If a few of the so-called “fans” of MMA refuse to buy a Fedor/Arlovski card because of some boxing matches being included on it, I’m sure they’ll be replaced by boxing fans who learn to appreciate both sports. If MMA’s promoted to the boxing fans, they’ll accept it. If Dana has proven one thing with the way he’s run the UFC, it’s that you can make most people believe anything if you market it well enough.

Personally, I don’t understand why there’s been an increase in negative press towards everything non-UFC on this site and others. More MMA gives more fighters work, and more importantly it gives promoters a motive to not be blatantly corrupt (eg. Dana’s blackballing of certain fighters). It seems to me that every MMA fan benefits if sites such as these report on what’s actually happening in the sport and not waste time on pure speculation which appears more-and-more like biased attempts to plant seeds against the UFC’s competitors.

Then again, maybe press credentials at UFC events are still dependent on favourable coverage. That’s how it was with Sherdog a few years ago, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to think that things are still that way with MMA-specific sites in general.

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I think one benefit this partnership allows is that it helps Affliction deal with their pathetically thin roster. They would have serious trouble at this point filling out even two more fight cards. This allows them to put their few headliners, mostly heavyweights, on cards that are filled up with boxing matches.

The downside is that with this deal Affliction won’t be the savior for all those looking for an alternative to the UFC. Adding boxing onto a card immediately takes up a large number of slots for fights that might be shown on PPV. If you have one or two 12 round boxing matches, you only have room for one or two MMA matches during the course of that PPV. There just isn’t enough live satellite time for purchase to make more fights available. That means most of Affliction’s current roster won’t be televised, and it will be reserved for guys like Arlovski and Fedor exclusively.

So that means you will likely get two boxing matches and two MMA matches on a three hour PPV. There just isn’t time for anything else. Now, if the boxing main event is big enough, boxing fans are used to not caring as much about the undercard, and paying solely for the main event. But MMA fans are not going to be too eager to shell out money for only two MMA fights, especially if they could care less about the boxing matches. And if they intersperse the content, MMA fans will not be too happy at all if you throw in one three round MMA fight that ends with a KO or submission early in the first round, then they have to sit through a 12 round decision in a boxing match just to watch the next MMA showing.

I think you might be able to make this deal profitable for one, single event, if you had a major boxing match headlining, along with say, Fedor vs. Arlovski. But if you throw a major boxing match at the top of the card, it likely will cost boxing PPV prices. Are MMA fans willing the pay $59.99 just to watch Fedor vs. Arlovski and a boxing match? I doubt it.

It sounds like an interesting idea, but I just don’t see how this is going to work. It seems like Affliction is grasping at straws trying to come up with ways to make their company relevant.

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it all comes down to the dollar, affliction the “T shirt guys” are gonna make t shirts for golden boy, and golden boy, with a relatively large and MUCH LARGER history of producing events is going to help affliction co promote, promote, and cross promote the brand….i dont see how this hurts anything.

of course boxing fans are going to scoff at mma on a card, and vice versa, instead of trying to pick apart why not embrace that another company is trying extremely hard to make its place in the MMA world by bringing us fights that would of never happened had they not come along. how can an injection of MORE MONEY and more partnerships with an established promoter of a similiar but different genre not gonna help the state of other companies across the board? all of these things do indeed help MMA and all caplan and others do is complain and find reasons to determine it dead in the water before its even begun.

am i wrong or is sam caplan NOT an MMA fan? after reading enough of his blogs im convinced he is an elitest who has proven himself wrong over and over and over. and he will undoubtedly do it again. which is why i continue generally skip over his posts..also im sorry to hear your wife was injured by i am sure glad not to have to see your constant posts about her non existent career in mma.

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Stop pulling our legs. If you want our respect and you want us a fans, then do the right thing, make the best moves possible, make us happy, and dont make the mistake of making it all about the money right away while lying and saying your all about the fighter and making them happy.
Affliction’s mma ground breaking announcement=B.S.

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