

Drum roll please ...

Affliction MMA recently "postponed" its encore pay-per-view (PPV) event "Day of Reckoning" -- originally scheduled for October 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada -- because the promotion had a big announcement to make tonight about the company's future.

And Vice President Tom Atencio had curious fans buzzing when he revealed that the announcement would be made during the big lightweight professional boxing title fight between Joel Casamayor and Juan Manuel Marquez, which will air on HBO pay-per-view (PPV) live from "Sin City" at 10 p.m. ET.

So what's all the fuss about?

Affliction has forged a partnership with Golden Boy Promotions -- the monster boxing promotional company led by superstar Oscar De La Hoya -- to co-promote future events that will feature mixed martial arts and boxing matches, according to ESPN.com.

Here's a snip:

"Golden Boy and Affliction will partner 50-50 on at least four pay-per-view shows next year that will include boxing matches and MMA fights on the same card. Smaller promoters have paired the two sports on cards, but never at the top level."

It's a relationship that was first discussed before Affliction even staged its first-ever event on July 19; therefore, it doesn't come as too much of a surprise that Golden Boy Promotions is once again back on the MMA radar.

Of course, Affliction also has an existing deal with multimillionaire Donald Trump, meaning that the upstart promotion has added another powerful partner to help it succeed.

And the fearsome threesome will get its first crack at the big time when it trots out the biggest star on the roster, WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, to anchor the MMA portion of the card now set for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on January 17.

No opponent for Emelianenko is known at this time.

This card will not air on HBO, which would have been an industry coup -- it is set to air on normal PPV. However, it's certainly possible that the new format and partnership could likely lead to something down the road.

Stay tuned for more details.