Tag: Gary Goodridge

Today in MMA history: Affliction hosts star-studded ‘Banned’ event

Take a look back at the inaugural event of Affliction hosted 13 years ago today.

Thirteen years ago today, one of the best heavyweight fight cards in MMA went down in the U.S., but it wasn’t part of the UFC.

Back on July 19, 2008, Affliction hosted its inaugural event – Affliction: Banned, which took place at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. This card featured a high-profile, heavyweight matchup in the main event with the legendary [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] taking on former UFC champion [autotag]Tim Sylvia[/autotag]. Additionally,[autotag] Andrei Arlovski[/autotag] fought [autotag]Ben Rothwell[/autotag] and[autotag] Josh Barnett[/autotag] took on Pedro Rizzo.

The star-studded event even featured [autotag]Vitor Belfort[/autotag], [autotag]Antonio Rogerio Nogueira[/autotag], and [autotag]Gary Goodridge[/autotag] the preliminary card. That’s how stacked Affliction: Banned was.

And to counter-program the card, the UFC put its middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, to fight on a UFC Fight Night event after headlining five consecutive pay-per-view cards. Silva moved up a weight class to take on tough veteran James Irvin at UFC Fight Night 14, which aired on Spike TV.  That would be Silva’s only Fight Night performance in a decade, as he would fight again on a non-UFC pay-per-view in 2016 against Michael Bisping at UFC Fight Night 84.

Take a look back at the stacked Affliction: Banned in the video above.

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AJ Nichols goes Gary Goodridge, TKOs opponent with old school crucifix elbows at LFA 101

It wasn’t Gary Goodridge vs. Paul Herrera level violence, but it was reminiscent of it.

[autotag]AJ Nichols[/autotag] turned back the clock Friday at LFA 101.

OK, so it wasn’t full blown [autotag]Gary Goodridge[/autotag]-crucifix-knockout-against-Paul-Herrera-at-UFC-8 level. But when Nichols (7-2-1) grabbed opponent Miguel Jacob from a reverse crucifix position and landed ground-and-pound, a little bit of nostalgia came with it. The stoppage was at 2:41 of Round 3.

Nichols, 30, not only added another highlight to his reel, he extended his winning streak to three. The win over Jacob (4-1) was the first TKO victory of Nichols’ career.

Check it out here (via Twitter):

This seems like a good time to pay tribute to Goodridge’s sweet violence, which took place in his UFC debut in February 1996. In just 13 seconds, Goodridge sprawled, reversed, flipped, and knocked Herrera unconscious – all while wearing his gi. What a badass and a truly underappreciated OG of the UFC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI3GzPI06Lg

And you think stoppages nowadays are late? Yikes, Big John. Yikes.

LFA 101 took place Friday at Grand Casino Hotel and Resort in Shawnee, Okla. and streamed on UFC Fight Pass.

The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

Combat Rewind, May 1: An iconic passing of the torch, after 90 minutes of battle

Check out the best highlights from this day in history with MMA Junkie’s “Combat Rewind.”

There’s “Flashback Friday” and “Throwback Thursday” (and Tuesday, too, if you want). But at MMA Junkie, we figured why not expand that to every day?

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year. It’s a look back at history, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives, featuring stellar finishes and classic moments in MMA and beyond on their anniversaries.

So kick back and relive the following bits of greatness in the video above:

Fight footage courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s official digital subscription service, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial. UFC Fight Pass gives fans access to exclusive live UFC events and fights, exclusive live MMA and combat sports events from around the world, exclusive original and behind the scenes content and unprecedented 24-7 access to the world’s biggest fight library.

Combat rewind – May 1

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.

Combat Rewind, April 29: You’re going to want to see a 26-year-old Ray Sefo in action

Check out the best highlights from this day in history with MMA Junkie’s “Combat Rewind.”

There’s “Flashback Friday” and “Throwback Thursday” (and Tuesday, too, if you want). But at MMA Junkie, we figured why not expand that to every day?

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year. It’s a look back at history, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives, featuring stellar finishes and classic moments in MMA and beyond on their anniversaries.

So kick back and relive the following bits of greatness in the video above:

Fight footage courtesy of UFC Fight Pass, the UFC’s official digital subscription service, which is currently offering a seven-day free trial. UFC Fight Pass gives fans access to exclusive live UFC events and fights, exclusive live MMA and combat sports events from around the world, exclusive original and behind the scenes content and unprecedented 24-7 access to the world’s biggest fight library.

Combat Rewind – April 29

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.

“Combat Rewind” brings you some of combat sports’ best highlights from every calendar day of the year, courtesy of the UFC Fight Pass archives.