Affliction II: Day of Reckoning Postponed

Post #1 » by **CPT** » Tue Sep 2, 2008 4:15 am

Might as well start a thread about this show, since the card seems to be in place already.

MAIN CARD (PPV)

* Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett
* Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
* Matt Lindland vs. Trevor Prangley
* Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
* Ben Rothwell vs. Pedro Rizzo
* Drew Fickett vs. Jay Hieron
* Antonio Duarte vs. Albert Rios

PRELIMINARY CARD (HDNet)

* Paul Buentello vs. Roy Nelson
* Jason High vs. Mike Pyle
* Chase Gormley vs. Jay White

Epic fail by Affliction, IMO. This is no better than an average UFC show, and while for a company with a much smaller roster, that's pretty good, it's not good enough. This is a very important show for them, both because they are building on the momentum from the first show, and because it looks to run unopposed by the UFC (at least in terms of live shows) because of their schedule.

Obviously, Fedor getting injured was out of their hands, but because of that, I think they should have done whatever it took to get Tito Ortiz on the card. At least that would create some buzz, and create another interesting fight vs. Babalu for the card. Instead, they went ahead and stocked up on IFL guys that no casual fan has ever heard of, and are probably paying them double what they are worth.

Don't get me wrong, Barnett vs. Arlovski is a hell of a fight, and there are some other interesting matchups on the card, featuring some guys just on the cusp of top 10 in their divisions. I'll definitely watch it, and probably enjoy it, but I think it will go down as an opportunity squandered by Affliction, and could set them back instead of advancing them as a legit threat, or at least alternative, to the UFC.

Oh yeah, Ozzy Osbourne will be performing as well. Completely pointless, other than being a commercial for their clothing line, which I still suspect is all these events are anyway.

harry lockheart · Post #2 » by **harry lockheart** » Tue Sep 2, 2008 4:11 pm

Completely agree. This card is going to be a disaster for them. I don't see how they could really have avoided that, though. Their heavyweight division is stacked but it has the same problem that the UFC's middleweight division has. Interest in #1 contender bouts are lessened by the perceived invincibility of Fedor. So when a card is headlined by a Barnett/Arlovski match, they're basically screwed. Then they try to compensate by putting a ton of other highly paid guys on the card like Lindland, Nogueira, Rizzo, Buentello and Rothwell who don't have enough drawing power to justify their payout. Affliction had two bullets in their gun: Sylvia/Fedor and Couture/Fedor. Now it seems like the second bullet is gone before they even had a chance to use it. Their business plan was flawed from the outset.

The real question is, will this be the last North American promotion stupid enough not to realize that the UFC has the market dominated? The only way I see another promotion competing with the UFC is if they get a huge TV deal in Japan.

Post #3 » by **CPT** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 8:08 pm

http://mmajunkie.com/news/5258/sources- ... r-date.mma

"Affliction: Day of Reckoning," which was supposed to be the second event promoted by Affliction Entertainment, has been rescheduled and will not go on during its originally scheduled Oct. 11 date.

Sources close to the organization tell MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Affliction only recently determined to postpone the event.

According to one source, Affliction is expected to make a "major announcement" on Saturday that will better clarify the future of the organization, and that a new January fight date could be announced at that time.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio could not immediately be reached for comment.

I'm guessing they realized the card was mediocre and decided to wait for Fedor. Still, not a good look for a company trying to compete with the UFC.

Just throw in the towel already.

Blame Rasho · Post #4 » by **Blame Rasho** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 11:57 pm

There is talks that GBP will try and help out Affliction

http://www.badlefthook.com/2008/9/11/61 ... rk-with-mm

Bad Left Hook wrote:The above video is just Oscar recently talking about mixed martial arts and hinting that Golden Boy Promotions might be interested in getting into the MMA business sometime in the near future. A tip of the cap to Bloody Elbow's Nick Thomas on this one.

And now, on the most recent edition of Wrestling Observer Radio, Observer editor and Yahoo! Sports MMA analyst Dave Meltzer reported that Golden Boy would be working with fledgling, big-money MMA outfit Affliction, makers of all those totally rad t-shirts you see every bro wearing when you go out. Those dudes all go to the bathroom together like a pack of college girls.

Ah, but I jest. Sure, those shirts are kind of dorky in their over-masculinity, but Affliction's first PPV was a fair success, and they've got some good fighters. If Golden Boy, which will help big with production of the shows, can succeed in helping the company, they could be a serious, long-term player.

It's interesting, and it's really rather inevitable that boxing promoters and promotional companies will try to get their hands in the MMA money jar.

Post #5 » by **spykelee** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 4:52 am

Yup I just recently heard about GBP jumping into the MMA world as well. I think that's only a logical move for any boxing promoter really. Kudos to them that they can see the potential there. And in reality, there is just too many fighters for the UFC to dominate the market. Having another top tier organization that can put on shows works out good for the fighters and the fans. I don't think old Vince Mcmah, uhhhh dana white will be too happy about it, he's probably crossing his fingers that the big announcement is that there going out of buisness, but as we've seen with the aforementioned Mr. Mcmahon, a little compeition never hurt anything

Post #6 » by **CPT** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:00 pm

Sounds like Affliction and GBP promotions may be doing cards with both boxing matches and MMA fights.

Terrible.

As for the whole competition thing, I'd be happier to see all of the top fighters under one roof and then just hope everything else works itself out. We haven't seen all of the fights that we want yet, but we've seen some huge matchups in the time since UFC bought Pride, like Chuck vs. Wandy, Henderson vs. Rampage, Henderson vs. Silva, Penn vs. Sherk, GSP vs. Fitch, with more on the horizon. I'm not worried about not getting quality fights if the UFC has all of the fighters. Fighter pay is another issue, but it's slowly going up and should continue to do so.

Cammo101 · Post #7 » by **Cammo101** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:04 pm

Affliction is circling the drain. It is clear from these developments that Fedor is the only thing keeping them afloat. Combining boxing and MMA on the same card is a terrible idea and it will blow up in their face.

funkatron101 · Post #8 » by **funkatron101** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:25 pm

I don't know why I am rooting against these start ups. Ultimately it should help the sport as a whole if they succeed. Perhaps if they had a more legitimate foundation and name. Affliction, EliteXC, they just sound unprofessional.

Ironically I hope Dream succeeds. Perhaps they will bring back the Pride glory. I'm weird.

Post #9 » by **CPT** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:39 pm

funkatron101 wrote:I don't know why I am rooting against these start ups. Ultimately it should help the sport as a whole if they succeed. Perhaps if they had a more legitimate foundation and name. Affliction, EliteXC, they just sound unprofessional.

Ironically I hope Dream succeeds. Perhaps they will bring back the Pride glory. I'm weird.

No, I feel the same way.

I don't mind competition, but I think it is best when there is one major organization in North America, and one major organization in Japan. So I'm definitely rooting for Dream to succeed, but I'd live if Sengoku ends up being the major player (and they just got a new TV deal, so they might be the one left standing).

My reasons are different, as I don't really care about the names (it's not like Dream or World Victory Road are anything special, lol), but I like to see companies who do smart business do well, at least in sports.

funkatron101 · Post #10 » by **funkatron101** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:43 pm

Right. The thing that bothers me the most is that they look at the UFC model and say "Well, they aren't paying their fighters! That's no way to run a business!" Then they dump a boatload of cash at these guys, and fail within the first year.

Ultimately these fighters make more by sticking with the UFC.