Like i said in the other post i don’t think that the UFC showcased higher end fighters overall, (no disrespect to anderson silva) Affliction had the better card on paper but the production and the way things were done made the UFC seem like it had the bigger fights/names.

It was there first PPV and i’m sure they’ll learn from their mistakes on how to make things better.

Ohh and does anyone really think that Matt Lindland would stand a chance against Anderson Silva. That’s laughable after his performance tonight. I understand he was off for a year but theres Anderson doesn’t stop him in the first round.

I’m not sure what you were watching, but I saw a very admirable effort from a first time promotion that put on an unbelievable card.

Did we need Megadeth? Of course not. But I’m sorry, I watched the rebroadcast of UFN after the Affliction PPV and the 2 were incomparable. Affliction had the clearly superior product, and despite the obvious flaws that should be expected in any first broadcast, enjoyed Affliction more than any UFC event this year.

I hope they put on a second show, and learn from their mistakes and feedback.

I really wonder what you people were watching. It is like people get scared of something that is even a twinge different. What exactly are UFC’s great production values? UFC has had the same stale image for quite a while now. People always say, “oh, but it is like BOXING.” Clearly, these people have never seen a boxing card on Showtime or HBO and probably just like to shoot their mouth off to sound bright on the internet.

I think a thing that a lot of people are missing the point on is that Affliction was fun, UFC was business as usual. It is a sport and sports are supposed to be entertaining. Just because you, personally, didn’t want to see Megadeth or see a bunch of the top heavyweights in the world fight and would rather watch UFC’s business as usual doesn’t mean that everybody wants that.

I caught UFN after and honestly, I was still amped up from Affliction and it was near unwatchable. This isn’t pro wrestling, nobody cares about “the business” or “the product” or any of that, this is mixed martial arts, what matters is promoters putting on exciting, entertaining cards.

So many internet fans have tunnel vision and seemingly just want UFC to be the only game in town and trample the rest. You really have to wonder sometimes.

On paper, Affliction had the better card going into the night.

In reality, UFC managed to turn a mid-level card into a winner. They had the better fights and the better product tonight - not even close. I watched the fights at a sports bar and mid-way through the Affliction event, people started chanting for the UFC card to be shown with sound. It wasnt even close - UFC has the better fights, the better fighters in general and everyone else is simply grasping.

Affliction sells good clothing, UFC sells one amazing MMA product—both should stick to what they know best.

I like how Dave Meltzer, a guy who has been reporting and analyzing the sport since it first spawned sees Affliction as a real threat, while BloodyElbow.com and pockets of the internet are so quick to say, “NO IT WAS STUPID AND UFC IS THE BEST DID YOU SEE ALL OF THOSE EVEN MATCHUPS?!” I for one know that James Irvin vs. Anderson Silva is an incredibly well-matched fight. I’m glad they can bombard us with such a top flight card while Affliction can just give us crap like Rothwell/Arlovski, Barnett/Rizzo and Fedor/Sylvia. Ugh. Disgrace.

I completely disagree. It was new, and fresh, and besides Megadeth, (ugh) it was infinitely more enjoyable than the UFC’s tired, stale formula and horrible commentating.

I agree with Luke here. It was, like he said, at times almost unwatchable. Do I care that Big John is in Andrei Arlovski’s locker room and giving us an update that Freddie Roach is…gasp...taping Andrei’s hands? Wow, that’s hard hitting. Michael Buffer failed miserably at MMA announcing, Megadeth was ridiculously awful, and the announce team was absolutely terrible.

Trigg, at one point, was talking about he and Jay Glazer in the showers at the gym. At one point Trigg was giving Mike Whitehead, a training partner, advice on the fight from the announce table. How unprofessional does it get? The sound kept cutting out in the beginning and for an extended period of time we were listening to the Spanish announcers. It was clear that Affliction didn’t have all their shit together tonight and in terms of presenting the sport as a sport, the UFC was heads and shoulders above them in that regard.

I am a (relative) newcomer to the sport of MMA and watched both events tonight with a few (complete) newcomers to the sport.

And while, yes, I thought that UFC was probably the better produced event (we rolled our eyes at Megadeath, for sure), I think this post oversells the importance of that. I can tell you that everyone I was with was absolutely drooling for more after the Arlovski and and Fedor fights. I will buy another Affliction event in a heartbeat. In the end, the fights seemed to outweigh more than the silliness of John McCarthy whispering in the locker room.

Seriously, the whole “Megadeth are rednecky” point as well as any other complaints about them has me wondering like where you dudes came from. Is the internet full of thoroughbred posters? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I grew up listening to stuff like Megadeth. I remember blasting Megadeth at 3am in the morning in the middle of binge drinking and lighting stuff on fire with my now Ph.D in Astrophysics friend and having fun.

Did you all grow up listening to Beethoven, Wagner and Bach?

I’m not defending Megadeth, exactly, as much as asking why this is such a slap in the face to most people. I mean, the Superbowl has its halftime show (yes, I understand they are different, but there are similarities), Rock Bands, Rappers and Blues musicians have performed at sporting events before, this isn’t unprecedented. Megadeth fit the certain aesthetic they were shooting for. I don’t think that is hard to grasp.

I enjoyed the affliction show. don’t get me wrong but i was watching on two screens so it was all about the fights for me of course.

i got the ppv last night and i thought affliction rocked. some fights were boring but you get that on ufc also. the reason ive been getting further away from ufc is because alot of the fights have been guys from tuff enough. the guys that didnt make it. woop de do. if they couldnt make it in the show i dont want to watch them for 39.95. it seems ufc is more into reality t.v now and in it for the cash instead of the sport. maybe affliction will be the same way? who knows. hope not. i cant wait to see the next elite xc this month. sorry ufc your starting to loose a ppv customer.

I can see Luke Thomas’s point about production quality; it would have been nice to have the Affliction ring miked and get that extra layer of coverage. I enjoyed more fights on the Affliction card than the UFN card, but they both had some fights that could be considered less-than-entertaining. That is, however, a possibility with any card. No one can completely predict how fights will proceed and that’s one of the great things about MMA.

I expect that like the UFC in its earlier days, Affliction will have to bumble before they get a solid, consistent product. I hope they do it before they run out of money. Regardless, as an MMA fan, I had a fun night.

Which high-end UFC fighters are you talking about exactly?
Jake O’Brien?
Jesse Taylor?
CB Dollaway?
Anthony Johnson?

Battling their hearts out? Finger poking by Kevin Burns? Gassing out by Brandon Vera?

That is utterly ridiculous.

What about the Arlovski and Rothwell fight- that’s what I call battling their hearts out.
How about high end fighters like Fedor, Barnett, Arlovski?

Anyone who know mma knows that the affliction show was way better. First of all ufc headlines silva vs irwin…irwin isnt even a top ten 205 and so what silva went up, he has fought that weight before so not new to him. Ufc already hs a black eye with Griffin being the chamipion….He shoulnt of won nor should he even had a title shot. What was he ranked 9 at the time in the 205 division….Forrest is a joke of a champion and im sure Tito could kick his butt and take that title so when Tito joins affliction they will have the better champion at 205 and heavyweight and the best fighter in the world, plus couture fighting too..That is if ufc stops being babies about the sitiuation..U have to admit for a first show that was damn good and will only get better each time and they will get better fighters, just watch people will start leaving ufc, maybe w. silva, Rampage, St. pierre…thank about it rampage and st. pierre are sponsored by affliction…only time will tell but i vote for affliction for one it will be better for mma fans in the long run…look we already got a free show out of it, that would of never happened if it werent for affliction. Better fights and i like the idea of one champion…Think about it, in boxing u have numerous titles and yet they fight each other for different belts why not mma….So Ufc u are on notice….SO PAY ATTENTION>>>>AFFLICTION is here to STAY

Luke,

I would have responded to that post, except comments were disabled -
hence posting this here

Firstly, I agree that personal insults are way off base.

But, and this is a big but, I think you rather lost the plot on
yesterday’s MMA action. I think that sometimes, you try to over-analyse
this sport from a business perspective. Trying to decide what you think
the “average sports fan” is looking for.

The honest truth is, you don’t know. Because you can’t. No-one can.

Try looking at it from a sporting perspective. Sure, the Affliction
“production quality” was poor. That was obvious. Then again – the
commentary (Trigg apart) was surprisingly better than I had expected.
Particularly Big John. Some interesting insights, not just your usual
shtick.

Are you seriously saying that you’d prefer Goldberg over them? They guy
who just waffles on and on with his pre-arranged phrases, repeated 100
times per fight (eg: “I alluded to earlier”)

But production qualities aside – how can you – AS A FAN AND SOMEONE WHO
APPRECIATES MMA AS A SPORT – not have been just a little excited by the
Affliction card?

There were some quality fights (not all, but some). And the whole event
really started to get some momentum from the halfway point on.

Instead, all we get are your repeated complaints about how incompetent
some production director was. Who gives a **? I didn’t pay the PPV fee
for him. I paid to watch THOSE fighters. And by the end, I was getting
the old, fuzzy warm Pride feeling again.

Large ring. Big crowd. Big fighters. Fight after fight after fight. THIS
IS WHAT THIS SPORT IS SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE.

Do you think people whined about “production values” after the Rumble in
the Jungle? And please, stop telling me that this is what “average fans”
are looking for. Hell no. Put together a top notch sporting contest.
Everything else will take care of itself, over time.

Your whole “scrooge” mentality about the event has really soured your
reputation in many peoples eyes – and uncouth insults aside (which you
are right, are uncalled for) – in all honesty, its deserved. You need to
take a step back, and start commenting on this as a SPORT (which you are
somewhat qualified to do, not so sure after this), and not as a BUSINESS
(which, I’m sorry, even I, MBA and all, am rather more qualified to do
than you)