Report: Ortiz vs Babalu For Affliction Vegas Card
July 29, 2008
Steve Cofield of Yahoo Sports is reporting that Tito Ortiz vs Babalu Sobral is in the works to co-main event the Affliction card from the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Sources have told Yahoo! Sports that free agent Tito Ortiz will fight Renato “Babalu” Sobral in the co-main event at Affliction’s next fight card, on Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the UNLV campus in Las Vegas. The main event will feature a heavyweight bout between WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.
Ortiz would represent the best draw on Affliction’s roster as far as mainstream visibility, drawing PPV buys, and pulling a decent gate. Ortiz has been linked to the Affliction group in the past through his involvement with Donald Trump, who is an equity partner in the Affliction group.
The Ortiz vs Bablu fight is far from a done deal. Ortiz is just coming out of his no complete time after his Zuffa contract and Tito is sure to drive a hard bargain for his services. Cofield elaborates on the window for negotiations:
Atencio also indicated that he didn’t think Affliction could speak with Ortiz until Aug. 4 because of a 60-day non-compete clause in Ortiz’s UFC contract. Ortiz’s last fight for UFC was on May 24 at UFC 84. If the 60-day clause is accurate, the deal ended last weekend. Atencio said the biggest stumbling block for an Ortiz deal would be the financial terms.
Cofield also indicated that Affliction would be using the services of Roy Englebrecht as the promtor of record for the Vegas card. Such a move would save time and money, as the company would not have to go through the licensing process with state athletic commission.
