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Josh Barnett to face Gilbert Yvel at "Affliction: Day of Reckoning"
Former PRIDE fighter and 11-year mixed-martial-arts veteran Gilbert Yvel (35-12-1) has signed a three-fight deal with Affliction Entertainment and will debut against Josh Barnett (23-5) at the organization's Jan. 24 "Day of Reckoning" card.
The Yvel vs. Barnett fight is scheduled for the night's main card, which airs live on pay per view. A preliminary card airs on HDNet.
M-1, which has Yvel in its stable of fighters, today announced the fight.
Since a loss to Roman Zentsov at a May 2006 PRIDE event, Yvel has posted seven consecutive victories (all but one via knockout) while fighting throughout Europe and Asia. He most recently defeated Alexander Timonov (1-2) at a Nov. 21 M-1 event in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Yvel has fought some of the biggest names in the sport -- Wanderlei Silva (no-contest due to a groin kick), Dan Henderson (decision loss), Vitor Belfort (decision loss) and Cheick Kongo (TKO victory) -- but Barnett represents his biggest challenge in years.
Prior to "Day of Reckoning's" rescheduling from October to January, Barnett was expected to headline the event against Andrei Arlovski. However, with current WAMMA heavyweight title-holder Fedor Emelianenko able to fight at the January card with a healed hand injury, the Russian fighter instead got the main-event fight with Arlovski.
Barnett most recently fought at Affliction's debut event in July, and he defeated Pedro Rizzo with a second-round knockout. It was his third straight victory, and his fourth win in his past five fights.
Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko, had been considered a possible opponent for Barnett. However, Aleksander Emelianenko was pulled from Affliction's July card for unspecified reasons, and it was never a given he'd be licensed for the January fight.
The Yvel vs. Barnett fight is scheduled for the night's main card, which airs live on pay per view. A preliminary card airs on HDNet.
M-1, which has Yvel in its stable of fighters, today announced the fight.
Since a loss to Roman Zentsov at a May 2006 PRIDE event, Yvel has posted seven consecutive victories (all but one via knockout) while fighting throughout Europe and Asia. He most recently defeated Alexander Timonov (1-2) at a Nov. 21 M-1 event in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Yvel has fought some of the biggest names in the sport -- Wanderlei Silva (no-contest due to a groin kick), Dan Henderson (decision loss), Vitor Belfort (decision loss) and Cheick Kongo (TKO victory) -- but Barnett represents his biggest challenge in years.
Prior to "Day of Reckoning's" rescheduling from October to January, Barnett was expected to headline the event against Andrei Arlovski. However, with current WAMMA heavyweight title-holder Fedor Emelianenko able to fight at the January card with a healed hand injury, the Russian fighter instead got the main-event fight with Arlovski.
Barnett most recently fought at Affliction's debut event in July, and he defeated Pedro Rizzo with a second-round knockout. It was his third straight victory, and his fourth win in his past five fights.
Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor Emelianenko, had been considered a possible opponent for Barnett. However, Aleksander Emelianenko was pulled from Affliction's July card for unspecified reasons, and it was never a given he'd be licensed for the January fight.
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