Affliction folds promotion!!!

MrStuffins

Check it:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15625/affliction-folds-mma-promotion-will-sponsor-ufc.mma

After promoting two critically acclaimed but financially disastrous mixed martial arts cards, Affliction on Friday first canceled its pay-per-view card scheduled for Aug. 1 and then opted to get out of the promotional business, Yahoo! Sports has learned.

The company and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are expected to release a statement sometime on Friday in which it is announced that Affliction will cease operations as a promoter and that its clothing division will become a UFC sponsor.

Affliction had a card slated for Aug. 1 with a main event of Fedor Emelianenko against former UFC champion Josh Barnett at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

But Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid and on Tuesday was denied a license to fight by the California State Athletic Commission.

That left Affliction scrambling to fight a replacement for Emelianenko. With no viable alternatives – the best was former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, who was already down to 195 pounds for a scheduled middleweight fight – Affliction early Friday opted to scrap the show.

Later in the day, Affliction came to terms on a deal in which it would quit promoting fight cards. However, the status of the fighter contracts belonging to Affliction is unknown.

They could revert to the UFC or they could become free agents, able to sign with the promoter of their choice.

Multiple sources had indicated to Yahoo! Sports that Affliction was on the verge of a deal with Strikeforce for some sort of merger, but that fell apart in the last 24-48 hours. That’s when talks began anew between White and Affliction. They had spoken earlier in July about such a scenario, but were unable to come to a deal.

Hate to say i told you so

UFC are too big to be messing with.

JokerD

Anyone interested in hearing what UFC fighters have to say listen to this link, Vera is on live now, discussing all things 'The Truth', Bonnar is on next, Dana is on later with the possible 'big annoucement'. Very interesting show. Obviously its not all about Affliction but the interviewer is bringing it up regular.

http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/standard_plr/audio_player.php?id=KWWNAM&playerType=wmp
1 p.m. ET - Al Bernstein - Showtime Boxing
2 p.m. - Forrest Griffin - UFC
3 p.m. - UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger and former coach Charlie Spoonhour
4 p.m. - Randy Couture - UFC
5 p.m. - Amir Sadollah - UFC
6 p.m. - Brandon Vera - UFC
7 p.m. - Stephan Bonnar - UFC
8 p.m. - Chuck Liddell - UFC
9 p.m. - Dana White and Kevin Iole Yahoo! Sports - UFC
10 p.m. - Rashad Evans - UFC
11 p.m. - Matt Serra - UFC
Midnight - Arianny Celeste - UFC Octagon Girl
1 a.m. - Carlota (KOMP 92.3) and Steph (97.1 The Point)
2 a.m. - Brian Blessing FoxSportsRadio 920
3 a.m. - Jason Feinberg and Lorraine Blanco FOX 5 Las Vegas
4 a.m. - Las Vegas TV sports anchors
5 a.m. - Fantasy Girls Luxor
6 a.m. - Ball Park Frank FoxSportsRadio 920
7 a.m. - Mitch Moss ESPNRadio1100
8 a.m. - Mitch Moss and Johnny Salami (KOMP 92.3)
9 a.m. - Dave Hasll and Ted Pretty FOX 5 Las Vegas
10 a.m. - UNLV football p-by-p voice Dave McCann
11 a.m. - Mike Swick - UFC
Noon - Al Bernstein

MrStuffins

JokerD wrote: »

Anyone interested in hearing what UFC fighters have to say listen to this link, Vera is on live now, discussing all things 'The Truth', Bonnar is on next, Dana is on later with the possible 'big annoucement'. Very interesting show. Obviously its not Affliction but the interviewer is bringing it up regular.

http://den-a.plr.liquidcompass.net/standard_plr/audio_player.php?id=KWWNAM&playerType=wmp

Just tuned in but talkin about Football, have i missed it?

JokerD

MrStuffins wrote: »

Just tuned in but talkin about Football, have i missed it?

Vera is just finished, I edited my original post with the listings;)

MrStuffins

JokerD wrote: »

Vera is just finished, I edited my original post with the listings;)

Great line up!

JokerD

MrStuffins wrote: »

Great line up!

Unfortunately I'll be in La La Land by the time Dana comes on, work in the morning

dunkamania

We finally will probably have Fedor in the UFC, but the price was too high

MrStuffins

dunkamania wrote: »

We finally will probably have Fedor in the UFC, but the price was too high

I dn't think the loss of Affliction is too big, i think any fight Affliction could've put on could've been put on by any mid-level org (except the Fedor fights)

Fromvert

Rumours are going around that Affliction are going to go back to being UFC sponsors and the UFC will get first crack at their contracts.
Would make for some very good fights if they got the big ones.

Dragan

That's Elite and Affliction who both made the same mistake....putting it all into one fighter.

Roper

In fairness to Affliction, they put it on a real fighter not a half baked youtube legend.

Competition is good and all but can't be too dissappointed. The matches were middling at best and the production values were tacky. Compared to Strikeforce it's amateurish.

ginoginelli

Roper wrote: »

In fairness to Affliction, they put it on a real fighter not a half baked youtube legend.

Competition is good and all but can't be too dissappointed. The matches were middling at best and the production values were tacky. Compared to Strikeforce it's amateurish.

I thought the 2 cards they put on were excellent - fight wise. Strikeforce are pretty amateurish too compared to the ufc, some of their production is really cringeworthy..

I think as long as Fedor goes to the ufc the demise of affliction is worth it.

cowzerp

I thought Affliction put on good shows-its a sad day that there gone, would be good to have 2-3 organisations that had to keep there standards high, without competition its easy to put on shoddy cards.

chopperbyrne

cowzerp wrote: »

I thought Affliction put on good shows-its a sad day that there gone, would be good to have 2-3 organisations that had to keep there standards high, without competition its easy to put on shoddy cards.

They did put on good shows, but not often enough and for the past two events they set dates and then changed them to later dates (cancelling this one because one fighter was ruled out). That does not create goodwill towards your promotion.

Fozzy

Maybe I wasn't wrong in reading into Atencio's comments that he "expects" the show to go ahead after Barnett's test failure

It's a pity, there were some fights that I wanted to see. It could be almost a year after Fedor's last fight that he fights again now

It's understandable from a business perspective though. Strikeforce wouldn't approve Rogers or Werdum. Lashley wouldn't agree to it. Tank Abbott would have been a bit of a farce. Fedor's management didn't seem to be too high on Belfort, and he was ten pounds under the weight limit with a week left. And without an opponent for Fedor, Affliction weren't going to sell a lot of PPVs

Couple all that with the news now that they were in negotiations to return to the UFC as a sponsor and you can see why they called the whole thing off

Whatever about the UFC possibly picking up the fighter contracts, they wouldn't be picking up Fedor's contract in that manner. His contract with Affliction was non-exclusive and had one fight left, both of which are something that the UFC wouldn't be ok with

Still, it opens the door for Fedor a lot more now. He's not going to earn the same amount of money in Japan as he could in the UFC

GSPfan

I'm delighted they are gone. I really really really hope Fedor doesn't DUCK a chance to silence the doubters and fight in the UFC. Randy Couture must be on the phone to Dana right now begging him to get Fedor so he can fight him.

Belfort was already likely to go to the UFC so this speeds that up which is good. Strikeforce can pick up some of the lesser known guys aswell so Strikeforce should benefit as much as UFC.

I know everyone loves Competition between companies but Affliction and UFC was not healthy competition. UFC and Strikeforce will hopefully continue to appreciate each others business and grow the sport instead of undermining each other.

chopperbyrne

GSPfan wrote: »

I'm delighted they are gone. I really really really hope Fedor doesn't DUCK a chance to silence the doubters and fight in the UFC. Randy Couture must be on the phone to Dana right now begging him to get Fedor so he can fight him.

The only fight Dana will be thinking of is Brock Vs Fedor, Champion Vs Champion.

UFC are very lucky they own all the Pride footage so they can put together a brilliant highlight reel for Fedor.

Fozzy

Dave Meltzer had a good bit more news on this. He said that Affliction first came to the UFC with this current deal (they fold the promotion in return for being allowed on UFC broadcasts) on July 13th (the Monday after UFC 100)

Part of the deal was that they'd give the UFC Fedor vs Barnett and whatever other fights they wanted, but they wanted it to be portrayed as a UFC/Affliction merger type of deal and they wanted Dana to publicly apologise to them

The UFC refused the deal. Then Barnett failed the test and Affliction wanted out even worse than before, and the UFC accepted their offer

Meltzer also said some stuff about this perceived UFC/Strikeforce friendship. He said that Dana won't ever say anything bad publicly about them because Scott Coker's never said anything bad about him. But privately, especially this week, it's completely different. The main reason that they accepted the deal with Affliction is because Strikeforce were close to the same deal

Nothingcompares

so wha'ts the bottom line on fedor in the ufc?

Fozzy

Nothingcompares wrote: »

so wha'ts the bottom line on fedor in the ufc?

Some people are speculating that the UFC has bought all the Affliction fighter contracts. That means nothing with Fedor though, because he's got a one-fight, non-exclusive contract and the UFC won't be using a fighter on that sort of contract

It's basically the same situation as the last time that they tried to sign Fedor, except that this time there's nowhere else for Fedor to go if he wants the sort of money or competition that the UFC can offer

My thinking is that his management will still demand all the same stuff, like being allowed to promote UFC shows in Russia, but that in the end Fedor will make the call to sign. Perhaps he'll wait until after the New Years Eve show in Japan, but that's what I think will happen

calex71

I think one of the deal breakers here would be Fedor not wanting an exclusive contract with the UFC maybe, would the UFC concede that ? Guess we'll see who gives in 1st , doubt it would be the UFC though

Also I maybe/vaguely recall something about M1 wanting to co-promo with ufc and was quickly shot down , or am i recalling that all wrong?

Fozzy

calex71 wrote: »

Also I maybe/vaguely recall something about M1 wanting to co-promo with ufc and was quickly shot down , or am i recalling that all wrong?

Yeah, Fedor's management run M-1, they wanted to promote shows in Russia under the UFC banner. Not something that the UFC would ever agree to

calex71

Fozzy wrote: »

Yeah, Fedor's management run M-1, they wanted to promote shows in Russia under the UFC banner. Not something that the UFC would ever agree to

Ah yes that was it, some of these lads i've seen fight on the m1 challenge - there have been a few we'd all know, but there are many other's who have delivered some cracking fights on there. Hope that is ok now with the way things have turned for affliction

I've always been one to cheer for the little guys, i've said it here b4 its such a shame the UFC have the market to themselves outside the US (and really in the us lets face it), maybe with the exception of japan, it lends them certain 'freedoms' as the only way for most folks to see non UFC stuff is to hunt them down illegally.

And i think this really has led to the UFC getting almost a little too comfy in this possition based on the quality of many cards, and while it's zuffa owned i know even wec doesnt get the fair promo outside the US it deserves/ has earned.

I've said this jokingly in other threads about not wanting Fedor in the UFC , but really i would like to see him fight some of those guys, but on the other hand even though he is just one guy it just strengthens that possition ufc has....... ok ok end of and capitalist pigs hippy esq rant lol . I just wish the masses could see the mma world outside of UFC ( much as i love it dont get me wrong here) but for me and some others here there are other promo's that equal if not better show's ......... good god i sound almost evangelical here

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah jaysis, c'mon. What happened to competitive markets and all that crap about competition being good for the consumer. The first Affliction offer Foz mentioned there doesn't that bad apart from the apology bit.

Fozzy

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Ah jaysis, c'mon. What happened to competitive markets and all that crap about competition being good for the consumer. The first Affliction offer Foz mentioned there doesn't that bad apart from the apology bit.

But that offer is exactly the same as the one that they did the deal on, except that they're not pretending that it's a merger. And the Fedor/Barnett fight was never something that the UFC would accept, they want their fighters under contract

Dragan

Alan Rouge wrote: »

Ah jaysis, c'mon. What happened to competitive markets and all that crap about competition being good for the consumer. The first Affliction offer Foz mentioned there doesn't that bad apart from the apology bit.

The first deal is a joke. It applies there were a million issues inplace BEFORE they lost the main eventer.

"Here Dana, we completely ****ed this up and it turns out you were right all along....we are retards, please save our show and apologise to us for being right."?

Not a ****ing chance.

At the end of the day, this constant appearing and folding of promotions is worse than anything for fighters, definitely worse than the UFC.

Fozzy

It might be worth noting that the first time that Affliction went to the UFC looking to get back in as a sponsor was after their first show

I think that it might have been later on that they had another meeting where Todd Beard of Affliction and Lorenzo Fertitta exploded at each other. Beard was gone from the company soon after that because of the Kim Couture deal, so it probably made it a bit easier for the UFC to deal with them

The UFC didn't have any programming scheduled against Affliction's planned PPV, they believed that this would be their last show either way so there was no point in doing anything

Barnett's not suspended. What happened was that he was applying for a licence and he was going to have to take a drug test as part of the application, one that he could choose the date of. The CSAC wanted to conduct a random test on him (the first, and only, one that they've done) and they gave him 48 hours notice of it. But now that he failed, he's got no licence for them to suspend. Technically he could still be on whatever he tested positive for and go to another state that doesn't require a test as part of the licence application (every other state I think) and he could be fighting next week

It's funny how it worked out. Affliction were looking for a way out of the show before Barnett's failure and now it looks like most of the blame is on him. If they had reached a deal with Strikeforce or the UFC without Barnett failing then I think that there'd be a lot more people mad at Affliction

Fedor didn't know that the show was cancelled until he got off the plane in California with 35 of his posse

calex71

Fozzy wrote: »

Fedor didn't know that the show was cancelled until he got off the plane in California with 35 of his posse

I nearly wet myself when i red this Fozzy, did you see Inside MMA this week and the snipit with Fedor being asked who he'd like to fight??? Now I bet he really does want that fight with Tom Atencio he joked about in the segment

SuperWoody101

calex71 wrote: »

I nearly wet myself when i red this Fozzy, did you see Inside MMA this week and the snipit with Fedor being asked who he'd like to fight??? Now I bet he really does want that fight with Tom Atencio he joked about in the segment

Ha ha just seen Inside MMA and this post made me laugh

Fozzy

I'm just after reading an article that had quotes from Fedor's manager. He tries to put it all on the UFC, saying that they're in the US now and willing to meet with them, that the door's open for them to sign Fedor

But then at the end he says that they want Fedor to fight the UFC's fighters, but "only within the framework of co-promotional events with M-1". That's the deal killer right there

They really seem to use Fedor as a pawn for their own business interests. I really wish that he'd ditch them

Red Sleeping Beauty

Was it an Observer/F4 article or is it availble online somewhere ?

I second the ditching of the mgmt. Has anyone interviewed or talked to Fedor directly to ask what he wants ?