Kurt “Batman” Pellegrino will take on Thiago Tavares on September 6th as part of the UFC 88: Breakthrough card in Atlanta. Pellegrino (11-4) is coming off a loss to The Ulimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz via triangle choke in round 3 and Tavares was recently knocked out by TUF alumni Matt Wiman - so both fighters need a win to get back into the contender picture.

Photo courtesy of fightsport.fr

According to French website fightsport.fr, newly WAMMA heavyweight champ Fedor Emelianenko will face Andre “The Pitbull” Arlovski in the next Affliction event this November. If that isn’t enough, he’s supposing that he will then head over to Japan to once again face Mirko Cro Cop in the DREAM promotion in December.

I do not know yet the name of my adversary in Dream, probably Mirko Cro Cop

Apparently light heavyweight fighter Keith Jardine has announced on his local radio station that he will go up against Brandon Vera on UFC 89 this October in Birmingham England. Featuring Micheal Bisping vs Chris Leben and lightweight contender Lyoto Machida vs Thiago Silva as co-main events, UFC 89 is shaping up to be a decent card and is currently set to be a free telecast on Spike TV!

Check out the rest of fight card after the jump…

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Sports Illustrated released last Saturdays Affliction: Banned event fighter salary today, and it looks like Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia made almost 3 TIMES as much as the #1 Heavyweight Champion Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.

The July 19th pay-per-view event out of Anaheim garnered 13,988 to the Honda Center as a number of the sport’s top heavyweights took the ring. The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required to submit to the state athletic commissions.

Last Friday Aleks Emelianenko was suddenly taken off the Affliction “Banned” card because he “didn’t meet CSAC licensing standards.” There are unsubstantiated rumors circulating that is it because he tested positive for Hepatitus B. We’ll keep you posted if/when this story develops.

We’ll be filling you in as the action happens - stay tuned!

C.B. Dollaway vs Jesse Taylor
Round 1
- Jesse leads with a left straight - going for straight take down, CB fights it off uses his momentum to swing him to the side
- Jesse has CB pressed up against the cage and CB reserves and gets it to the ground, goes for guillotine
- CB knees Jesse Taylor on the ground, get a warning from referee Yves Lavigne
- CB scrambles and ends up in full mount then gets back control, doesnt look good for JT Money
- Jesse avoids rear naked choke and turns into him, very nice
- JT gets into CB’s guard and starts his ground and pound game, raining some decent punches
- CB scrambles reverses, takes his back and cinches a “Peruvian Necktie” forces JT Money to tap

Frankie Edgar vs Hermes Franca
Round 1
- Frankie immediately takes down Franca, Hermes tries to kick from the bottom and Frankie immediately gets into the guard
- Frankie stands up, kicks Hermes while down and drops for more ground and pound, launching elbows
- Hermes quickly cinches an armbar, Frankie stays composes and gets out of it, close to tapping
- Hermes getting in the pocket, gets hit by a knee which is caught and Frankie trips for the takedown
- Frankie throwing nice elbows from the top, causes some bruising on Francas forehead
10-9 Round for Frankie Edgar

Round 2
- Frankie using his boxing well, getting into the pocket, implementing body kicks and follows with a takedown when Hermes left his leg out
- Frankie has great ground and pound, controlling Hermes’ ankles standing up and gets by his defense to land body punches
- Throwing down some heavy punches from the top, stands up and avoids upkick and makes Hermes pay with more ground and pound, always moving to get side control
- Frankie takes Herme’s back during a scramble, throwing punches to the side of Hermes’ head, and escapes by rolling and gets into guard
- Frankie gets back to standing up, starts dirty boxing and mixing in some high kicks and takes down Franca easily
10-9 Frankie Edgar

Round 3
- Frankie walks into a couple HUGE knees but recovers nicely, takes the fight to the ground throwing short elbows
- Herme’s tries to stand up, Frankie lands high kicks, never stops working, gets into and gets a double leg to trip Hermes’ to the ground
- Hermes’ trying to look for triangles and omoplata but failing, Frankie gets into side control and starts landing knees to the body like GSP vs Serra II
- Frankie almost gets caught in an armbar but quickly gets out of it and makes Hermes’ pay
- The fight gets back on the feet, Hermes’ lands some hooks and a knee but Frankie takes it toe the ground to survive - Frankie’s nose looks to be broken
10-9 Frankie Edgar

Frankie Edgar wins by another UD, 30-27 on the cards

Brandon Vera vs Reese Andy
- Vera starts doing some fast heavy high kicks that are barely blocked by Reese, then gets taken down
- Vera stands up and gets Reese in a Muay Thai clinch and launches some knees
- Brandon is the superior striker by far
- Reese pushes Brandon up against the cage and eats a knees and judo throws Reese into side control, very nice
- Reese tries to shoot in, Vera immediately spawls
10-9 Vera

Round 2
- Vera takes Reese back against the cage, has one hook in, Reese is trying to turn into him and get half guard
- Reese scrambles back on his feet, tags Reese with weak leg kicks
- Brandon gets into counter-striking mode, no action as a result, crowd boos
10-9 Vera

Round 3
- The two immediate get into the clinch against the cage, Reese looks exhausted barely taping him with knees
- Both get tied up against the cage, very little action
- Vera keeps circling, counter striking, throwing knees whenever he can, gets him in a muay thai clinch and delivers some damaging knees
- Slow round, Vera wins in the clinch
10-9 Vera

Anderson Silva vs James Irvin
Round 1
- both start of with leg kicks, silva explodes with a straight left
- Irvin kicks, Anderson caught it and punched him straight in the nose and gets immediately into the fetal position
- Anderson lands bombs from the top, and the fight is stopped
- Anderson wins by destruction