Who is watching Affliction?

[fusnik11]

Best MMA card of all time. (Crappy the Aleks vs Buentello was cancelled) Huge mistake IMO by the UFC of putting a card together on the same night as this event strictly because of dilution of product. MMA only attracts a small media and fan base that tomorrow will be divided. Bad move Dana White.

Could we see a shifting of the MMA guard tomorrow?

What if Anderson Silva gets beat and the Affliction card lives up to the hype?

With open contracts could Affliction attract more high level fighters who want more professional autonomy?

UFC's next event is August 9th with 5 former TUF'ers, one former professional wrestler and an extremely boring fighter against GSP. At 45 bucks for normalvision and 55 at HD, I just don't see the UFC getting the buys. They need to only have 4 PPV's and get the sponsorship necessay to put these fights on 'free' tv.

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

Best MMA card of all time. (Crappy the Aleks vs Buentello was cancelled) Huge mistake IMO by the UFC of putting a card together on the same night as this event strictly because of dilution of product. MMA only attracts a small media and fan base that tomorrow will be divided. Bad move Dana White.

Could we see a shifting of the MMA guard tomorrow?

What if Anderson Silva gets beat and the Affliction card lives up to the hype?

With open contracts could Affliction attract more high level fighters who want more professional autonomy?

UFC's next event is August 9th with 5 former TUF'ers, one former professional wrestler and an extremely boring fighter against GSP. At 45 bucks for normalvision and 55 at HD, I just don't see the UFC getting the buys. They need to only have 4 PPV's and get the sponsorship necessay to put these fights on 'free' tv.

This card would be much more impressive two years ago than tomorrow. I don't mind what Affliction is trying to do. Hopefully it will push the UFC some.

Tim Sylvia sucks. Emelianko will destroy him. Ben Rothwell is far from impressive. Arlovski is done. That does suck about the Aleks vs Buentello. Both fighters are entertaining. I liked when the guy from Miami Ink messed up on Buentello's tattoo. Noguiera will kill Dewees. Belfort and Martin is an interesting fight that I'd like to watch. Whitehead and Babalu is another that I would really like to see.

[cougjunkie]

I hope you are joking about this Affliction card. It was a great card 5 years ago. Now it is a bunch of washed up has-beens. The UFC is and always has been the premier organization, I think Affliction is hurting themselves, they made money by sponsoring fighters with their clothing line and now every major organization has banned them (UFC, EliteXC, Strikeforce, etc) that will only hurt them in the long run.

They are also expecting to lose upwards of 20 million on this card, and with the UFC putting Silva on free TV, expect even larger losses. Afflictions only fighter that has signed a multi-fight deal is Barnett and they can have him. Sylvia said he wants back in the UFC, Lindland has been begging to get back for years and Arlovski said this is a one fight deal and he wants to resign with the UFC. Affliction wont last.

[fusnik11]

I'm interested to read what you guys think is a greater top to bottom card.

I can't think of one UFC card top to bottom that can compete.

And washed up fighters?

Fedor-31 #1 ranked HW
Sylvia-32 #4 ranked HW
Barnett-30 #5 ranked HW
Arlovski-30 #8 ranked HW
Rothwell-27 Top 15 HW (and may be better considering IFL experience and win over AA)
Rizzo-34 Top 15 HW (last win against Jeff Monson)
Lindland-38 Widely considered top 5 185'er
Belfort-31

All younger than Chuck to whom the UFC is basically giving their most prestigious title.

As far as Affliction, they can no longer sponsor because they are a competitor. They have the financial backing of Donald Trump, have netted approximately 2 million already from live gate receipts, and have a nice stable of talent already signed to their promotion. The promoters expect to lose money on the first couple of cards but will have multiple big name fighters to pull from in the future who are big time PPV draws.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by cougjunkie

I hope you are joking about this Affliction card. It was a great card 5 years ago. Now it is a bunch of washed up has-beens. The UFC is and always has been the premier organization, I think Affliction is hurting themselves, they made money by sponsoring fighters with their clothing line and now every major organization has banned them (UFC, EliteXC, Strikeforce, etc) that will only hurt them in the long run.

They are also expecting to lose upwards of 20 million on this card, and with the UFC putting Silva on free TV, expect even larger losses. Afflictions only fighter that has signed a multi-fight deal is Barnett and they can have him. Sylvia said he wants back in the UFC, Lindland has been begging to get back for years and Arlovski said this is a one fight deal and he wants to resign with the UFC. Affliction wont last.

UFC is not the premier organization when it come to heavy weights. This is the area they need to improve. That said, I will be watching Silva v. Irvin. I don't think Irvin will do to Silva what he did to Alexander (for some reason I loved seeing Alexander get taken down a notch) but he is no joke either.

[Mars]

What happened to Arlovski?

Guy was BAD-A a couple years ago...

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by Mars

What happened to Arlovski?

Guy was BAD-A a couple years ago...

His fights have been very boring of late. I mean extremely boring.

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by UtahDan

UFC is not the premier organization when it come to heavy weights. This is the area they need to improve. That said, I will be watching Silva v. Irvin. I don't think Irvin will do to Silva what he did to Alexander (for some reason I loved seeing Alexander get taken down a notch) but he is no joke either.

The MMA world in general is down when it comes to heavyweights. But I would still say the UFC has the best of the bunch. Nogueria, Verdum, Gonzaga, and technically Couture are all still under contract with the UFC. Also Sylvia, Arlovski and Cro-cop will be back.

[fusnik11]

Originally Posted by cougjunkie

The MMA world in general is down when it comes to heavyweights. But I would still say the UFC has the best of the bunch. Nogueria, Verdum, Gonzaga, and technically Couture are all still under contract with the UFC. Also Sylvia, Arlovski and Cro-cop will be back.

OK now I am starting to think you are a newbie MMA guy who is just catching the wave that all these newcomer fans are riding.

UFC best heavyweight bunch? Surely you jest, Couture, Arlovski (who beat Verdum recently FYI), Barnett, Rothwell, Sylvia, could all be considered better than Mir who is the UFC's number 2 HW right now.

Fedor is better than Nogueira (not by much but better).

Which means 6 Affliction fighters are top 10 HW (I say six because Couture will be with Affliction by the fall) while the UFC has the 2 HW's in the top 10.

[Surfah]

Originally Posted by fusnik11

OK now I am starting to think you are a newbie MMA guy who is just catching the wave that all these newcomer fans are riding.

UFC best heavyweight bunch? Surely you jest, Couture, Arlovski (who beat Verdum recently FYI), Barnett, Rothwell, Sylvia, could all be considered better than Mir who is the UFC's number 2 HW right now.

Fedor is better than Nogueira (not by much but better).

Which means 6 Affliction fighters are top 10 HW (I say six because Couture will be with Affliction by the fall) while the UFC has the 2 HW's in the top 10.

If you want HW then yes the Affliction brand has it right now. But the HW class in general sucks and has for awhile. After Emelienko the talent drops off. And I'd take Mir over Sylvia, Rothwell, and Arlovski.

UFC is still the premier brand with the WEC growing and only helping the UFC, they have nothing to worry about from competitors.