FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
Fedor Emelianenko Successful During First-Ever Defense of the WAMMA Heavyweight Title
Defending the World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts' Undisputed World Heavyweight Title for the first-time ever, Fedor Emelianenko was successful in retaining his belt after knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at 3:14 of round 1.
WAMMA would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate Fedor on his stunning victory, which took place in front of a packed house at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
"In what has grown to become tradition for Fedor fights, he maintained his composure throughout the bout and when he saw an opening to finish the fight, he capitalized," said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Mike Lynch. "WAMMA could not ask for a more humble and gracious athlete to represent our association as a heavyweight champion."
Fedor vs. Arlovski was just one of 11 total bouts presented by Affliction and M-1 Global during their second-ever pay-per-view event. The crowd that was in attendance was treated to a night of great action and stunning finishes.
"As far as events go, I don't think ‘Day of Reckoning' could have gone smoother," said Lynch. "Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio, M-1 owners Sergey Matvienko and Vadim Finkelchtein, Trump Organization COO Michael Cohen, and Golden Boy and their respective staffs were tremendous and we couldn't be more proud of how our partners performed tonight."
In addition to Fedor's victory, Josh Barnett, the number three ranked WAMMA heavyweight in the world, was victorious following a third round submission over former PRIDE star Gilbert Yvel. In the weeks leading up to the bout, Affliction officials had stated that the Barnett vs. Yvel winner would be matched up with the Fedor vs. Arlovski winner.
Barnett's victory sets the stage for a potential showdown against his friend and according to Lynch, it's a fight that WAMMA would have no reservation about sanctioning as a heavyweight title fight.
"As the promoters, Affliction and M-1 are in charge of deciding who will fight Fedor next," Lynch began. "However, if Fedor vs. Barnett is the matchup that ends up being made, I can say with all certainty that as the third ranked heavyweight in our rankings poll, WAMMA will have no reservations about sanctioning Barnett against Fedor as a five-round WAMMA heavyweight title fight."
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