The Nail in Affliction’s Coffin

As Affliction readies for their second MMA card they have released their fight card (posted below)  It looks like there are a couple of good fights on “The Day of Reckoning” card, however they made some huge mistakes. 

1. Their choice of fights for the pay per view card.  I think they made a big mistake making two cards so distinct like they did.  They have their pay per view card and their HDNet card.  While, I appreicate that it means that all the fights will be televised, they made a mistake with their line up.  The bottom line is that if Affliction wants to hang around they MUST have good fights.  I think there are 3 really good fights on this card and only 2 others worth watching.  The really good fights: Fedor vs. Arlovski, Lindland vs. Belfort and Nogueira vs. Matyushenko.  Someone please tell me why in the heck is a Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon fight making the pay per view card over Nogueira vs. Matyushenko?  For that matter why in the world would Babalu vs. Sokoudjou make it into the broadcast over Nog vs. Matyushenko?  I am not done.  Why would Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel be the choise over Nogueira vs. Matyushenko?  I know they want a headliner for HDNet, but they need buys.  Nog vs. Matyushenko has a story – it’s a re-match.  It has two top twenty light heavyweights.  Nogueira has huge name recognition.  Bad move Affliction.  There is one nail in your coffin and one reason I will no pay for those fights.  Horodecki vs. Lauzon is laughable.  They are not even top 40 lightweights in the world.  Come on. 

2. Their Competition.  The bottom line is that the economy is in bad shape and it can affect pay per view buys for MMA events.  In January I will have to budget which events to buy.  Here is the line up for January.  January 17th is UFC 93 headlined by Rich Franklin vs. Dan Henderson with Shogun vs. Mark Coleman.  Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning is on January 17th and is headlined by Fedor vs. Arlovski, which is very interesting.  UFC 94 follows on January 31st features B.J. Penn vs. Georges St. Pierre.  Listen if you can afford a pay per view 3 times in January…more power to you.  I can’t.  Let’s just say for the sake of it that you will order 2 events in January, which ones will you order?  GSP vs. Penn is a no brainer.  That means it is between Fedor vs, Arlovski and Franklin vs. Henderson.  The main event may favor Affliction, but the whole card and name recognition favors UFC 93.  Not to mention the fact that people can get their MMA fix the day after the Affliction card from WEC 38, which features Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver.  Also, WEC 38 may add Carlos Condit to the card.  On top of that…add in the fact that about 28 days before Affliction’s card UFC 92 airs on Pay Per View.  Oh yeah, your co-promoter, Golden Boy has a big boxing event that same night 30 minutes away.  Ouch, that hurts. Sorry Affliction that is 2 nails in your coffin.

3.  Their marketing.  Enough said.  They cannot compete with the UFC.  The casual fan will not know about or will not remember the Affliction event in light of the upcoming super fight with Penn and St. Pierre.  Further confusion is cast with the distinction of the HDNet card vs. pay per view card.  My prediction is that Affliction’s rating stink and this is the third nail in their coffin.  As they say in baseball…3 strikes you are out!

Pay Per View Card:

Fedor Emelianenko vs.  Andrei Arlovski

Josh Barnett vs.  Gilbert Yvel

Renato Sobral vs.  Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Matt Lindland vs.  Vitor Belfort

Chris Horodecki vs.  Dan Lauzon

HDNet Broadcast:

Vladimir Matyushenko vs.  Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Jay Hieron vs.  Jason High

Mark Hominick vs.  LC Davis

Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte

My EliteXC: Heat Predictions

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock

This is the crappiest main event I have ever seen in a big show.  I know that Kimbo and Shamrock are big draws because of their names, but these guys would be on the undercard of a UFC event if it was based on talent levels alone.  This fight is another gimme for Kimbo, but if Shamrock can take Kimbo down I think he can win and ground and pound him some.  I am torn with how to pick this fight.  The EliteXC is pulling for Kimbo and if he loses it will kill EliteXC.  Shamrock is old and has lost his last five fights.  He is on his way out of the fight game.  I would think he would want to win badly here though.  I am rooting for Ken in this one.  Kimbo’s cardio will be an issue as will his groudn game.  No doubt he can strike and hit hard, but Shamrock is very well experienced.  With that said, I still think Kimbo wins this fight by KO, however I wouldn’t bet any money on Kimbo. 

Jake Shields vs. Paul Daley

I believe Jake Shields is a top 5 welterweight in the world.  I’d love to see him against top notch competition, which he won’t get in EliteXC.  Paul Daley is a good fighter, but I do not think he is on Jake Shields’ level.  I think his previous opponent, Nick Thompson was tougher than Daley.  I look for a entertaining fight that ends with a first or second round submission victory for Jake Shields.

Anrdei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson

I’d be shocked if this fight is competitive.  Arlovski will be much quicker and much more talented all around.  Don’t get me wrong, Roy Nelson can bang, but he can’t bang with Arlovski.  If I was Arlovski, I would box him and then take him down and ground and pound the big bellied former IFL champ.  I think Arlovski’s speed and all around skills will be too much for Nelson.  I pick Arlovski to win by second round TKO.

Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald

It is hard to pick against Gina Carano.  Quite honestly, I know nothing about Kelly Kobald, but I like Gina Carano.  I am not a huge fan of women’s MMA, but I could watch Carano all day long.  I hope Carano wins and that the fight with her and Cyborg will be set up.  I think Carano is well trained and now re-focused.  I just hope she makes weight.  I think it will stop in round 2 with ref stoppage or rear naked choke.

Murilo “Ninja” Rua vs. Benjo Radach

I hope this fight makes the CBS televised section because Ninja is a great fighter.  He is in his brother’s shadow, but he is good.  It appears that Villasenor will get the next title shot at Robbie Lawler on November 8, but Rua is in the mix as well.  I would think that it is possible that if Ninja wins here he could take on Frank Shamrock at the next EliteXC on CBS event for the number 1 contender spot.  I think Ninja wins this by unanimous decision. 

Cristiane Cyborg vs. Yoko Takahashi

This fight won’t be televised, but I think Cyborg will dominate.  First round KO.

MMA News: Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy Nelson at EliteXC on CBS October 4

It looks like Andrei Arlovski and Ben Rothwell will not wait for Affliction.  Arlovski was slated to fight Josh Barnett before the Affliction card was postponed.  I guess he could be ready for the January card as well, but Arlovski will take on Roy Nelson at EliteXC: Heat on October 4. 

Sherdog.com reports:

At least two fighters will not sit on the sidelines following the postponement of Affliction’s Oct. 4 “Day of Reckoning” event in Las Vegas.

Former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski (13-5) and IFL kingpin Roy Nelson (13-2) have been offered a heavyweight bout at EliteXC “Heat” Oct. 4 at the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Fla. The event will be aired live on CBS.

Arlovski’s management team would not comment Wednesday on the proposed bout, while Nelson’s attorney, Rod Donohoo, also refrained from remarks. However, Sherdog.com has learned from separate sources that both fighters have agreed in principle to the match and that contracts have been issued for review.

The last-minute addition will be presented as an Affiction-EliteXC co-promoted fight

This really solidifies this card which has fights with Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock, Gina Carano and Kelly Kobald, Jake Shields and Paul Daley, and Murilo Rua and Benji Radach.

Affliction Partners With Golden Boy

The big news this past week was that Affliction cancelled it’s October 11th card and announced a partnership with boxing promotion Golden Boy.  Many of the other MMA news sites have details about this, especially check out MMAConvert’s coverage on the situation. I took this from MMA Convert:

Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio on Saturday confirmed that his company has entered into an agreement with Golden Boy Promotions, the boxing promotion led by Oscar De La Hoya. The two will co-promote a hybrid evening of boxing and mixed martial arts to be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. on Jan. 17.

The newly-formed partnership will include four co-promoted pay-per-view events to begin in 2009. The cards will feature both mixed martial arts and boxing matches in the same ring.

“It’s very good news,” Atencio told MMAWeekly.com. “It’s good for the company, and it’s good for the sport.”

Atencio said the companies were in talks with premium channel HBO to air the Jan. 17 show, but were not close to a deal yet.

Let me weigh in:

I have always had a slight favor to the UFC.  I love the idea of a single big league MMA promotion.  Many of Affliction’s fighters I would like to see in the UFC.  There is a part of me that does not care if Affliction suceeds.  I will say this for Affliction: They are savvy.  They have constantly been making business moves.  I am not a MMA insider, but I am a fan and can give one fans perspective.  The problem with the partnership with golden boy and boxing is that I do not like boxing.  I won’t watch it.  I would watch Barnett vs. Arlovski, but I could care less about Pavlik vs. Hopkins.  I know there are a lot of MMA fans who love boxing, and a lot of MMA reporters who are former boxing writers, such as Franklin McNeil.  I will not pay for a card that is half boxing and half MMA.  The problem is a pay per view will show two, maybe three MMA fights.  Affliction is trying to increase its roster and this won’t help.  I’d love to hear what other fans thing.  Financially they may make it.  They may draw in boxing fans into MMA in a greater level.  This could hurt Affliction.  I have to wonder what their fighters think about this.  I wonder what they think about the postponment.  That really screwed some of them.  Bad move in the long run in my opinion, but I honestly believe Affliction will struggle and they had to do something different.  There are a lot of variables that could come into play.  We will see though.  As for now put me on the record as saying it is a bad move that will hurt them with MMA purists.

Future UFC Hall of Famers

So, which UFC fighters are future hall of famers?  Currently, there are 5 hall of famers which include: Randy Couture, Dan Severn, Mark Coleman, Royce Gracie, and Ken Shamrock.  So as you pan through current UFC fighters which guys are hall of fame calibur.  Let me tell you…

1. Chuck Liddell – Despite his recent struggles in the octagon, Liddell is the face of the UFC.  Not only that he has faired well in his career.  He was a very feared fighter and a dominant champion.  He boasts some big wins over the likes of Tito Ortiz, Babalu, Wanderlei Silva, and Randy Couture.  This is a no-brainer.  This is what baseball fans would call a first ballot hall of famer.

2. Matt Hughes-  Hughes is called the most dominant welterweight champion of all time.  He was dominant, and he may not be totally done yet.  He has coaches TUF two times.  He has been a force in the divison for years and held the belt it seems like forever.  Another first ballot guy. 

3. Tito Ortiz –  Let me begin by saying I despise Tito Ortiz.  I do not like him Sam I am.  However, no one can deny his dominance for a time.  I think he is done now, but he defended his belt a record number of times.  I don’t know if he will ever make it to the UFC Hall of Fame, but he should based on his in the octagon performance and popularity.  He lifted the sport when it was struggling.  He should be in, but like Pete Rose there are all sorts of other factors.

4. Rich Franklin –  The second best middleweight in the world.  People forget how good he is because of his losses to Anderson Silva.  He has been dominant otherwise.  He has a phenomenal record, he has been champ, he is incredibly popular, and he keeps getting better.  I love Rich Franklin and think he is surely hall of fame worthy no doubt.

5. B.J. Penn –  B.J. is really a prodigy.  He has been welterweight and lightweight champion.  He may be both at the same time come January.  He has cleaned out the lightweights and has fought the best welterweights.  He is one of the most popular fighters in the world and he is growing in talent and popularity.  He may not be a hall of famer today, but one more big win and he is a lock. 

6.  Anderson Silva – He may be the most dominant fighter ever.  He is the pound for pound best in the world.  He has changed the sport.  He is all around talented.  He can beat anyone and the scray thing is I don’t know if he will ever lose.  He is in.

7.  Georges St. Pierre–  He is not in yet, but he will be.  He has some work to do.  He has to keep the belt for a while to be hall of fame in my book.  He has hall of fame talent though.  He has the popualrity.   I have no doubts that by the time all is said and done St. Pierre will be a UFC Hall of famer.

8. Forrest Griffin – Overrated? I think so.  Popular? Undeniable.  Hard working? No one works harder.  The reason I would give Forrest the nod is what he did in the Ultimate Fighter.  He is one of the most popular UFC fighters, but mainly because he is considered the savior of the UFC.  Dana White has said that the Griffin-Bonnar fight saved the UFC.  Now he is a champ and is getting quite the resume with wins over Shogun and Rampage.  He is still growing too as a fighter.  He will be a hall of famer.

9. Evan Tanner– With his recent death I began to think about his hall of fame potential.  His popularity was huge.  However, Tanner had a lot of baggage outside the octagon which may have caused him to not reach his full potential in the octagon.  I think he could be a hall of famer.  In his prime he was beating a lot of guys.  He is a former champ, which is a must.  He very well could be a hall of famer if people can look past his struggles.

10. Tim Sylvia – I know, I know another guy I don’t like.  Tim is very polarizing.  He doesn’t have the popularity for some reason, but he was good in the UFC.  He beat tons of guys.  He held the title a couple times.  He could be, but may not be because he is not in the best standing in the UFC now that he left for Affliction. 

Other Candidates: Andrei Arlovski, Quinton Jackson, Frank Mir

Note: Many of the current UFC guys who were stars in PRIDE were left out such as Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, Shogun Rua, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Who did I leave out?  Weigh in below in the comments section.

Evaluating Affliction

One of the questions that I keep thinking about is whether or not Affliction in here to stay and whether or not they will compete with the UFC.  No one disagrees that UFC is the standard of MMA right now, but Affliction is making up ground quickly.  It has been a tell tale sign of a slight change that Affliction has signed so many guys lately including many of the stars from the now defunt IFL, which was bought by the parent company of the UFC, Zuffa.  Affliction has signed Champs Roy Nelson and Vladimir Matyushenko.  They have signed lightweight star Chris Horodecki and are rumored to have welterweight champ Jay Hieron.  Affliction is cleaning up the free agents and doing better in that regard than even the UFC as of late.  So, what is there to judge a promotion…

1. Fighter Talent – Fight promotions are fight promotions.  There are other factors that come into play, but primarily if a promotion does not have top level talent they will not stay relevant.

2. Show Quality –  While good fighters is essential, the promotion must put on a good show.  They must entertain fans.  This includes exciting fights, good commentators and a solid show production.  Promotions have to build shows people will come to or buy.

3.  Solid Managment –  Managment is important to a fight promotion, not just anyone can do it.  A promotion may suceed or fail based ont he business savvy of the fight promoter or president.  The PR, fighter pay, contracts, TV deals, etc. all come into play here.

With that said, let’s see how Affliction is doing…

1. Fighter Talent…

There is a lot of hype around Affliction’s fighter talent.  Here is who I can think of off hand that they have and will use on their cards

• Fedor Emelianenko
• Andrei Arlovski
• Josh Barnett
• Tim Sylvia
• Ben Rothwell
• Roy Nelson
• Pedro Rizzo
• Paul Buentello
• Aleksander Emelianenko
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Tito Ortiz
• Vladimir Matyushenko
• Renato “Babalu” Sobral
• Mike Whitehead
• Edwin DeWees
• Vernon White
• Vitor Belfort
• Matt Lindland
• Jay Hieron
• Mike Pyle
• J.J. Ambrose
• Chris Horodecki

I went to HDNet’s Rankings to see how many Affliction Fighters were ranked in the top 100 pound for pound or top in their divisons  here is the results.

(Pound for Pound Rank, Divison Rank)

Fedor Emelianenko (2, 1)

Andrei Arlovski (25, 4)

Josh Barnett (27, 5)

Tim Sylvia (55, 7)

Ben Rothwell (81, 12)

Roy Nelson (84, 13)

Pedro Rizzo (NR, 19)

Paul Buentello (NR, NR)

Aleksander Emelianenko (76, 10)

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (85, 13)

Tito Ortiz (87, 15)

Vladimir Matyushenko (66, 12)

Renato “Babalu” Sobral (92, 16)

Mike Whitehead (NR, NR)

Edwin DeWees (NR, NR)

Vernon White (NR, NR)

Vitor Belfort (NR, NR) – Unfairly I’d admit

Matt Lindland (22, 5)

Jay Hieron (59, 11)

Mike Pyle (NR, NR)

J.J. Ambrose (NR, NR)

Chris Horodecki (NR, NR)

Put this into perspective, out of the top 100 the promotions faires like this in pound for pound top 100 fighters…

• UFC -39
• Affliction – 13
• DREAM -12
• WEC – 10
• EliteXC – 10
• Strikeforce – 5
• World Victory Road – 3

The point is that Affliction’s talent is overrated. 

• They are right about the level of DREAM talent wise
• They are no where near the talent level of the UFC
• 10 of the Affliction guys that appeared on the rankings list have fought in the UFC before.  Some have been sucessful.  There are several former UFC champs (Sylvia, Barnett, Rizzo, Ortiz and Arlovski), however most of them did no better than fair in the UFC (see Matyushenko, Hieron, et. al)
• Most of the top Affliction guys are in the second half of their careers and are past their prime.  They still have fight left in them, don’t get me wrong, but not for the long haul
• What happens if two or three of those gusy get injured?  Affliction is hanging their hat on Fedor, Barnett, Arlovski and Ortiz.  They cannot keep putting everyone on every card, they will run out of match-ups.
• To their credit, they can put on good fights.  The talent isn’t bad.  Their guys can fight exciting fighter, but they have exciting fights at tough man competitions. They need to sign younger talent and more talent.

Show Quality…

• I cannot judge them solely on their sole show.  Affliction needs to improve their show quality as far as commentating, interviews and production is concerned
• Also, I thought with the exception of the last 3 fights the card wasn’t what it was billed to be
• They are nowhere near the UFC level as far as enjoyability to watch

Solid Managment:

• The UFC with Dana White and the Fertitas is still the managment standard.  I have problems with the UFC and Dana White’s managing style.  I don’t like his constant expletives, I don’t like the way he trashes other promotions, I don’t like the stubborness he exhibits with signing guys like Lindland and Barnett, and even Fedor.  However, Dana is crafty.  Atencio is no Dana White.  Watch his video below where he can’t remember Josh Barnett’s name and he is the main event for the second show. 
• Affliction does have the deep pocketed Donald Trump behind them which helps.  Trump is a business guiness, but he doesn’t neccessarily know MMA.  The money helps thought he same way it helped having Lorezon and Frank in the UFC early days when they lost tons of money.

Here is the point folks…Affliction is a solid upstart company.  They may be around for a while, but before we jump ont he bandwagon and label them peers to the UFC and competitors to the UFC let them get through a few shows first.  Let’s see how much money they lose after 3 events.  Let’s see how many fights they can do after 3 card.  They could compete, but as for now it is the UFC and then everyone else.  Zuffa is sitting pretty in the MMA world.  They are the big leagues, everything else is just the minors.  Affliction, EliteXC and DREAM are in the same boat and in a year from now at least one of them will be non-existent.

Best Non-UFC Fighters

Here are the best non-UFC fighters.  This shows where the UFC is stacked and where they lack.  There competition is mainly in Affliction at heavyweight and DREAM at lightweight.  Here are the best non-UFC guys that the UFC should look to sign if possible. 

Rank	Heavyweight	Light Heavy	Middleweight	Welterweight	Lightweight
1	Fedor Emelianenko	Antonio Rogerio Nogueira	Paulo Filho	Jake Shields	Takanori Gomi
2	Andrei Arlovski	Ricardo Arona	Matt Lindland	Carlos Condit	Shinya Aoki
3	Josh Barnett	Rafael Feijao	Robbie Lawler	Jay Hieron	JZ Calvancante
4	Tim Sylvia	Vladimir Matyushenko	Kazuo Misaki	Nick Thompson	Eddie Alvarez
5	Ben Rothwell	Babalu Sobral	Gegard Mousasi	Mach Sakurai	Mitsuhiro Ishida
6	Mirko Cro Cop	Tito Ortiz	Vitor Belfort	Mike Pyle	Joachim Hansen
7	Roy Nelson	Steve Cantwell	“Jacare” de Sousa		Tatsuya Kawajiri
8	Aleks Emelianenko	Brian Stann	Jason Miller		Josh Thomson
9	Antonio Silva		Melvin Manhoef		Gilbert Melendez
10	Alistair Overeem		Murilio Rua		Vitor Ribeiro
11			Cung Le		Jamie Varner
12			Denis Kang		Ryan Schultz
13			Joey Villasenor		KJ Noons
14			Frank Shamrock		Nick Diaz
15			Yoshihiro Akiyama		Caol Uno
16			Jorge Santiago
17			Chael Sonnen

MMA News: Roy Nelson vs. Jay White at Affliction 2

Former IFL heavyweight champion Roy Nelson appears to be taking on Jay White at Affliction 2: Day of Reckoning.  Roy Nelson has apparently been signed with Affliction following the demise of the IFL.  This is a pretty amazing class of heavyweights when you think about it: Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Ben Rothwell, Aleksander Emelianenko, Pedro Rizzo, Paul Buentello, Tim Sylvia, and now Roy Nelson.  Affliction is nearing a monopoly on the heavyweight divison almost to the extent that the UFC has in the light heavyweight and welterweight divisons. 

This fight comes on the heels of learning that the main event will not be Fedor vs. Arlovski, but rather will be Arlovski vs. Barnett.

MMA News: Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland at Affliction 2

I figured following Affliction’s debut card that Belfort would end up fighting Lindland.  Belfort will not only be fighting at Affliction’s second show, which is tentatively scheduled for October 11, his opponent will be top ten middleweight Matt Lindland, and it will be for a title.  This should be a very exciting fight.  It looks like Affliction is going to put together another solid card.  Apparently, money is a big problem already, but Affliction 2 will be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski.  That is a much more exciting bout than Fedor vs. Sylvia and Arlovski will pose more problems than Sylvia did.  Also it is rumored that the card could be co-headlined by Babalu vs. Tito Ortiz.  I still think Nogueira should be the one to get Ortiz, but whatever.  The news here is not Ortiz, but it is Belfort vs. Lindland.  A solid fight.

Tim Sylvia Video: Sylvia to Fight At Affliction’s October 11 Card

Here is a video where Sylvia talks fighting on Affliction’s second card, his Fedor fight, the UFC, and WAMMA.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Tim Sylvia Video: Sylvia to Fight At …“, posted with vodpod

 

MMA News: Fedor vs. Arlovski on October 11

It looks like Affliction’s next card will be held on October 11th in Las Vegas.  Affliction reps said that the winners of the “Banned” card would be used at their next event.  Some of the match ups seem to be coming to fruition.  It looks like a fight between heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Fedor Emelianenko is likely.  Fedor is widely considered the best heavyweight in the world and the best pound for pound fighter in the world.  He held the PRIDE heavyweight title and is coming off of a dominant win over heavyweight great Tim Sylvia in just 36 seconds.  Andrei Arlovski, the Belarussian is also coming off of a win against Ben Rothwell at Affliction: Banned.  Arlovski is a former UFC champion and a consensus top 5 heavyweight.  This willbe an even bigger test for Fedor.  I like the fight between the Russian and Belarussian, however I think the Fedor fight should have gone to Josh Barnett first. 

    Also, it seem that on that card a bout between Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort is coming.  Babalu wants to fight Tito Ortiz, and that would be a good fight, but I hope Antonio Rogerio Nogueira gets his pick first at who he wants.  He is Affliction’s best light heavyweight, not Babalu, and not even Tito if he signs.

Affliction: Banned Fighter Salaries

The pay of the fighters is the disclosed amount to the CSAC.  The fighters likely were paid more than that when you include other bonuses and sponsor’s pay. 

A few thoughts on the pay of the Affliction fighters…

·         The pay was very, very high in contrast to even UFC fighters.  For example, Matt Lindlad took home $100,000 more than Anderson Silva did for his fight on the same night. 

·         Fedor was grossly underpaid in comparison to other fighters.  I thought he was making more than $1 million for this fight.  Perhaps he is. 

·         Tim Sylvia is very overpaid

·         Some fighters by this scale were still overpaid

·         Some fighters by this scale were still underpaid.  I am shocked Nogueira only made $50,000, the same amount as Mike Whitehead. 

·         I don’t know what UFC fighters come away with, but the biggest competition Affliction will give the UFC is fighter pay

·         It will be hard for them to cover this financially.  God thing they have Trump. 

 

Tim Sylvia: $800,000

Andrei Arlovski: $750,000 (includes $250,000 win bonus)

Fedor Emelianenko: $300,000 (no win bonus)
Josh Barnett: $300,000 (no win bonus)

Matt Lindland: $300,000 (includes $75,000 win bonus)

Ben Rothell: $250,000

Vitor Belfort: $140,000 (includes $70,000 win bonus)

Renato “Babalu” Sobral: $90,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus)

Paul Buentello: $80,000 (includes $20,000 win bonus)
Pedro Rizzo: $70,000

Mike Whitehead: $50,000

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira: $50,000 (no win bonus)

Terry Martin: $30,000

Gary Goodridge: $25,000

Fabio Nascimento: $20,00O
Mike Pyle: $20,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)

Edwin Dewees: $15,000

Mark Hominick: $10,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus)
Savant Young: $7,000

Justin Levens: $6000
JJ Ambrose: $5,000

Ray Lizama: $3,000

Total Payout

A disclosed total of $3,332,100 was paid out to the fighters.

Live Gate:

Paid attendance: 11,242
Complimentary attendance: 3,590
Total attendance: 14,832

Gross receipt from ticket sales (live gate): $2,085,510

My Thoughts on Affliction: Banned

Let me share the negatives first:

• The fights went as expected.  Out of the 9 fights that I predicted I got 9 right.  There were not any upsets
• The announcers were sub par to say the least
• I did not like that fights were cancelled last second like the Aleksander Emelianenko fight, it seemed to show some disorder
• I thought the fights were slow paced, but the last 3 fights were good as was the Nogueira fight and the Belfort fight.

The Good:

• Fedor.  Let the debate begin as to who the number one pound for pound fighter is.  Only two names are in the discussion (Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko).  In my opinion, both guys helped plead their cases for that title last night.  Fedor crushed Silva.  I didn’t expect that bad of a beating.  I picked Fedor, but I thought it would last more than one minute.  Fedor beat Sylvia easier than he beat Hong Man Choi.  He punched him and dropped him.  He did what Randy could not do and that is finish the fight with Sylvia.  Fedor was the highlight of the show
• Josh Barnett looked great.  I know many people want to see Fedor vs. Couture next, and Randy was even brought into the ring to hype that fight, but Josh Barnett may be deserving of that fight.  The next card may feature Barnett vs. Arlovski and Couture vs. Fedor with the winners squaring off on the third card. 
• Arlovski looked imrpessive as well.  He looked better than he had previously in the last few fights in the UFC.  His boxing looked crisp and good.
• Vitor Belfort is back.  He looked great at 185.  I’d love to see Lindland vs. Belfort at 185.  Affliction has said they will likely use the winners of these fights on their next card, that fight is very possible.
• Congrats to Paul Buentello, Babalu, Matt Lindland, and Mike Pyle who also won as expected. 
• Apparently they sold out with over 13,000 people in attendance.  The crowd was loud at times.

If Affliction is going to use winners of this card to set up match ups for the next card the card could look like this:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture
• Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski
• Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral
• Tim Sylvia vs. Ben Rothwell
• Paul Buentello vs. Aleksander Emelianenko

My Affliction: Banned Predictions

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia

I believe this to be an interesting fight.  I also think that Fedor’s last fight with Hong Man Choi was a great prep course for Tim Sylvia.  The biggest problem Fedor will have with Tim Sylvia is his size.  Sylvia is 6’9″  He is huge.  Fedor will want to take this fight down to the ground, and I imagine that he will do it.  Tim has no ground game at all.  I don’t know how long it will take Fedor to get the fight down, but once he gets it down the fight won’t last long.  I pick Fedor Emelianenko to win this fight in round 2. 

Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell

I know many people like Ben Rothwell, and that many rank him highly among the heavyweights, but I honestly do not know how good he is.  I do know how good Arlovski can be.  He hasn’t looked great lately, but he is by far the most talented guy Rothwell has fought.  I think Arlovski will win by TKO in round 3.

Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo

Barnett is looking for redemption.  In my opinion, Rizzo is not in his prime any more.  Barnett is very talented and very experienced.  I do not see Rizzo beating Barnett again.  I think that Josh Barnett wins this fight by unanimous decision.

Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao

This is a mis-match.  Lindland is one of the best 185ers in the world.  Fabio is unknown.  Lindland may have been too busy lately with politics to train the right way for this fight, but I don’t think it will matter here.  Lindland will win this fight by submission in round 1.

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead

Mike Whitehead was a UFC flop.  Babalu is very good.  Babalu will submit Whitehead in round 2.

Paul Buentello vs. Aleksander Emelianenko

Don’t overlook this Emelianenko.  He is a good fighter in his own right.  Aleks wins by decision.

Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin

Vitor at 185?  Believe it.  He has been an up and down guy and so has Terry Martin.  Terry Martin is not bad, but Belfort is very good.  I think belfort will KO Martin in round 1. 

Edwin Dewees vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

Don’t overlook this Nogueira.  He is not a bad fighter in his own right.  This is a huge mismatch.  Nog is btter than DeWees.  Edwin hasn’t had proper time to prepare.  Nogueira will win this fight easily. 

Ray Lazama vs. Justin Levens

J.J. Ambrose vs. Mike Pyle

Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young

Josh Barnett Previews Affliction

Josh Barnett talks Affliction and his fight with Pedro Rizzo coming up on July 19th.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Josh Barnett Previews Affliction“, posted with vodpod