Rumor: Fedor off Affliction II
by Michael Rome on Aug 2, 2008 11:20 AM EDT
in MMA News
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PrintThere are rumors going around right now that Fedor is off Affliction II, and the main event will be Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski, with the winner (maybe) fighting Fedor. Sam Caplan posted the story here:
A reliable source speaking condition of anonymity revealed...that Emelianenko has been dealing with a lingering hand injury that will make it virtually impossible for him to be ready in time for Affliction's October show...
This will be a big blow to the momentum of the second show, because Fedor's streak was really their ace in the hole. This puts Tito Ortiz in an even better bargaining position too, if true.
Also, while the hand injury probably really is the reason he is off, I can't help but wonder if it has more to do with his unaffordable price tag.
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A hand injury?
A hand injury that doesn’t heal within two months? There’s more to this than meets the eye… perhaps Fedor doesn’t want to take a 50% pay cut? Why pay some guy 1.6 million when he doesn’t even bring in 100k buys?
Hand injuries are...
...seriously one of the worst…longest lingering injuries you can end up with. If you come back too quick you just end up hurting it again…
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by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 2, 2008 1:44 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm sure a hand injury is way worse than Shogun's broken arm.
I don’t doubt he’s the best heavyweight in the world. However, I have to question his or his manager’s decision to keep it that way by carefully handpicking his opponents since 2005:
Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, (no ground game) Mirko Filipovic, (no ground game) Zuluhino, (no ground game) Mark Hunt, (over the hill) Mark Coleman, (middle weight) Lindland, (no ground game) Hong Man Choi, (no ground game) Tim Sylvia. It’s much easier to fight fighters that are at a distinct disadvantage to you.
He needs to fight either Barnett or Arlovski and break the cycle of carefully hand picked opponents. This “hand injury” seems to follow the same script. I don’t doubt that he’s injured it, but his next fight needs to be with either one of these guys, not some can in Japan.
Because if they make $30 per buy and he brings in 55 thousand buys, thats 1.65 million which is a net positive.
Fedor on the card was responsible for a LOT of Allfiction’s ppv buys. He should be paid a lot. Its guys like Lindland and Sylvia who arent bringing in more than 20 buys each that are GROSSLY overpaid.
Calling out Fedor for what he makes is dumb, because he actually brings in ppv buys to justify what he is paid.
They don’t make 30 a buy. The UFC gets half whatever the cable company charges, and that’s because they’ve worked out a special deal with the PPV companies because they do so many buys, Affliction would be lucky to get 40%.
After looking at the reported PPV numbers and thet gate, it’s safe to say everyone on the card was overpaid.
If Atencio can’t keep these top tier heavyweights under the Affliction banner, what is left of Affliction? Their whole promotion is based on having the best heavyweights in MMA. I know Tito’s a big draw, but I don’t see how he fits into the picture. Maybe he gets a one off deal. You know he’ll want a ton of money.
Are any of these HWs actually “Affliction guys”??
Rothwell-Adrenaline
Sylvia-Adrenaline
Barnett-WVR
Fedor-M1
Buentello-SF??
Rizzo-
Aleks-M1
AA-
I know we’re not talking about exclusive contracts, but isn’t their first obligation to other promotions, in many of these cases?
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
The first obligation for all of those guys is to make chedda, and Affliction is where the chedda is at. How is Monte Cox going to pay a half million or more to Sylvia or Arlovski under the Adrenaline banner?
Thanks..
Tito got $210,000 for his last fight in the UFC against Machida. I would bet that he would probably be expecting somewhere around 400,000 to 500,000 to fight for affliction. What does everybody think?
Also, after seeing what they paid the guys first time out, I wonder how free agents like Tito are going to take it when they offer him a lot less??
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
They’re not going to like that shit. Actually, Tito may be the one guy they could sign that would be worth big money. I don’t know who he’s going to fight besides Babalu, but maybe it doesn’t matter. The question is can Tito save Affliction.
by Cannon Jacques on Aug 1, 2008 11:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I posted in one of the other threads, that imo, they NEED Randy/Fedor asap and maybe for Randy to fight a few more times. That combined with an intriguing match up for Tito could help them get to the break even mark, assuming they cut their costs some. And I mean a match up on par with his fights with Shamrock, where people really got into it. And NO I’m not calling for Tito/Ken 4, lol!!!
I just feel they set a dangerous precedent with those salaries for Banned.
I wonder what the most Timmy got paid by the UFC was?? I feel pretty good that it was probably not half of what he got from Affliction. Point being, Affliction probably could have paid the fighters very well and still not be near what they wound up paying them.
"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"
They do need Randy/Fedor. If that fight doesn’t do well for them, nothing will. Although, another Randy/Tito fight would have some star appeal. I think Fedor would demolish Randy. That might get people here in the U.S. excited about Fedor. The question I have is how well will any of these guys (i.e. Tito, Randy) draw without the UFC behind them? I know they’re popular and have branched out into other things, but they really don’t have a track record outside the UFC. Whether you like it or not, the UFC brand is a huge selling point.
by Cannon Jacques on Aug 2, 2008 12:22 AM EDT up reply actions
No this is wrong. He made 950,000+ on the Machida fight after PPV bonus. I don’t know why people still think the disclosed number is the actual number.
by Michael Rome on Aug 2, 2008 12:57 PM EDT up reply actions
I really don’t give a crap about watching Tito anymore. Been there and done that., to me he is not a draw anymore.
Rob Dib
http://www.break-your-face.com
I can
see them giving Tito big money but if they can’t really get any of the other salaries down, i don’t think tito can get them the 200k -300k buys alone for PPV
you're right
they who need AT LEAST 1 more big name or fight. Something that can be promoted (and better than the 1st time) to the casual fan.
That's cool.
Just don’t start driving or something.
by Cannon Jacques on Aug 2, 2008 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions
Affliction did it's job
Even if Affliction doesn´t have more then 5 shows, i can´t see why it was not worthy.
I remember seeing a lot of guys saying Fedor was overrated, at least Affliction wrote history in mma, it helped a lot of MMA fans that only knew UFC to see that MMA is greater than UFC, now every1 agrees that Fedor is the best Heavy in the world.
Too true. That’s what I wanted from Affliction: hws from different orgs fight. I don’t care about Rothwell or Babalu, I want to see Fedor/Barnett, Fedor/Arlovski, and Fedor/Randy.
by asa on Aug 2, 2008 9:03 AM EDT up reply actions
This is .....
40% hand injury 60% to close to new years eve. I know Fedor desprately wants to fight on new years eve in Japan, and if he fights in October with an injured hand, there is a good chance he will not be able to participate on New Years. I think that was the deciding factor. Just my $0.02
I agree with you.
However, don’t cast doubt on Fedor here. Fedor is always on the up and up. There are no politics involved whatsoever. If Fedor says it’s his hands, its inconceivable that it’s anything but. It’s also not a negotiating tactic…oh no, never that.
could be a blessing in disguise
If Fedor was only on a one fight contract I doubt he will return.
There are 2 things that will almost certainly put you out of business.
1. trying to compete with the UFC.
2. dealing with fedor’s management.
I suggest you all find and read the back story on how pride went under. Fedor was actually held hostage by his management after every title defense in the later years.
I knew after that performance fedor’s stock just went up, and finkelstiens heart started to beat faster on pondering just how much more he can get now.
You need to understand how these guys do business.
there is one and only one rule: “everything is negotiable” contract or no contract.
Dealing with them is a never ending negotiation.
Affliction is in trouble and everyone knows it except tom etencia.
Tom Atencia is now like “comical ali” from iraq… when he was screaming the americans are in retreat whilst US abhram tanks were rolling past him in the background.
There are now reports that dream hasn’t paid certain american fighters and its been over 3 months.
Sometimes it may be better to take more realistic pay and be certain that you’re actually going to get paid.
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