ANAHEIM MMA CARD BULKS UP AFFLICTION: EMELIANENKO FACES SYLVIA TONIGHT IN HEAVYWEIGHT BOUT.

Byline: Miguel Lopez

Staff Writer

ANAHEIM -- Not many mixed martial arts organizations could reach the caliber of tonight's Affliction show at the Honda Center.

In the main event of the $39.99 pay-per-view card, Russian Fedor Emelianenko (27-1), in only his second U.S. appearance, will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.

Emelianenko's only defeat came because of a cut caused by an illegal elbow he sustained in a fight against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in 2001. The referee did not witness the strike and gave Kohsaka the win.

Emelianenko has beaten the best thrown in front of him, mostly under the former MMA banner, Pride FC.

His aggressive style and strength are easily hidden in his 5-foot-11, 230-pound frame.

"I am honored to be in a program with such great fighters," Emelianenko said through an interpreter. "Thank you Mr. Sylvia for taking this fight. I know him well, I have tremendous respect for him, and I look forward to meeting him in the ring."

Sylvia said that Fedor's inactivity -- he only fought four times in the last 30 months -- has produced ring-rust that the 6-foot-8, 265-pounder will use to his advantage.

"That will be one of my objectives, to expose his rust," Sylvia said. "A lot of people have been after Fedor and I got him. I've been known to throw a monkey wrench into the MMA world and I plan on doing it again."

Sylvia is fighting outside of the UFC for only the third time in eight years. During his UFC tenure, Sylvia wore the heavyweight strap twice but lost his last bout in February at UFC 81.

At Friday's weigh-ins, all the fighters made the required weight but the show did suffer one set back when Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, failed to meet the necessary medical requirements. His bout against Paul Buentello was taken off the card.

In other bouts, former UFC heavyweight Andre Arlovski will take on Ben Rothwell, who ripped through the International Fight League's best before landing this fight. Top-five heavyweight Josh Barnett battles Brazilian Pedro Rizzo in a rematch from 2001 where the pair stood to-to- toe trading punches until Barnett could not continue.

The undercard begins at 5 p.m. on Fox Sports Net before the pay-per-view portion begins at 8 p.m.

Affliction vice president Tom Atencio said he hopes this is the first of several MMA bouts his company will put on.

"Obviously Anaheim is in our own backyard, but we want to change it up and move the event around, too," he said.