Affliction
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(Somebody better tell him that’s not a regulation boxing glove.)
I love guessing games. And it is because I love guessing games that Affliction and the ever-changing story behind their second event is a constant joy for me. So what’s the story now? Will they have a completely new date scheduled? Will they claim to have no date at all? Will they go so far as to name some of the fighters on the card? Or will they shoot down any interesting rumors about who might be fighting?
This time around Affliction VP Tom Atencio is saying the main event will likely be a boxing match, thanks to Golden Boy’s involvement, and MMA will comprise the entirety of the undercard:
“We are going to do a combination show of boxing and MMA. They will run the back end and we will do what we do well.” Atencio says of the show. “It will be between nine and ten fights total. Right now it looks like we are going to do a boxing main event and everything under it will be MMA. It really depends on who we have boxing though. If they are big enough names then absolutely they will be the main event and that is what we have planned right now. Things change though and we have nothing finalized.”
Hold up, Tom. What about Fedor? We all know he’s the cornerstone of this little operation. Is he lacing up the boxing gloves, you know, just to give himself a challenge? Because if not, it sounds like you’re saying either a) Fedor won’t be the main event (and when’s the last time that happened), or b) he won’t be on the card at all.
Option b sounds more realistic, what with Josh Barnett saying he won’t fight Fedor in January and Fedor feeling his annual New Year’s Eve itch coming on. But on that subject, Atencio is uncharacteristically forthcoming.
We have a solid relationship with Fedor. We have extended our deal with Fedor. He and M-1 global are 110% our partners. The rumors are that he is fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve but I can crush and squash those rumors right and tell you he is not fighting on New Year’s Eve.
Notice how he stops short of saying that Fedor is fighting for him in January. Which would be the next logical step. Looks like all we know right now is that FEDOR WILL RETURN! I saw it on TV, so it must be true.
Oh, and Atencio also wrote the Gegard Mousasi vs. Vitor Belfort report off as a rumor. What’s funny is Mousasi is the one who first spouted off at the mouth about that. According to Atencio, they’ve never even discussed a contract to fight for Affliction. That just figures.
Written by admin on October 7th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Affliction and Gegard Mousasi and fight and fedor and News and Boxing and MMA.
(At least some people still do work for their half a mill, son.)
Before his bout with Andrei Arlovski on Saturday night, Roy Nelson said he wasn’t completely sure who was signing his check. Now we not only know it was Affliction, but we also know that “Big Country” and Arlovski made a combined $580,000 to represent the clotheir-turned-promoter on CBS. The bulk of that money — $500,000 with no win bonus — went to Arlovski for his impressive knockout victory. Even for Affliction, who likes throwing around money almost as much as they love skulls and chains, that’s a hefty price to pay to put one fight on someone else’s show. So was it worth it?
Aside from the exposure for their fighters, Affliction got their ban lifted long enough to throw their logos on the cage and get a few commercials in during the broadcast. As MMA Payout pointed out, that might say more about CBS’ ad sales for this show than it does for Affliction’s arrangement with Elite XC, but either way now there are a few million more people in the world who know about the Andrei Arlovski signature t-shirt line, and every little bit helps.
There’s also the matter of the aggressively vague “Fedor Will Return” ads (was anyone else reminded of the “Gabbo is coming!” ads from The Simpsons?). Beyond heaping more indignity on Tim Sylvia’s loss by pointing out that almost the entire fight can fit in one network TV spot, it does help get the word out to casual fight fans. The only problem is that when you don’t have a date or event to hype, you have to wonder what that’s really worth.
Affliction had a great opportunity with those ads to really advance public knowledge of their MMA organization. Instead they hyped their shirts and failed to tell us when and how we could pay them money to see their marquee fighter perform. I suppose you have to know that information yourself before you can pass it on to others, but isn’t that just one more reason for them to get moving on this January event?
Affliction VP Tom Atencio said before this event that one of his primary motivations was using the Elite XC CBS broadcast as an opportunity to showcase Andrei Arlovski. Hopefully he was happy with what he saw, since that was half a million dollars worth of showcasing. But I have to wonder if it’s going to have the desired effect.
To hardcore MMA fans, the Arlovski-Nelson fight proved two things: 1) Arlovski is still vulnerable on the ground (if not for an odd stand-up he might have found his way into a kimura in the first round), and 2) Arlovski’s striking is every bit as dangerous as it has looked in his last few fights. In other words, we learned nothing new. He beat someone he was supposed to beat. He looked good doing it, and you might even say he made his case as the most talented and explosive fighter on the card, but a knockout win over Nelson wasn’t exactly shocking.
Casual fans — who may know Arlovski from his UFC days and may not — probably didn’t know enough about Roy Nelson to know that Arlovski’s win was still significant. To them, it most likely looked like a muscular werewolf beating up on a fat guy. A knockout always gets people’s attention no matter what, but will they remember that moment in January, when Affliction finally gets a card together?
You have to admire Affliction’s willingness to lend their fighters out, and I’m sure Arlovski and Nelson both appreciated the opportunity to make some cash after the October 11 event was “rescheduled.” But you have to wonder how long Affliction can spend this kind of money without seeing much in return. With economists talking recession, you also have to wonder whether $50 t-shirts won’t be the first thing to get cut from the average person’s budget.
Written by admin on October 6th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on fight and Affliction and Roy Nelson and General and fedor and Andrei Arlovski and Commentary and MMA.
(Don’t go getting soft on us, Babyface.)
For a guy who seems like he’s getting screwed by his employer, Josh Barnett sure is keeping cool about it. First he had his fight with Andrei Arlovski put in jeopardy when Affliction decided they couldn’t pull off their October “Day of Reckoning” event in Las Vegas. Then, a few weeks later, they announce that Arlovski will be fighting on this Saturday’s Elite XC card (and will be paid well to do it), but he’ll face Roy Nelson instead of Barnett. And why? Barnett says he never turned the fight down, but Atencio says he “couldn’t get a hold of him.”
Barnett was cagey while telling his side of the story to MMA Weekly, but it sounds as if there’s something else going on here than just a simple case of miscommunication:
“I was disappointed, yes. That was supposed to be my fight. We talked about it at some point prior to going to Japan, and I found out that I didn’t get the fight while in Japan. I continued to work on some business there, especially after I found out I wasn’t getting the fight.”
Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t sound like a guy who just missed a phone call. It could be that Nelson comes a lot cheaper than “The Baby-Faced Assassin”, who has said repeatedly that he is not interested in fighting at a discounted rate.
In any event, whatever is going on between Barnett and Affliction seems to have implications beyond just this Elite XC co-promotion, as Barnett confirmed in no uncertain terms that he won’t be fighting Fedor in January.
Oddly, the implication from the MMA Weekly article is that this might also have something to do with personal feelings between Barnett and Fedor:
“It would be (logical) for the fans, but the fans don’t understand contracts or the way things have been put down on the back end in terms of the business aspect of it,” he said. “Or the details between both of the fighters. So, it’s not really that we want to rob the fans of something, it’s just that I don’t think it’s possible.”
He maintains his decision is based on personal and business reasons.
“There’s just some times it’s better to keep your mouth shut and just not really talk too much about things,” he said. “I’m not trying to make anybody look bad or talk about the details of it, but it’s just not a fight that’s going to happen in January. And I think that the feeling is actually mutual.”
Barnett met Emelianenko for dinner during his trip to Japan, and the possibility of the fight was discussed. It was there Barnett concluded he would not fight his friend in January.
“There’s a lot of factors that go into this one,” he continued. “It’s not so simple.”
Business concerns are understandable. Everybody gots to get paid, and they want the best possible contract terms when they step in the ring. But this stuff about it being personal? That’s a little tough to swallow. What you’re telling me is that Josh Barnett, who almost teared up after his knockout of Pedro Rizzo because he liked the guy so much, doesn’t want to fight Fedor because they’re suddenly buds? He called Rizzo “a beautiful soul” and still it didn’t stop him from knocking the guy stiff. This is one case where you really hope it’s about money.
If a Barnett-Fedor fight gets scrapped because they just can’t bring themselves to hit one another, it will be a sad day for Affliction and MMA fans, and probably a very happy day for Dana White.
Written by admin on October 2nd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on fight and Elite XC and Affliction and Roy Nelson and General and Andrei Arlovski and UFC and Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko and News and MMA.
(What, no odds on whether Gina will make weight?)
If betting odds are any indication of how competitive MMA bouts will turn out to be, expect a lot of one-sided blowouts on Elite XC’s CBS offering this Saturday night. Not that it’s any surprise, really. In fact, with five fights crammed into a two-hour time slot CBS is going to need some quick beatdowns if they don’t want to run way over and have to cut into precious local news time. In any event, Best Fight Odds supplies the most gambler-friendly betting lines for ‘Elite XC: Heat,’ and they break down like this:
Kimbo Slice (-325) vs. Ken Shamrock (+329)
Jake Shields (-550) vs. Paul Daley (+524)
Gina Carano (-550) vs. Kelly Kobald (+525)
Ninja Rua (-196) vs. Benji Radach (+210)
Andrei Arlovski (-428) vs. Roy Nelson (+385)
Some thoughts…
‘I Can’t Believe It’s So Close!’: the line on Radach-Rua seems at first like it’s worth taking a chance on “Razor”, but then there’s that stuff about him not training until five weeks ago. That ought to be enough to scare you away from a bet on Radach. If it’s really true that he had ballooned up to 230 pounds after suffering through more injuries and not hitting the gym, it’s surprising that the line isn’t more lopsided in Rua’s favor. Radach hasn’t fought in over nine months. Five weeks isn’t going to erase that kind of ring rust.
Best Place for That Money You Don’t Want Anymore: So you’re looking at these odds and you can’t help but wonder if that +525 on Kelly Kobald isn’t your key to beating this whole economic crisis thing. You’re saying to yourself, ‘Gina Carano can’t even make weight, plus she’s got all these media obligations. She’s totally overrated and I’m the only one who sees it!’ All right, wise guy. Go ahead and put a bet on Kobald. Then when she gets in the cage and you see why she’s 0-2 in her last two fights maybe you’ll remember that this is Elite XC, where only two fighters matter: Gina and Kimbo. And neither of them gets a fight that isn’t served up on a silver platter.
Underdog Most Likely to Turn a Profit: Of the underdogs on this card, Radach still has the best chance of actually winning, but the long shot you might actually make serious money on is Roy Nelson. Now, I know some in the Potato Nation think this is a walk-through for Arlovski, but it’s not. If Nelson plays to his strengths (submission grappling) and avoids Andrei’s (knocking suckas out), he could pull off the upset. It’s still far from being likely, but that’s why they call it gambling, you wuss. If you need another reason to believe in a “Big Country” win, how about the fact that Affliction is admittedly banking on this as an opportunity to “showcase Arlovski.” If the screwy MMA world has taught us anything, it’s that saying something like that before a fight is the best way to make sure it doesn’t happen.
Written by admin on October 1st, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on betting and CBS and odds and gambling and Roy Nelson and Ninja Rua and Kelly Kobald and Affliction and Elite XC and Andrei Arlovski and Ken Shamrock and Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano and Benji Radach and fight and Features and MMA.
(Rashad Evans looks very happy about clocking Steve Cofield one.)
- Rashad Evans can’t even escape Chuck Liddell at the movies. (Yahoo! Sports)
- Talking Shamrock, Kimbo, Noons and more on the radio. (MMA Rated)
- “The Secret” explained, in a manner of speaking. (Fightlinker)
- Ryan Schultz to get another shot at Sengoku 5. (MMA Mania)
- Thiago Alves has a lesson he wants to teach Diego Sanchez. (Tatame)
- Dana White promises UFC will be bigger than NFL and World Cup, then discusses a near-death experience. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
- “Day of Reckoning” official website. (Affliction)
- UFC in talks with CBS to supplant Elite XC? (Fightline)
- Sammy Hagar rocks great moments in history. (Holy Taco)
- Tough beer choices this Labor Day weekend. (Wall Street Fighter)
- Eight awesome movie prisoners. (Screen Junkies)
Written by admin on August 29th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on beer and CBS and Ryan Schultz and Labor Day and NFL and The Secret and Sammy Hagar and Affliction and "Sengoku" and Rashad Evans and Chuck Liddell and UFC and Dana White and News and Elite XC and General and MMA.
Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett’s manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:
“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”
If you don’t know, Fickett is the same guy who managed to get himself fired from MFC and booted off a Strikeforce card in one glorious weekend when he tried to breach his contract in the apparent hopes that no one would figure it out. They did, chaos ensued, and Fickett went on to lose via questionable stoppage in a Rage in the Cage event.
So now one of MMA’s favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he’s not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let’s hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we’ll know it’s time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.
Written by admin on August 23rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Affliction and fight and MFC and Las Vegas and Rage in the Cage and General and Strikeforce and IFL and UFC and Drew Fickett and News and Jay Hieron and MMA.
(Just one girl? Must have been a slow week for Chuck.)
- Chuck Liddell makes his case for a title shot after UFC 88. (MMA Weekly)
- Trying to make sense out of Elite XC’s crazy week. (MMA Rated Radio)
- Chris Horodecki-Dan Lauzon officially on for Affliction: Day of Reckoning (Sherdog)
- Evan Tanner is not a big fan of MMA, as this half-assed UFC 87 breakdown reveals. (Spike.com)
- Dana White and Anderson Silva nominated for “Top 49 Men of 2008″ (AskMen.com)
- How MMA saved JoJo Thompson’s life. (AZCentral.com)
- False blood work prompts fighter and trainer suspensions. (MMA Opinion)
- The most marketable names in sports. (Wall Street Fighter)
- Frat boy movie review of “Death Race.” (Screen Junkies)
- A harrowing tale of the days before internet porn, and how Kate Moss almost ruined everything. (Holy Taco)
Written by admin on August 22nd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Elite XC and fight and General and Affliction and Death Race and Kate Moss and JoJo Thompson and Dan Lauzon and Evan Tanner and Chuck Liddell and UFC and Anderson Silva and Dana White and Chris Horodecki and News and MMA.
Despite announcing that he had signed a “ground-breaking record” deal with Affliction, Tito Ortiz is now said to be negotiating with other organizations, including Elite XC and the crazy Kentuckians of the AFL. It seems only fair. Why should Affliction get to hog all the Tito crazy? Their contract negotiations with him are said to be troubled, so that could be the impetus for him looking elsewhere. He’s even said to be in talks with the UFC, which might be the source of this anonymous quote:
“I don’t know if we’re really negotiating, or simply helping Tito stroke his giant ego,” one frustrated company representative said Sunday, Aug. 17.
Why does it have to be an either/or situation? Why can’t it be both? This is Tito Ortiz we’re talking about. Most of his actions are designed to boost his ego.
The idea that Tito could end up back in the UFC is, in a word, insane. Not only is he not enough of a draw at this point to justify the price tag or the headache, but Dana White seems to genuinely hate him too much to give him any more money or TV time. It would seem more likely that the UFC is trying to drive the price up on Affliction, but that’s just one man talking sense.
If Ortiz does sign with the AFL — the organization known for giving huge contracts to lesser-known female fighters and putting many of their economic eggs into the AFL-brand dress pants basket — I think it’s safe to say that they will officially be the zaniest and least viable MMA organization in existence. Now that I think about it, that does seem like the appropriate home for Tito.
Written by admin on August 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Elite XC and Affliction and contract and AFL and fight and General and UFC and Tito Ortiz and News and MMA.
(That’s the kind of youthful exuberance Affliction needs!)
Today’s Affliction press conference managed to temporarily steal some of the media spotlight away from UFC 87, as the organization announced that they had signed former IFL lightweight Chris Horodecki, and revealed a planned bout between IFL heavyweight champ Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Paul Buentello at their next in event in Vegas on October 11. That’s right, Nelson will not face Xtreme Couture’s Jay White in a pump-up squash match, as was previously rumored. Instead he’ll get something closer to a real test when he takes on the revitalized Buentello, who is fresh off a decision victory over Gary Goodridge at Affliction: Banned.
Affliction VP Tom Atencio said he was “really excited” about signing Horodecki and added that “everything is falling into place for Las Vegas.”
What Affliction didn’t announce at the press conference was the official signing of Tito Ortiz, who was said to be close to a “ground-breaking record contract” with the organization. According to Michael Cohen, Affliction’s COO (also Special Counsel to Donald Trump, see how that works?) there’s nothing to get excited about just yet:
“Donald Trump, myself and Tito engaged in a conversation,” said Cohen about the potential deal with Ortiz. “There was nothing substantive that was discussed other than that we are interested in sitting down with him, which we are planning on doing in the very near future, to discuss with him the opportunity to join the family of Affliction fighters.”
Damn lawyers. They really know how to drain all the fun out of everything. Suddenly we’ve gone from world’s greatest contract and a guaranteed 500,000 pay-per-view buys to talking about sitting down to talk. This is what happens when people who think before they speak get to talk to the media.
Here’s what Affliction: Day of Reckoning looks like at the moment:
Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
Roy Nelson vs. Paul Buentello
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jason High vs. Mike Pyle
Written by admin on August 6th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Donald Trump and Affliction and Roy Nelson and UFC 87 and Las Vegas and fight and General and News and Tito Ortiz and Chris Horodecki and Paul Buentello and press conference and MMA.
(’You’re looking at Don King’s hair behind me, aren’t you? Man, every damn time.’)
In an interview with MMAmemories.com, Winky Wright diagnoses boxing’s problem by contrasting it with what MMA is doing right:
“When I was coming up, more top fighters fought each other. They all wanted to prove they were the best in their weight class, not in the WBA, the IBF, but the best, period. But now the promoters and the networks get in the way and we’re losing a lot of fans because of it. The promoters milk the prospects, they don’t match them against top fighters. The networks allow too many easy fights.”
“I would definitely say (boxing is) declining as the best are not fighting the best. In the NBA they don’t just cancel the playoffs and have the Lakers against some sorry team. No one would watch. That’s why the UFC is gaining so much in popularity. The best fight the best and the fans love to see it.”
Winky is spot on, here. It just makes you wonder if we shouldn’t be interpreting this as a cautionary tale.
- In other news, Sherdog.com is reporting that Chris Horodecki has been officially released from the IFL, at his request, and is entertaining a couple different offers at the moment. The cockeyed financial optimists at the AFL have supposedly made a “very generous offer” (they know he’s not a woman, right?), but Affliction has said they’ll beat it in order to get “The Polish Hammer” on their October 11 show. The clock’s ticking…
Written by admin on August 5th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Affliction and fight and contract and AFL and Winky Wright and General and Boxing and UFC and HBO and News and Chris Horodecki and MMA.
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