Werdum: I'm Close to Signing with Sengoku and Affliction (who woulda figured?) - Manhoef Could Fight at DREAM 7
by skwirrl on Jan 30, 2009 10:32 AM EST
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PrintFabricio Werdum has told Tatame that he is close to signing with SENGOKU and Affliction. Check for details on Tatame’s English site if/when they put it up.
Hari’s teammate Melvin Manhoef might have a very busy fight schedule in the coming months. Manhoef’s management confirmed to 5 Oz of Pain that Melvin might participate at DREAM.7 in March. Besides that Melvin has a Kickboxing fight in February at an It’s Showtime event, a possible K-1 WGP in Yokohama participation at the end of March, and a fight at the aforementioned It’s Showtime event in May against Stefan Leko.
HEIWA DREAM.7 Featherweight GP 2009 1st Round
Date: March 8th, 2009
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
Possible Featherweight GP Participants:
Chase Beebe
Masakazu Imanari
Wicky Akiyo
Kazuyuki Miyata
DJ.taiki/SHOJI
Possible Participants:
Gegard Mousasi
Melvin Manhoef
Wow - Thats so strange that Affliction would be negotiating with Werdum when they have given up and are begging the UFC for survival. So weird! I can't possibly understand how that is happening!
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Ha.
Did you know we are in high demand, Laura?
by Eugene Schelfaut on Jan 30, 2009 10:59 AM EST up reply actions
No offense, but this is old news (the Werdum stuff).
This has been going around since he found out he was cut from the UFC, which was about three days after the rest of us found out, lol.
If you're not submitting, you're just rolling around with another guy.
Actually its not old news
Its from a portugese interview today if you checked my source
Gimme 1 Round!
Werdum is one of the most quality Heavyweights in the world. The guy gave an in-his-prime Rodrigo Nogueira a real legitimate test. He holds some really nice career wins.
Werdum-Fedor would be a nice fight after Fedor rips Barnett. Werdum could get the fight to the ground and give Fedor quite the fit. And I’m really not kidding either. Werdum has the talent on the ground to give Fedor some trouble. Do I think he’d win? No. But he certainly would scare people.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
by FlyByKnight on Jan 30, 2009 12:11 PM EST up reply actions
Fedor has the ability to give Fedor fits? Lol.
Werdum got KTFO by Dos Santos. You really think Werdum would survive a round with Fedor let alone win? No.
Survive a round? More of a chance than Arlovski. Win? No.
On the ground, Werdum would give Fedor a ton of trouble. And Werdum’s length and kicks are enough to keep Fedor off-balance. Won’t get him a win but it will give him the best chance out of anyone.
"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill
Werdum is awesome to watch. His jiu-jitsu is incredible and since training with Chute Boxe, he’s shown some improving muay thai. Did you see the knees that he hit Gonzaga with? Exciting stuff.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jan 30, 2009 1:05 PM EST up reply actions
Agreed. People that say Werdum is boring must have skipped his last 3 fights.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 1:28 PM EST up reply actions
So, fighters are judged on what they did before, and not what they are currently doing?
That is unheard of in MMA. Sorry.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 1:30 PM EST up reply actions
Are you one of those people that say X fighter couldn’t cut it in the UFC and is washed out as well? Because, we all know it is a common law that fighters can’t improve, right? Its not like he switched camps to go to Chute Boxe to improve his striking to beat the likes of Vera and Gonzaga. Oh wait, he did.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 1:32 PM EST up reply actions
I am not impressed with the guy, sorry. And if we are judging fighters by what they are doing lately that’s fine, he just ktfo by an unkinown younger fighter. Regardless of if you think he’s an exciting fighter or not, that can’t be good for Werdum.
Therefore, his last three fights habe been nothing but excitement and KOs.
Doesn’t sound like a boring fighter to me.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 1:54 PM EST up reply actions
that’s a matter of perspective. i’m not going to argue the semantics of why I think he’s boring but he’s def not a guy that brings the heat.
Your argument sucks. Before Werdum left the UFC, he clowned two of their most hyped-up heavyweights, in exciting fashion.
Which would matter if excitement were directly impacted by skills.
Tito’s skillset is kind of dull and he hasn’t had an impressive win in years, but people still want to watch him fight. It goes beyond just winning.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:02 PM EST up reply actions
True this. Werdum repels interest in the same way a lot of other fighters do. He just doesn’t have the ‘it’ factor, to pull on a pop-culture idea.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:01 PM EST up reply actions
I guess only TUFers and Chuck are allowed to fight in the UFC now?
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 4:18 PM EST up reply actions
Tsk. Of course not. But relative excitement and interest IS tied to payouts, and Werdum was worth less to Zuffa than to other promotions, due to his high worth to hardcore and Japanese fans as opposed to “casual” UFC fans. Ergo, his demands were higher than Zuffa wanted to pay, and he was dropped.
Basic economics.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:21 PM EST up reply actions
Of course. Its what happens when Zuffa signs big contracts.
They lose 1 or 2 fights, they throw them away before paying them their signed contract value. Then they will use the money to hype a TUFer they signed for 15K for 6 years.
I know, basic economics.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
It isn’t necessarily good, but thats the world for you.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:27 PM EST up reply actions
Big contract guys like Werdum are thrown to the wolves and TUF guys are given the easy button for a couple matches while the marketing machine builds them up. It is sorta comparing apples to oranges cause these groups almost have 2 different roles in the company. Guys like Werdum only chance to get marketed is beating other big time opponents.
Than again Dana White almost did get Nate Quarry killed moving him up the ladder to fast on the initial TUF go around.
Guys like Werdum only chance to get marketed is beating other big time opponents.
Pretty much, because they cost too much to give them “development” time. Thats one of the main risks to developing your career outside the UFC, then signing with the UFC, because you haven’t spent the early part of your career building your image with UFC fans.
On the other hand, Werdum is plenty valuable to Japanese and hardcore-targeting promotions, so it isn’t like he’s getting screwed. He’ll just sign with someone where he offers proper value.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 6:43 PM EST up reply actions
Yup, that destruction of Vera and Gonzaga was REALLY boring.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 1:28 PM EST up reply actions
Yup
I have been hinting at Werdum and Mousasi for Affliction 3 for quite some time now.
Also, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Overeem as well.
It’s a tough day for anti-Zuffa marks. I’ll let this one pass.
by Derek Suboticki on Jan 30, 2009 2:26 PM EST reply actions
Or for people rejoicing over the mmalogic’s breaking news.
Uncertainty is a cruel cruel word.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 3:05 PM EST up reply actions
I expect a lot of people will be eating crow a couple weeks from now. Should be interesting to see who.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 3:14 PM EST up reply actions
No one is questioning that they won’t do MMA after 3 events, because they have said so themselves. After the assessment of 3 shows, they will make a decision. No shocker here and hardly breaking news.
The matter of it being reported as a certainty here after their second event and watching Pro Zuffa fans like Subo rejoicing, I find quite amusing.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 3:32 PM EST up reply actions
I think people are quick to buy into it because the signs are really there to be read, so it looked like a final giveaway. Even the counterarguments were so ridiculous (Affliction 250k buys? WTF?) That they indirectly contributed to the notion that Affliction is done and the key players are just saying the right things, like the Iraqi Misinformation Minister.
I tend to believe it because I just don’t see how Affliction’s MMA business can work, Golden Boy or not, Trump or not. The numbers just don’t make sense to me.
But as I mentioned some threads back, I tend to expect failure LONG before everybody gives up the ghost. So my expecting failure could be blinding me to signs of Affliction actually finding a route to success.
For your sake, I hope some non-Zuffa entity gets big, even though I don’t think Affliction has a chance in hell. :)
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 3:43 PM EST up reply actions
I agree, they have a long shot, and it may come down to how involved Trump and Golden Boy are. If Golden Boy becomes more interested, they could still be here later on this year, etc.
I mean the PPV buys are pretty nuts right now.
Kevin Iole is saying that they did 80-90K, Golden boy is saying they heard 175K-200K.
I guess we will see what happens.
The source said the first show finished with between 90,000 and 100,000 sales, while the second show did between 80,000 and 90,000.
Tom Atencio, the vice president of Affliction Entertainment, said he didn’t have final numbers and isn’t likely to make them public when he gets them. He insisted the first Affliction show did well more than 100,000 and said last week’s show did better.
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Affliction’s partner, said he understood that the pay-per-view would come in between 175,000 and 200,000.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 4:22 PM EST up reply actions
Honestly, I tend to wonder if Affliction might have bought PPVs themselves, though I don’t know if thats even possible. They’ve done it for tickets, after all.
Golden Boy getting interested would change the market, but I don’t see why they would. They should be able to recognize the problems inherent in going against the UFC. MMA is a natural monopoly, so the whole coke/pepsi dichotomy doesn’t apply.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:26 PM EST up reply actions
Reading the article I thought Iole was citing a high level Zuffa source than the next paragraph cited the Golden Boy source?
Exactly
Talk about a failing company, mmalogic needs to write a piece about Yahoo’s place in the market and explain how they continue to hemorrhage money every quarter, over $300 million in losses last quarter. UFC Internet PPV through Yahoo is one of the few money streams the company has.
You can throw in THQ in there as well.
They are luck if the UFC Undisputed game comes out this year.
Their stock went from $24 to 3.99$ in a year.
The economy did factor into that though.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 5:21 PM EST up reply actions
I notice there have been no responses
to companies “hanging in there” that have hemorrhaged hundreds of millions while Affliction is dead in the water after its lost maybe 7.5 million at most
Gimme 1 Round!
A lot of videogame companies are doing very poorly right now. Look at Microsoft’s gaming departments, EA, Pandemic, etc., etc., ad infinitum.
Seriously, Kotaku reads like an obituary page recently.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Jan 30, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions
Sadly EA will scoop up their remains
Better than Activision though. Activision is the ZUFFA of the game world. They canceled potentially cool games because they didn’t have the potential to be “exploitable on a yearly basis.” That just sounds like ZUFFA speak.
Gimme 1 Round!
How is that better than Activision (now ‘Activision Blizzard.’) All EA will do to game companies is buy them, pillage their IPs, lay everyone off, and then make shitty cookie cutter sequels to whatever IPs they pillaged.
What the hell are you talking about
Activision canceled a ton of games not based on their quality but based on the fact they weren’t games set up to give off immediate sequels. thats what i’m talking about
Gimme 1 Round!
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Affliction’s partner, said he understood that the pay-per-view would come in between 175,000 and 200,000.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 4:22 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t buy those numbers either. I could be wrong, but those numbers go against everything I’ve seen of Affliction’s promotion and the structure of the market. Unless there is a MUCH bigger “low-economy bounce” going on than any of us realize.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 4:24 PM EST up reply actions
I mean, if they hit those numbers, that is a Home Run, out of the ball park.
NO ONE would ever think any other promotion could reach those numbers outside of Boxing, WWE, and UFC, so that would be a big deal, and would probably get Golden Boy and Trumps attention pretty darn fast.
It would also mean that Affliction’s and MMA’s fanbase is growing, which we already have good signs with the recent UFC 91 and 92 PPVs. Not so much 93, but I would expect the same for 94.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jan 30, 2009 5:20 PM EST up reply actions
It would also mean that Affliction’s and MMA’s fanbase is growing, which we already have good signs with the recent UFC 91 and 92 PPVs. Not so much 93, but I would expect the same for 94.
I don’t see how that will help Affliction, though. I’m pretty sure that Affliction’s only chance at long-term survival is to grow faster than the UFC over the next few years. Those numbers don’t really give evidence of that, not with the UFC’s ridiculous PPV numbers the past few months.
But I’m not certain if Golden Boy/Trump will recognize that, or even agree.
by Michaelthebox on Jan 30, 2009 6:47 PM EST up reply actions
I think they should have played up the ring aspect more if they really have a longterm strategy
People that only like MMA for blood and guts generally like the cage because it gives it the bloodsport/NHB aspect more but there are people that defiantely perfer a ring for viewing reasons and for the stylistic differences it puts emphasis on in fighters.
You could build a dedicated fan based upon preference for fighting arena. I definately perfer the ring. I just happened to perfer it prior to Affliction. But Afflcition is nice to have around because they keep the ring going.
Gimme 1 Round!
Who were the ones that were already announced for the GP?
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
No one has been ‘officially’ announced so far by FEG. From fighters and other promoters, we know that Takafumi Otsuka, the winner of DJ Taiki/Shoji Maruyama @ DEEP 40, and Chase Beebe are basically confirmed though.
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions and Affliction’s partner, said he understood that the pay-per-view would come in between 175,000 and 200,000.
Yeah, I don’t believe this for a second I’ll wait until Meltzer comes out with his estimate then we’ll probably find out that Affliction was lying about their numbers once again.
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