Should Affliction Start a Promotional War With the UFC?

by Luke Thomas on Aug 19, 2008 10:28 AM EDT in MMA News

Maybe "war" is a bit strong, but "conflict" might be precisely what the company needs to gain any traction, make any impact or have any noteworthy fingerprint. What is becoming painfully obvious is that rival MMA organizations to the UFC cannot seem to generate publicity and interest among the media, corporate sponsors and fans on their own. They need the UFC to hate them and them explicitly. Zach Arnold explains:

For Affliction’s sake, the promotion must hope that their October 11th event in Las Vegas draws the ire of UFC for basically running on Zuffa’s home turf. If Zuffa ignores Affliction and does not give into the temptation of giving them free media coverage, then Affliction will have a very hard time generating media interest and significant cash flow for the second show. Without someone like Tito Ortiz headlining the card, it is going to be hard to fathom how Affliction will garner major attention from fight fans, insiders, corporate sponsors, and players in the fight game for the second show. Perception is reality and right now, Affliction is a t-shirt company that is simply viewed as a glorified ATM to fighters and nothing else. Unless the company can show a track record of consistency in promoting high-quality shows and turning a profit on said shows, then it is going to be very hard for this upstart organization to gain any sort of momentum unless they can draw the ire of Dana White and stir up a hornet’s nest in the press.

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God yes

they really really needed to sign Tito. It almost doesn’t matter how outrageous his demands were, Tito would be getting the promotion attention.
Signings like Hieron and Horodecki get the org exactly nothing. Same for bringing in Jake Shields to fight Matt Lindland. They’re pissing away their money and guaranteeing they won’t be around long.

by Kid Nate on Aug 19, 2008 11:05 AM EDT reply actions

I think Dana’s smart enough to play this one safe. We’ll see.

by Gong on Aug 19, 2008 11:18 AM EDT reply actions

I remember, in college football, when Nebraska was killing everyone and was kind of the “evil empire”. Colorado had an upstart program, which was trying to rebound from years of little success. They started promoting the corn as their big rival and basically taunting the Huskers. While Nebraska basically blew them off, you could see it had an effect on the program and CU got some attention and national prominence.

I see this as kind of the same thing. Pick a fight with the big kid on the block and you will eventually get some attention. Problem is, you better be able to at least make the fight somewhat interesting. Names like Ortiz and Couture could do that, but I’m not sure about the casual fans willingness to accept names like Fedor or Barnett, unless they are beating up on those guys.

I agree, that Dana’s best strategy would be to have no reaction. Just ignore them and they will probably go away. the thing is, Dana has a really hard time doing that, so if Atencio recognizes this, it may be a good move for Affliction.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Aug 19, 2008 11:56 AM EDT reply actions

Maybe they can piss off Dana when he finds out they charge 200 dollars for jeans now.

by Blackout612 on Aug 19, 2008 1:35 PM EDT reply actions

That’s actually a good idea for someone who is trailing in the market. Go out and call the UFC by name in your promotions. Make it a Pepsi-Coke thing.

by zeroword on Aug 19, 2008 1:53 PM EDT reply actions

I have noticed that most if not all of the upstart promotions have nothing but good things to say about the UFC (or say the semi-critical things in the most polite way possible).

You’re telling me Dana’s ego would let him sit back and not respond to someone making direct attacks on him as a business man and the way the UFC does business? No chance, give Dana enough rope and let him hang himself.

by Day Man on Aug 19, 2008 2:09 PM EDT reply actions

Funny Guys

You guys really seem to believe that buying Tito and then pissing Dana off or yanking his chain will save Affliction. I really wish the business world was that simple and obviously so do you guys.

by Tommy7 on Aug 19, 2008 2:58 PM EDT reply actions

Yep, that is all we think. Mention how UFC is your main rival and BAM! Instant success. lol.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Aug 19, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up reply actions

A dash of Tito, sprinkle of f*ck the UFC, with a couple shakes of Dana is a short bald unich and presto= Millions of PPV buys. They should really charge for this kind of insight.

by Tommy7 on Aug 19, 2008 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

Relax guy, no one said it was a magic potion that would bring in millions of PPV buys. In fact not one comment said it would save Affliction.

What was suggested was that either of the two moves would be financially beneficial to Affliction in their current situation.

by Day Man on Aug 19, 2008 7:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Good point.

I’m not sure how beneficial it would be, but it’s probably their best option at this point.

by Cannon Jacques on Aug 19, 2008 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions

Its all about the arithmetic…

Affliction had 10m to play with on this venture… 4m is gone and the PPV revenue that comes in lags.

They don’t have much money left especially with the bond you have to put up for the show.

Not to mention all their contract obligations.

If they agree to what ortiz is asking for they would have no money left to put on the second show by just covering his signing bonus.

If I were affliction I would assign all my fighters to elitexc in return for being their main official sponsor and lots of stock.

Elite XC needs fighters but they have no money to pay.

Affliction has contract obligations they are recieving nothing from… at least get some stock and brand equity (hm… 100k viewers seeing your clothing vs 6 million).

Then regroup, eliminate all the small orgs under pro elite and focus on elite xc leveraging showtime, cbs and ppv opportunities as much as possible.

Try to stay afloat as long as possible until a “tuf” opportunity comes your way.

by mmalogic on Aug 19, 2008 11:07 PM EDT reply actions