One of the best fighters competing in the M-1 Challenge, Jessie Gibbs' fight vs. Rob Broughton is still expected to happen despite Affliction's decision to cancel "Trilogy."
Aug. 1 was supposed to be Jessie Gibbs’ coming out party in the U.S. Scheduled to take on fellow M-1 Challenge fighter Rob Broughton, Gibbs help America realize what the world already knew: that Jessie Gibbs is one of the best heavyweight prospects in the world.
But with Affliction’s decision last week to cancel “Trilogy,” Gibbs’ window of opportunity closed before he had a chance to climb through.
“I was really disappointed about it,” Gibbs told M-1Global.com contributor Fabrice Deters. I was really eager to showcase my skills in the U.S… I was packing my bags actually (when I was informed of the cancellation). I don’t think anyone expected this.”
Reasons for Affliction’s decision to pull the event are unclear, but if it was because of Josh Barnett’s inability to get licensed in the state of California and not being able to compete against Fedor Emelianenko as scheduled, consider Gibbs perplexed. Gibbs was asked how he felt about Affliction’s announcement soon after that it was folding its MMA promotion and reuniting with the UFC as a sponsor.
“… I don’t believe that a whole event is cancelled because of a mistake of one fighter,” Gibbs remarked. “It’s not my bussines either to say anything about Affliction and the UFC. Altough it’s strange that at the same time that the show is cancelled they announce to sponsor the UFC again?”
With the demise of Affliction’s MMA promotion, some in the media have wrecklessly speculated that it could have an adverse affect on M-1, of which Affliction has been a partner of. However, Gibbs has competed for M-1 for the past two years and believes the concern is unfounded.
“I hope M-1 stays positve,” he began, before continuing, “They are doing a great job with all the shows the’ve been doing. The people behind M-1 are smart and motivated enough to continue with their own promotions and probably their future partnerships with other organizations too. Might be sooner and better than one might think.”
Through M-1, Gibbs has gotten to interact with both Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi, two M-1-contracted fighters. We asked Gibbs for his thoughts on the future of each fighter.
“I dont’know what (Fedor) is going to do,” he said. “He will probaly do good in any organization. It’s his choice what to do. I don’t have any advice to give him about this. Just keep fighting the best out there, as he’s already doing that!
With Gibbs and Mousasi both being Dutch citizens, Gibbs had even more to say about his fellow countrymen.
“It doesn’t matter (to Gegard) where he fights,” said Gibbs. “As long as he get’s the fights he deserves on the big shows. He has been doing his thing for years now. He’s doing very well and more and more people know who he is. I think he will keep winning. The way he trains with his abilities and mindset — I can only see him winning every single fight. I put my money on him too at Strikeforce against ‘Babalu’.”
Regarding his own immediate future, Gibbs explained that he has options as well.
“Yes (the rumors are true),” he answered when asked about Internet reports stating that Gibbs’ fight vs. Broughton could be moved to M-1′s upcoming ‘Breakthrough’ event. “Luckily the fight against Broughton is still in a few weeks, either the 15th or the 28th. Either one is fine with me.”
