Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel set for "Affliction: Trilogy," Brett Cooper scratched from card

Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel set for "Affliction: Trilogy," Brett Cooper scratched from card





Following his brutal knockout of Pedro Rizzo this past weekend at "Ultimate Chaos," Gilbert Yvel (36-13-1) has secured a spot on the Aug. 1 "Affliction: Trilogy" card, where he'll meet fellow heavyweight Paul Buentello (27-10).

Prior to "Ultimate Chaos," Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio said the Yvel vs. Rizzo winner would likely take the spot that opened when Tim Sylvia was pulled from the card following a recent eight-second loss to Ray Mercer at Adrenaline MMA III.

On today's edition of MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), Atencio said the Buentello vs. Yvel matchup is set – and that preliminary-card fighter Brett Cooper will be pulled from the lineup.

"That's definitely the fight," Atencio said of the Buentello vs. Yvel matchup. "Unfortunately, for Rizzo, he took another beating. A real bad one. I felt sorry for him, man."

Yvel, though, should be in good health for "Trilogy," which takes place in just five weeks.

"He looks no worse for the wear," Atencio said. "He'll be ready to go."

However, one fighter who won't be ready to go is Cooper (9-5), who was slated to meet popular Mexican fighter Akbarh Arreola (14-4-1) on Aug. 1. However, as was the case with Sylvia, Atencio doesn't want to rush Cooper back into competition following a brutal knockout loss to Waachiim Spiritwolf at "Ultimate Chaos" and that he plans to pull him from the "Affliction: Trilogy" card.

"I think we're going to hold off (on using Cooper)," Atencio said.

Atencio said UFC veteran Din Thomas (24-8 ), who was a late scratch from "Ultimate Chaos" after troubles cutting weight and miscommunication with the state commission, could take Cooper's spot, though nothing is yet official.

The main card of "Affliction: Trilogy," including Buentello vs. Yvel, airs on pay-per-view and takes place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Most of the night's preliminary card (aside from two M-1 "showcase fights") airs on HDNet.

Buentello enters the event with six wins in his past seven fights and 12 in his past 14. The former top UFC heavyweight contender left the UFC after a 3-1 stint in the organization and joined Strikeforce, where he's gone 3-1 with the lone loss to Alistair Overeem in a title fight for the promotion's first-ever heavyweight belt in November 2007.

Buentello, though, has rebounded for two Affliction victories. The first came over Gary Goodridge via unanimous decision in July 2008, and most recently, he defeated Kirill "Baby Fedor" Sidelnikov via third-round TKO at January's "Day of Reckoning" show.

He now meets a similarly surging heavyweight in Yvel, a Dutch fighter who's 7-1 in his past eight fights. The PRIDE veteran suffered a third-round submission loss (due to strikes) to Josh Barnett during his January Affliction debut. It remains his only loss of the past three years.

Yvel's past eight victories have all come via stoppage (seven via knockout), including this past Saturday's violent knockout of Rizzo. Yvel survived his opponent's takedown and ground and pound, and once he got back to his feet, he dropped Rizzo and blasted him a series of blows before the referee intervened at the 2:10 mark.

The latest "Affliction: Trilogy" card now 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

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron
* Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
* Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
* Deividas Taurosevicius vs. TBA
* Akbarh Arreola vs. TBA
* Mark Hominick vs. TBA
* Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (will not be aired)
* Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs (will not be aired)

For the latest on "Affliction: Trilogy," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.