Affliction has been making some headlines in recent months with its potential entry into the North American mixed martial arts market and becoming a possible power player in the industry. We’ve heard huge rumors surrounding an event taking place at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on July 19th, and the announcement of Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko to headline such an event. Unfortunately, those rumors were exactly that… rumors, and the announcements regarding the event’s card are up in the air now.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com revealed that the deal between HDNet and Affliction had fallen through, and the booking of the American Airlines Arena did not happen. Affliction is looking to other venues, but it looks like this may be only the beginning to the snags that will begin surfacing as we lurch closer to July.
My current thoughts on Affliction are very similar to the thoughts I had about Golden Boy Promotions trying their hand at the MMA market. Why move into a market that simply doesn’t have the talent outside the UFC to fuel an entire promotion for years to come? Why spend extraordinary dollars to fund events that could potentially be flops?
Fedor was the subject of unconfirmed rumors that he may be receiving over $2 million to fight Tim Sylvia while “The Maine-iac” was reportedly going to produce a $300,000-800,000 salary, and sources at MMAPayout.com have the estimated salary number ballooning to $5-6 million dollars. With numbers that astronomical when compared to even the UFC’s payroll per event, can Affliction last more than one event?
No, they can’t and won’t be in the business of promoting mixed martial arts very long with those types of numbers. Golden Boy Promotions was smart to back out of their partnership. The simple fact of the matter is that MMA right now is ruled by the UFC in the North American market.
Most of the talent is still in the UFC, and Affliction cannot blow huge dollars to produce such a big event in hopes that it will carry them to the promise land. It’s unfortunate that companies and entrepreneurs won’t be able to move into the business in the upcoming years until something different happens, but it’s much better than wasting money that could be better used down the road for something bigger.
The way I see it, Affliction got ahead of themselves here. Guaranteeing such large sums of money to fighters was a mistake from the beginning, and it is clear that the promotion either has some bad business sense or has something up their sleeve. Nonetheless, the MMA market is too volatile right now to throw $5-6 million into the fight salaries alone. Just give it up, Affliction. Save yourself the embarrassment.