Their image is what makes them money. If they manage to sell a shirt for how much as they do is because of their brand image.
Now that they started this new venture into promoting fights it would be very dumb to drop the only thing that has been steadly working for them. Who would do that? And most important why? Just to please a bunch of people that hate them no matter what? That’s just bad business.

Did anyone else feel like Affliction was puttin on a show for Satan? The advertising and the choice of band didn’t sit well with me. All of it seemed very demonic.

If Affliction really wants to compete, they’ll need to be patient and open up the pocket books. Didn’t Zuffa lose $40 million on the first 20 UFC events? Like Luke says, they’ll need a lot more fighters—Tito and Randy would definately create buzz.

Since they aren’t on television, they likely won’t be able to create or showcase stars very effectively

Why wouldn’t they should pursue a weekly MMA show or a UFC Countdown-type show on Fox Sports Net, where the free undercard was shown?

This is what I think Affliction needs to do.
1) Get a preview show on TV, much like the WFA did on Showtime a couple years ago.
2) Don’t hire any more musical groups.
3) Go to a cage. I like the ring, but much of the group they are marketing to prefers cages.
4) Get some lighter weight fighters.
5) They have the big names, now put them in big match ups. I’m all for having Randy/Fedor, Josh/Fedor, Aleks/AA, AA/Fedor and so on, and I know they can’t shoot their load right off the bat, but i believe they need to have Fedor/Randy or Fedor/Josh on their next show, or they may not be around long enough to ever have them.
6) get their cards replayed on HDNet or FoxSports or such.
7) Find a way to convey their big show excitement from the arena to the TV.
8) Get announcers that are more polished and better at filling dead air.
9) Find a way to pay fighters with bonuses or ppv cuts rather than the reportedly high salaries.
10) Market their product better.

I think it is wrong to compare the UFN to Affliction, we should be comparing 84, 85 or 86 to Affliction.

Any word on ppv #s yet?

Webster’s:

Main Entry:
af·flic·tion Listen to the pronunciation of affliction
Pronunciation:
\ə-ˈflik-shən\
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century

1 : the state of being afflicted
2 : the cause of persistent pain or distress
3 : great suffering

Yep, that’s what i want to wear around, lol.

Compared to the abject failure that was the UFC HW division for years, I’d say Affliction has a pretty impressive roster after one show. Aleks is their only real “prospect” at the moment, but they have the clout to attract names if this first show is even a modest success. And at 205 and 185 they now have a couple guys ready to carry the flag. And of course, they just created a rock-solid bank of highlight footage to use for their next event.

Clearly Affliction has some challenges ahead, but I still don’t see why there is so much pessimism surrounding them, in terms of fight quality their first show was a total success, and the buzz in the PPV industry has them beating the predictions for buyrates. A lot of people seem to have the attitude that they peaked with the first show, but I think they’ll be in a position of greater opportunity for their next event.