the loss to Arlovski, the Belarusian mixed martial artist made a comeback by tearing through the competition in the IFL as a member of the Tokyo Sabres.

This will be Lambert's first fight outside of the UFC since September 2005. Lambert made his Octagon debut at UFC 58 in March 2006 and fought until UFC 88 in September 2008, splitting eight fights. Lambert holds TKO win over Terry Martin and KO victory over Renato "Babalu" Sobral.

In the other featured bouts, Tiki Ghosn will take on Brian Warren and Daniel Puder will face Jeff Ford.

"How do I feel about them trying to counter-program UFC 100?," said UFC President Dana White. "I love it. I fucking love it. I love it. I don't like these guys and I want to see them spend more of their t-shirt money. What they should be worrying about is — they've already seen first hand that nobody gives a shit about Affliction MMA — what they need to starting worrying about is nobody wants to wear their goofy fucking clothes anymore either. The fad is over and they better start saving as much of that t-shirt money as they can."

FiveOuncesOfPain.com recently got in contact with Dana White via text message Sunday afternoon to get his comments about recent reports claiming that Affliction is looking to counter-program UFC 100, which will be one of the most historic cards in UFC history. White responded by voicemail and he was clearly unimpressed with Affliction's plans. Affliction has yet to formally announce the date of its third show but if Affliction does indeed have their third show opposite UFC 100 then they will be facing some very stiff competition as UFC 100 features UFC Welterweight Championship match between reigning champion Georges St Pierre and Thiago Alves and a heavyweight title unification fight between UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir and UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic informed Croation Sports Magazine Sportske-Novosti that he has resumed training after successful surgery to repair the ligament damage in his knee.

"I'm training as much as I can at this stage of the recovery," said Filipovic. "I'm mainly working on weights and cardio with conditioning coach Jukic. As things stand at the moment I can say that the operation went very well."

Filipovic has fulfilled his contract with Japanese MMA promotion DREAM and has had preliminary discussions with both the UFC and and another US based MMA organization believed to be Affliction.

"I'm in talks with the Japanese which of course is natural, since they treated me so well over the years," said Filipovic. "It's not a secret anymore that the UFC have contacted me. I'm also in talks with another US organization."

Filipovic stated that he'd decide on an organization within a month though the former PRIDE Grand Prix Champion admitted he'd be unable to fight for several months thereafter.

Affliction: Day of Reckoning came to us all live on January 24, 2009 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Here are the results for the event:

Main Card

• WAMMA Heavyweight Championship: Fedor Emelianenko def. Andrei Arlovski by KO (punch) at 3:14 of Round 1 to retain the WAMMA Heavyweight Title

• Heavyweight bout: Josh Barnett def. Gilbert Yvel by submission (strikes) at 3:05 of Round 3

• Middleweight bout: Vitor Belfort def. Matt Lindland by KO (punches) at 0:37 of Round 1

• Light Heavyweight bout: Renato Sobral def. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou by submission (brabo choke) at 2:37 of Round 2

• Heavyweight bout: Paul Buentello def. Kirill Sidelnikov by TKO (doctor stoppage) at 4:18 of Round 3

• Lightweight bout: Dan Lauzon def. Bobby Green by submission (rear naked choke) at 4:55 of Round 1

HDNet Matches/Undercard

• Light Heavyweight bout: Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Vladimir Matyushenko by TKO (knee and punches) at 4:26 of Round 2

• Featherweight bout: LC Davis def. Bao Quach by unanimous decision

• Featherweight bout: Albert Rios def. Antonio Duarte by unanimous decision

• Welterweight bout: Brett Cooper def. Patrick Speight by TKO (punches) at 4:39 of Round 2

• Welterweight bout: Jay Hieron def. Jason High by TKO (punches) at 1:04 of Round 1

Middleweight fighter Dean "The Boogeyman" Lister requested and received his release from his UFC contract following a loss to Yushin "Thunder" Okami at UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 in December 27. He will seek a deal with a new employer in 2009. The news was confirmed on Sunday by Lister's management team at Haymaker's Empire.

According to the management team, Lister requested the release and the UFC granted his leaving the promotion. The former Abu Dhabi Combat Club (ADCC) Absolute Division Champion and King of the Cage (KOTC) Middleweight Champion is already in talks with several promotions, including DREAM and Affliction, for a new deal.

During his time with the UFC, Lister amassed an impressive 4-2 record with wins over fighters like Jeremy Horn and Alessio Sakara, with his only losses coming against Nate Marquardt and Okami in his last bout. However, he has not been a fan favorite due to his reliance on his grappling. He's won nine times by submission but never won by KO or TKO since debuting in September 2000. Eight of of Lister's 19 career fights have gone the distance.

With his release from the UFC, Lister is not looking to sit out for very long. He wants to return soon with a new promotion.

The grappling guru is also looking for a shot at a fighter such as Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza or possibly the new Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago to get back in against top competition and prove his meddle as one of the top submission artists in mixed martial arts.

The K-1 Dynamite!! bout on New Year's Eve between Shinya Aoki (picture) and Eddie Alvarez will determine the first ever World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) Lightweight Champion.

With just a few days to go before the show, it's been made official by press release that WAMMA will recognize the winner of the bout between Aoki and Alvarez as their lightweight champion. The press release also states that the winner will not receive the physical belt at the event, but it will be presented to them in a ceremony at a later date.

"New Year's Eve is rich in both history and tradition for combat sports in Japan," WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Michael Lynch said. "FEG officials have put together an amazing night of fights and WAMMA is looking forward to recognizing the winner of the Aoki versus Alvarez fight as our first ever lightweight champion."

Aoki and Alvarez would have met in the finals of the DREAM Lightweight Grand Prix 2008, but Alvarez sustained an eye injury in his win earlier that night against Tatsuya Kawajiri. This brought in Joachim Hansen, who won the reserve bout, to step in for Alvarez. Hansen then defeated Aoki by TKO to become the first DREAM Lightweight Champion.

In the WAMMA rankings, Aoki is ranked number two in the lightweight division while Alvarez is ranked number three. UFC Lightweight Champion BJ Penn is ranked number one.

"WAMMA's board of directors supports the WAMMA pollsters in their recognition of BJ Penn as the number one rated lightweight fighter in the world," Lynch said. "However, Penn has not fought since May 24 and isn't scheduled to compete again until January 31. His January 31 fight will be contested at welterweight against Georges St. Pierre for the UFC's 170-pound crown. If Penn wins, UFC President Dana White has already stated that Penn's next fight will be a welterweight title defense against Thiago Alves. Needless to say, Penn's future as a regular competitor in the lightweight division is uncertain."

Lynch continued by saying that if Penn's returns to lightweight, WAMMA would approach the UFC to facilitate a fight between Penn and the WAMMA Lightweight Champion. However, that's only wishful thinking as the UFC has strongly opposed cooperating with WAMMA.

WAMMA is an independent sanctioning organization for mixed martial arts, with their own fighter rankings and championships. Earlier this year, Fedor Emelianenko became the first and only current WAMMA titleholder when he submitted Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at Affliction: Banned. Fedor holds the WAMMA heavyweight title.

Former UFC heavyweight fighter Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum recently said during an interview that he has nothing definitive in terms of a potential contract after being released by the UFC. The Brazilian mixed martial artist did go on to make a comment regarding Affliction Entertainment though saying, "Affliction is promising more than 16 shows in 2009, mainly do not claiming exclusivity."

The starting point would obviously be January 24th "Day of Reckoning", but beyond that, nobody's heard anything.

We do know that the Affliction's roster goes as deep as January's card but they do have the capabilities to sign more fighters as the promotion moves forward.

Many sources reported that Brett "The Grim" Rogers has been contacted by Affliction regarding a possible bout with Josh "The Babyface Assassin" Barnett (picture) on January 24 "Day of Reckoning" card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

Rogers is most known for his three impressive wins in the -- now bankrupt promotion -- EliteXC as well as calling out Kimbo Slice at a post-fight press conference.

Many believed that Rogers was next in line to fight Kimbo Slice if Slice had beaten Seth Petruzelli. Instead Rogers finds himself looking for another promotion to work with.

Barnett currently has no opponents for "Day of Reckoning" after being pulled out of the main event when Fedor Emelianenko returned to the card.

Originally intended as a day for a union of boxing and MMA fights, January 24 will now see separate pay-per-view cards from Golden Boy and Affliction promotion.

ESPN.com reported Monday night that the Antonio Margarito vs "Sugar" Shane Mosley welterweight boxing fight under Golden Boy and Top Rank promotions will happen after all on January 24 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event will be officially announced at a news conference on December 6.

Affliction and Golden Boy announced in September that the two promotions had entered a partnership that could lead to four MMA/boxing events in 2009.

Golden Boy will still present the Affliction: Day of Reckoning event on January 24, but the scheduling of a boxing card on the same day could be a sign that the promotion doesn't think much of crossover potential between MMA and boxing fans.

In the ever expanding "quest for the best" ADCC Championships is proud to announce that two of the World's top fighters have agreed to compete in the 2009 ADCC event. ADCC is proud to announce that PRIDE and Affliction Champion Fedor Emelianenko, widely considered the World's best fighter and 2008 DREAM Middleweight Champion Gregard Mousassi are set to compete in ADCC 2009. ADCC Europe President Marko Leistén confirmed the fighter's presence after a meeting with the two fighters manager Aby Echteld in Holland 8th November.

Fedor Emelianenko, after conquering the world of MMA, wants to show the world he is also the best submission grappler in the world. Fedor want to make history and expand on the pioneer spirit of what Mark Kerr did in the late 90's when he was the Champion of PRIDE and became the weight and Absolute Champion of ADCC and went on to defend his title in the Superfights for 2 editions.

Mousassi, the winner of the 2008 DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix where he defeated former World ABJJ Absolute and ADCC Middleweight Champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in the final, also wants to test his ground skills against the top names in Submission Grappling. This sets up some humongous possible match-ups such as a re-match with "Jacare" or facing current ADCC Middleweight Champion and rising UFC star Demian Maia.

World lead organizer Guy Neivens was ecstatic with the addition: "At the top of my wish list I was one name: Fedor Emelianenko! And not only we got him but we also added another world star in Gregard Moussassi. It is a testament to the level and prestige of our conversation that the world's best continue to want to test themselves in our events." And he continued: "We couldn't be any happier. Now it is time for the rest of the world's best fighters to step up to the challenge!"

Taken from: adcombat.com

The Vice President of M-1 Jerry Millen is welcoming the UFC to co-promote a battle of champions between WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and newly-crowned UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar (picture).

"Couture and WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year," Millen said in a statement released Tuesday. "While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment."

Millen believes that Fedor should remain the undisputed champion, and that the UFC is only calling Fedor "overrated" simply because UFC has not acquired the final PRIDE FC Champion to its roster.

The UFC currently has two heavyweight champions, Brock Lesnar and interim champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, whom Fedor has already defeated twice. With the Couture fight devalued, Millen wants especially the remaining superfight with Lesnar.

"While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world," Millen continued. "Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round."

"Let's get it on!" Remember the sentence? Yes, now we will hear that sentence again from the cage.

The California State Athletic Commission has assigned "Big" John McCarthy a referee's position at Strikeforce "Destruction" on November 21 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California.

The assignment will mark the 15-year veteran's return to officiating after McCarthy announced his retirement in December 2007 to join The Fight Network, a Canadian-based cable channel, as an on-air analyst and strategic advisor.

McCarthy oversaw his 535th bout between dynamic lightweights Clay Guida and Roger Huerta at "The Ultimate Fighter 6" Finale last December in Las Vegas, Nevada. He officiated his first bout at UFC 2 "No Way Out" in March 1994 in Denver, Colorado, and was among the original authors of the MMA's first set of guidelines in 1998.

In his analyst's role, the 45-year-old McCarthy provided color commentary for Canada's TKO and Hardcore Championship Fighting promotions, and most recently called the action alongside FOX Sports Network regulars Frank Trigg and Jay Glazer at Affliction "Banned" last July in Anaheim, California.

McCarthy resigned from The Fight Network on October 7, amidst rumors the channel was awash with financial difficulties.

"I had a good time doing (commentary) and it was fun," said McCarthy. "The Fight Network overextended itself and wasn't ready to do certain things that they said that they were going to be able to do. It just didn't work out there."

Rather than take another offer that would keep him outside the cage, McCarthy said he chose to return to the role he originated inside it.

"I missed doing it," said McCarthy. "Sometimes when you walk away from something and you think it's time, once you're away you realize what you're missing –- it's kind of like why guys come back to fighting. It's what I like doing. It's what I was meant to do."

Retired from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) where he served for 22 years, McCarthy instructed over 10,000 recruits in arrest and control procedures and survival tactics.

McCarthy has not veered far from his teaching roots. He conducted his second Certified Officials for MMA National Development (COMMAND) referee and judges' instructional course in October and has a third seminar planned for late November at his mixed martial arts academy in Valencia, California. The program is recognized by the Association of Boxing Commissions (ABC).

Though most recognizable from his tenure with the UFC, Big John said he has no expectations of where or when he will be placed for assignment.

"I have no control over that," he said. "That's up to athletic commissions and what you get assigned to. I may do one show a year. I may do 50. I don't know, but if I get assigned to something, then I'll be going if I can."

McCarthy was recently re-licensed as a referee with the athletic commissions in California, Ohio, and the River Cree in Alberta, Canada. He said he plans apply for licensure in additional states as well.

Chris "The Polish Hammer" Horodecki will enter the Shootboxing "S-Cup 2008", the same-night eight-man tournament on November 24 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

Horodecki will take on Shoot boxing-trained Hiroki Shishido in the quarterfinals of the biennial tournament, which will also feature PRIDE Bushido veteran Luiz Azeredo -- the first man to beat Anderson Silva -- and 2-time K-1 MAX and 2-time S-Cup Champion Andy Souwer.

Shoot boxing, also referred to as standing vale tudo, is similar to kickboxing except that throws and standing submissions are allowed.

After this fight, Horodecki -- the Polish-born Canadian mixed martial artist -- will fight against Dan Lauzon on January 24, 2009 at Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning in Anaheim, California.

The final chapter in the Shamrock family feud will be written next year as Frank Shamrock confirmed the fight between he and his brother Ken will take place in March or April 2009.

The fight has been dubbed "Blood Brothers" for some time now, but speculation has run rampant for the past few months if the bout would actually take place. Frank says it's signed, sealed and will be delivered.

"We are definitely going to see it happen; it's a done deal," Frank said of the fight. "I've just got to get his old ass into the cage now. Now he's so old he can't even get in the cage."

"We finally got it done and we're looking forward to March or April for kicking it off, try to get him a wheel chair so he can get himself into that cage next time."

With the negotiation to put the two brothers in a cage together over with, now Frank is focusing on which promotion will put the fight on and right now it appears EliteXC is the front runner, but others could join the show.

"Currently I don't," Frank said about what organization would promote the show. "We've got a real good relationship with Elite and Showtime and CBS, so I've got a feeling it's going to be those guys and I'm going to see if I can drag Affliction aboard here."

Of course with EliteXC comes the possibility of working with Showtime or CBS, but Frank feels the fight between he and his brother calls for a pay-per-view broadcast.

"I think if any fight ever were a pay-per-view match, this is the one," he commented. "I really feel like network television and cable television can really support this pay-per-view by showing other media properties that kind of tell the story of this sport and tell the story of the Shamrock family. That's my real focus right now, get these other networks to kind of drive some stories to help boost this fight."

One idea that Frank Shamrock is working on to help promote the show is a documentary style show, similar to HBO's popular "24/7" series, to help build the fight and tell the story of two brothers who will battle in out in the cage.

"I'm looking further than Showtime; I'm looking at primetime television," Frank said about where the documentary would air. "Imagine if the Klitschko brothers fought? There's rarely ever been two brothers who've been superstars in a sport, champions in a sport, in the same time period, and more over there's never been an opportunity for those two brothers to fight."

"I just think that an overall story can accomplish and bring everybody involved in the real meat of the story, which is the history of the sport, things that have happened with the family, with each other."

Frank is also hopeful to close a deal that will put the fight on in San Jose, California, but nothing has been negotiated for an arena yet.

As for Ken Shamrock, following a debacle that saw him removed from the main event of the recent EliteXC show against Kimbo Slice, a match-up against his brother Frank could be exactly the kind of huge show to put his name back on the map while putting on a historic event pitting brother against brother.

We've been down this road before but maybe this time former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Champion Kurt Angle is serious. He recently spoke to SunSport saying, "I'm talking to several fight companies about doing MMA by the end of next year."

Even though he's in talks with several "fight companies", it's almost clear that he only wants to compete in the UFC.

"I've always wanted to do it. I'm the only Olympic gold medalist that will enter the Octagon and it feels right for me," Angle continued.

He did say that he's received offers from several promotions like Affliction and EliteXC, but those aren't the promotions that he has his eye on. "I can almost guarantee you're going to see me in the Octagon," he proclaimed.

So, if that's gonna be true, we will see Kurt Angle compete in the UFC in 2009.

California State Athletic Commission Assistant Executive Director Bill Douglas has confirmed that Affliction fighter Edwin Dewees (picture) and EliteXC fighter Antonio Silva have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. On August 1, Douglas said that both cards were "not out of the woods" and positive tests were likely on both cards.

Dewees, 26 years old, tested positive for Nandrolone, a common illegal steroid, following his losing effort against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Affliction Banned on July 19. The level of drug in Dewees' system, 499ng/mL, far outstrips other high profile fighters who have been ensnared by the CSAC since it began drug testing in March of 2006.

"The level of drug in his system makes it very hard to explain," told Douglas.

Also hard to explain is Silva's positive test, which showed the presence of Boldenone, an anabolic steroid mainly veterinarian in nature. According to Douglas, the CSAC does not record the level of Boldenone in a fighter's system, as the drug's long half-life in the body make false positives extremely unlikely.

Both men have been suspended one year from the end of their respective bouts and have been fined $2,500.

Dewees declined comment saying he needed to check with his lawyer before making any statements.

Silva and his representatives were unavailable for comment.

Aside from Justin Levens, who has already been reported as testing positive for pain killers, all other EliteXC and Affliction fighters from the noted July events tested negative for any banned substances, whether recreational or performance enhancing.