They’re pulling out all the stops for this Saturday’s Affliction: Banned show at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Megadeth will be there. So will Michael Buffer. The undercard is being shown on cable for free. And the main event features two of the top heavyweights in the sport: Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.

Emelianenko was the –350 favorite at press time; he’s 28-1-1 in MMA action, with the only loss coming at a RINGS event in 2000 due to a very controversial referee stoppage. Sylvia (+275) is 24-4, with all four losses against top competition while fighting for the UFC Heavyweight title.

That competition level might be the difference in Saturday’s fight. Emelianenko hasn’t really been tested since beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. And this isn’t the first time Sylvia goes into combat as the underdog. He’s got all the betting value in this matchup, but if you ignore the odds, Fedor is the easy pick.

It would be even more shocking if we hadn’t seen it so many times before. Once again, an alumnus of The Ultimate Fighter series has pulled off a major MMA upset. Once again, a big-name fighter from PRIDE has lost in the UFC Octagon. But it’s still strange to see this: Forrest Griffin, Light Heavyweight champion.

Griffin had the fight of his life last Saturday at UFC 86 in Las Vegas, going to the wire with defending champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. The fight could have gone either way; in the end, Griffin won a unanimous decision that did not sit well with many fans at Mandalay Bay. A rematch seems inevitable.

Patrick Cote scored an even narrower victory over Ricardo Almeida in Saturday’s second most important bout, winning by split decision. Cote improves to 12-4 in MMA action and moves one step closer to a fight with Middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

We’ve missed you, Rampage.

Quinton Jackson will grace the octagon for the first time since September when he faces Forrest Griffin in the main event of UFC 86. Saturday’s big card at Mandalay Bay isn’t as hotly anticipated as you might expect, mainly because of the long layoff that allowed Jackson and Griffin to participate as a coaches in The Ultimate Fighter 7 series.

It also doesn’t help that Griffin is a +215 underdog. Although he upset Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 76, Griffin is expected to have his head handed to him by the indomitable Rampage. It isn’t that Griffin can’t stand up with the best of them – this is all about Jackson. His victories over Chuck Liddell and Dan Henderson showed the value of Jackson’s training with Juanito Ibarra. Any concerns about Jackson’s work ethic are ancient history now.

Griffin may still be the value pick, but Jackson isn’t likely to lose the Light Heavyweight strap this Saturday.

We’ll get that Chuck Liddell match eventually. The latest attempt to bring “The Iceman” back to the octagon will culminate at UFC 88 on Sept. 6, when Liddell and Rashad Evans are scheduled to meet in the main event at Phillips Arena in Atlanta.

This fight was originally supposed to take place at UFC 85. Liddell and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua were going to meet, but Evans stepped in for the injured Rua, and then Liddell tore a hamstring. UFC officials scrapped the whole fight at that point.

If things go as planned this time, this will be the first fight of 2008 for both men. Odds had yet to be posted at press time; the popular Liddell figures to be the favorite, but Evans has yet to lose a fight in his MMA career. The winner of The Ultimate Fighter 2 series is 11-0-1 with a win over Michael Bisping and a draw against Tito Ortiz.

Fight fans are looking forward to this Saturday’s finals for UFC’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Rampage vs. Team Forrest“. Amir Sadollah and C.B. Dollaway will square off in the championship match at The Pearl in Las Vegas; Dollaway is the favorite at –160, although he’s lucky even to be in Saturday’s fight. Sadollah upset Dollaway in the semis, but Jesse Taylor lost his spot in the finals after getting drunk and disorderly outside the Palace Station.

UFC will serve up Evan Tanner vs. Kendall Grove in the main event. Tanner is a heavy –200 chalk even though he hasn’t won a fight since 2006. The former Middleweight champion came out of semi-retirement to sign a four-bout deal with UFC; his return in March was a losing proposition at the hands (and knees) of Yushin Okami. Grove is also trying to get back into the win column after consecutive losses to Patrick Cote and Jorge Rivera.

Every athlete’s career has a beginning, a middle and an end. Tito Ortiz looks like he’s close to the end now.

Ortiz was the biggest name in MMA as recently as two years ago. Then he lost a chance to regain the light heavyweight championship versus Chuck Liddell, drew Rashad Evans, and lost to Lyoto Machida last month at UFC 84. By press time, Ortiz had fallen out of the Top 10 light heavyweights in the world according to the Sherdog rankings.

The “Huntington Beach Bad Boy” still has plenty of fight in him at age 33. But you can read the future on the T-shirts Ortiz wears to the octagon; against Machida, the shirt read “I Did It My Way.” This past week, Ortiz claimed in an interview with Maxim that UFC prez Dana White “made the biggest mistake of his career” by letting Ortiz “get away.” Then again, White’s career has yet to peak.

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Is Chuck’s latest injury the last straw?

We all love to see the athletes we admire age gracefully and pick the right moment to retire from their chosen sport. It’s entirely unfair to the athletes themselves, of course. And the pressure to retire sooner rather than later is magnified in combat sports. You can only take so much punishment.

Chuck Liddell’s career looked in grave danger of collapse after he lost to both Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Keith Jardine. Instead, “The Iceman” showed he could still deliver at age 38 when he beat Wanderlei Silva last December.

His next fight will be for big money. It was supposed to be this Saturday in London versus Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, but both fighters had to pull out with injuries – Liddell tore his right hamstring in training. It’s a serious enough injury to once again call into question his future in MMA. But, as Randy Couture has proved, there is life in the octagon after 40.

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The rumors have been floating around for some time but it was made official today at a press conference held at Trump Tower in New York. Donald Trump has purchased a “significant” equity stake in Affliction Entertainment and his first foray into the world of MMA is set to go down on July 19th at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Aptly named “Affliction Banned“, the main event will feature Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianko (27-1) and former 2-time UFC heavyweight title-holder Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (24-4). Trump also signed former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Andrei Arlovski to Affliction Entertainment.

“I have been a fan of professional sports since childhood, and I am particularly impressed by the athleticism, courage, and strength of these disciplined athletes.” said Donald J. Trump. “This particular sport resembles my business style of being fast paced, strategic, and aggressive…remembering to never give up. I am particularly excited to partner with Affliction and become a major player in promotion of MMA; the youngest and fastest growing sport to emerge in the last century.”

“Banned” is also the clothing manufacturer’s debut MMA promotion.

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The UFC knows how to get some bang for their buck. They’re going to pack the Target Center in Minneapolis in August when native son Brock Lesnar takes on Heath Herring in the main event.

Lesnar’s varied resume includes winning the 2000 NCAA wrestling championships as a member of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. He had a short but meteoric career as a pro wrestler before trying out for the Minnesota Vikings. When that failed, Lesnar made the switch to K-1 in 2006 before signing a contract with UFC. He was a heavy favorite in his debut against Frank Mir at UFC 81; Lesnar was physically dominant but lost to a surprise Mir kneebar after just 90 seconds.

Lesnar was supposed to fight Mark Coleman at the Target, until the 43-year-old and fellow NCAA wrestling champion injured his knee while training for his comeback fight. Herring’s Sambo style might prove more difficult for Lesnar to deal with.

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B.J. Penn proves he’s the better boxer, striker in UFC 84

By the time he was done with him, B.J. Penn left Sean Sherk’s face completely covered in blood. Ah well, what counts is that Sherk attempted to make a comeback following his suspension for steroid abuse. Turns out that getting cleaned up before this title bout proved ineffective as Sherk (the better wrestler) failed to reclaim the UFC Lightweight Belt from Penn (the better striker and boxer).

“I finished with the lead punch, and I was thinking, it’s got to be finished. I know the time is done in the round but I don’t want to keep beating him like that,” Penn said. “Sean Sherk is a great competitor.”

UFC 84 Main Card Results

Light Heavyweight bout: Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Silva defeats Mendes by TKO (strikes) at 2:24 of round 1.

Light Heavyweight bout: Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida
Machida defeats Ortiz by unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 30-27.

Light Heavyweight bout: Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic
Reljic defeats Gouveia by TKO (strikes) at 3:15 of round 2.

Light Heavyweight bout: Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine
Silva defeats Jardine by KO (punches) at 0:36 of round 1.

Lightweight Championship bout: B.J. Penn VS. Sean Sherk
Penn defeats Sherk by TKO (strikes) at the end of round 3 to retain the UFC Lightweight title.

UFC 85 ‘Bedlam’ goes down on June 7th from London, England and you can get your UFC 85 odds now!