BELFORT VS SANTIAGO CONFIRMED FOR AFFLICTION 3

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BELFORT VS SANTIAGO CONFIRMED FOR AFFLICTION 3
Thursday, June 18, 2009 - by MMAWeekly.com Staff

Affliction Entertainment on Thursday confirmed a bout between Vitor Belfort and Jorge Santiago for its Trilogy event on Aug. 1 in Anaheim, Calif. MMAWeekly.com first reported the bout earlier this month.

Belfort took the bout following reports he would take on Gegard Mousasi at a catch-weight. Mousasi was later announced for a bout with Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral on the clothing company turned fight promotion's third show.

An Affliction regular, Belfort last appeared at "Day of Reckoning," where he destroyed Team Quest original Matt Lindland in 37 seconds. Prior to that, he knocked out Terry Martin in the second round of the promotion's first show. Since his exit from the UFC in early 2005, he has gone 6-3, and maintains an overall record of 18-8.

Santiago, a mainstay of American Top Team, found great success after leaving the UFC in late 2006, winning fights for now-defunct Bodog, Strikeforce, and recently, Sengoku, where he's notched five straight victories. In his last appearance, he submitted top-ten middleweight Kazuo Misaki at Sengoku: No Ran to become the Sengoku middleweight champion.

Affliction "Trilogy" is headlined by a heavyweight showdown between No. 1 ranked Fedor Emelianenko and No. 2 ranked Josh Barnett.