http://mmajunkie.com/news/15409/takanori-gomi-comes-stateside-to-fight-rafaello-oliveira-at-affliction-trilogy.mmaTakanori Gomi comes stateside to fight Rafaello Oliveira at "Affliction: Trilogy"
After negotiations with a variety of U.S.-based organizations, popular Japanese fighter Takanori Gomi (30-5) has signed with Affliction and will take on Rafaello Oliveira (8-1) at the organization's Aug. 1 "Trilogy" card.
Affliction recently added the bout to its pay-per-view main card.
The event, including the five-round headliner between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett, takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
In addition to the five-fight pay-per-view main card, the event also features an HDNet-televised preliminary card with Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron in the featured bout.
Gomi fights in the U.S. for the first time since his submission loss to Nick Diaz at PRIDE 33, an event that took place in Las Vegas. (The loss, though, was later ruled a no-contest when Diaz's drug test came back positive for marijuana.)
Gomi, once one of the world's top lightweights, is just 3-2 since that February 2007 no-contest with losses to Sergey Golyaev (split decision) and Satoru Kitaoka (submission), both in World Victory Road's Sengoku event series. Gomi most recently rebounded for a first-round TKO victory over Takashi Nakakura at a May Shooto event.
Gomi has much more experience over his upcoming opponent, but in Oliveira, he faces a young opponent who's found success in a number of smaller regional promotions. Oliveira's only career loss came to Strikeforce lightweight prospect Lyle Beerbohm back in October. Otherwise, he's been rather dominant with seven stoppage victories in eight professional wins. Only his most recent fight (with John Mahlow at Xtreme Fighting Championships) went to a decision.
The now-official "Affliction: Trilogy" card and bout order includes:
MAIN CARD
* Champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (for WAMMA heavyweight title)
* Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
* Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
* Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel
* Takanori Gomi vs. Rafaello Oliveira
PRELIMINARY CARD
* Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron
* Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
* Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
* L.C. Davis vs. Javier Vazquez
* Mark Hominick vs. Deividas Taurosevicius
* Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (will not be aired)
* Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs (will not be aired)
Sweeet...I hope he gives a great performance, win or lose.
