Roy Nelson
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(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.
(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.
(’Who has the nachos? Don’t act like I don’t know nachos when I smell ‘em!’)
After reports that Zuffa was buying the video library and at least some of the IFL’s fighter contracts, we kept expecting the flood of stories about all the ex-IFL’ers making the jump to either the UFC or WEC. So far news has been relatively light on that front, but it looks like Affliction has swooped in to pick off a couple of top prospects for themselves.
MMANews.com reports that Roy Nelson will face Xtreme Couture’s Jay White at Affliction: DoR (the abbreviations have already begun, deal with it) in October. Nelson was the IFL’s only official heavyweight champ, and White is…2-5. Wonder which of these guys is being groomed for a big future in the stacked Affliction heavyweight division?
Meanwhile, Sherdog is passing along info that a rematch with Antonio Rogerio Nogueira has been offered to IFL light heavyweight champ Vladimir Matyushenko. Vladdy beat Little Nog via decision in 2002, and he never faced much of a test during his unbeaten run in the IFL. Matyushenko would make an excellent addition to the growing 205-pound ranks in Affliction, which should soon include Tito Ortiz, who Matyushenko lost a decision to in 2001.
In other news…
- Fightlinker has enlisted the services of Matthew Polly — author of this hilarious and highly recommended book — to review several of the MMA “memoirs” that have hit the shelves in recent months. Polly does to their sense of narrative and craft (and their ghostwriters’ sense of exactly how much work they’d have to do to get paid) what these same fighters would likely do to the face of anyone who uses words like narrative and craft. Fun times. Check out his review of “Iceman: My Fighting Life” and you’ll see what we mean.
- Ever wondered how rich Dana White really is? Well, rich. But Wall Street Fighter tries to nail down a solid figure. It’s actually harder than it sounds, although their photoshop of the UFC Prez is just adorable.
Written by admin on August 4th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on money and Affliction and fight and Roy Nelson and Iceman and rich and book review and General and Vladimir Matyushenko and Chuck Liddell and UFC and IFL and Tito Ortiz and News and Dana White and MMA.
IFL CEO Jay Larkin released a statement earlier today about EliteXC: “Primetime” on CBS:
Saturday’s ratings success of ProElite’s show on CBS again shows that the market for the sport in the mainstream is growing, and we at the the International Fight League are very excited to be one of the industry leaders that can help [...]
Written by admin on June 2nd, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on CBS and Roy Nelson and CBS Saturday Night Fights and EliteXC: Primetime and Elite XC and Jay Larkin and EliteXC and IFL and Kimbo Slice and MMA.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com was informed by IFL President and CEO Jay Larkin earlier this morning that casual talks have taken place between his organization and EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw regarding an inter-promotional fight between IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson and Kevin “Kimbo Slice†Ferguson.
According to Larkin, formal talks about a Nelson vs. Slice fight have [...]
Written by admin on May 30th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Brad Imes vs. Roy Nelson
Written by admin on May 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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5/16/2008
Nelson, Schultz Defend, Miller Submits McGivern For First Belt
NEW YORK, May 16, 2008 – Heavyweight Roy Nelson (Las Vegas) and lightweight Ryan Schultz (North Platte, Neb.) defended their respective International Fight League titles while Dan Miller (Sparta, N.J.) scored a victory over defending middleweight champion Ryan McGivern (Bettendorf, Iowa) before 4,530 tonight at the Mohegan [...]
Written by admin on May 17th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Roy Nelson and international fight league and dan miller and Ryan McGivern and Ryan Schultz and IFL and Brad Imes and mixed martial arts and MMA.
As many of you are probably unaware, there’s an IFL event going down tonight in Uncasville, CT, which will feature Roy Nelson defending his heavyweight title against Brad Imes, and Ryan Schultz defending his lightweight belt against Deividas Taurosevicius. (You can watch the action live on HDNet beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.) And here’s something you might not know about the IFL: They require all their fighters to get shitty tattoos on their shoulders. Honestly — the photos from the weigh-ins prove it. My favorite is Matt Horwich’s (above left), which is a screaming pencil with musical notes coming out of its eraser. More insane ink after the jump.
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Written by admin on May 16th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Ryan Schultz and Roy Nelson and Tattoos and Misc. and Funny Shit and IFL and Brad Imes and MMA.
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