Affliction and M-1 formally kicked off promotion of its upcoming Aug. 1 pay-per-view event titled “Affliction M-1: Trilogy” at the Trump Towers in New York City on Wednesday.
Present at the press conference were M-1 Founding President Vadim Finkelchtein, M-1 Chief Operating Officer Joost Raimond, Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio, HDNet founding owner Mark Cuban, as well as Donald Trump.
With WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett also in tow, Finkelchtein and Atencio jointly announced the Aug. 1 main event between the two former PRIDE standouts, who will be meeting for the first time.
Also confirmed at the event was M-1 Global contracted fighter and former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi taking on Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato “Babalu” Sobral in a 205 pound non-title bout.
Finkelchtein, Atencio, Emelianenko, and Barnett all departed for Los Angeles soon after the press conference with a second presser in LA planned for Thursday. M-1Global.com will have pictures of the event later this evening. Pictures from Wednesday’s event are available with this post.
After the LA presser, Finkelchtein, Emelianenko, and Mousasi will all travel to Kansas City for Friday’s M-1 Challenge event at Memorial Hall.
