Adam Swift over at MMAPayout.com has reported an unconfirmed rumor that Golden Boy Promotions may have possibly pulled out of their partnership with Affliction Clothing due to control issues. Although this is pure speculation at this point, Golden Boy Promotions may have finally done their homework and came to the same conclusion that I did a few weeks ago in that newer promotions in this sport will struggle heavily in their infancy.

Golden Boy has a unique advantage though. With Oscar De La Hoya’s face on the promotion and an already successful boxing promotion as well as other ventures in real estate, Golden Boy has the money to definitely survive for a lengthy amount of time. Rumors have also been circulating throughout the MMA community about Golden Boy’s close ties to HBO, and it could become the provider for their own MMA promotion. Sounds great, right?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound too great when you think about the big picture. How will Golden Boy draw fans to their promotion over ProElite or the UFC? If they do in fact snag an HBO deal, where will they get the talent to excite crowds and draw in fans? They won’t. Matt Lindland isn’t an exciting fighter, but he can beat some of the very best in the world. The best fighters are unfortunately in the UFC under exclusive contracts, and they are being paid the highest amounts of money that fighters can find in the sport along with exposure for their sponsors on cable television. Golden Boy cannot produce the same results early on, and I find it hard to see them even filling a division with good enough talent to warrant a HBO subscription.

The big idea that many fans have been pushing is for the promotion to sign on for Fedor vs. Couture, and fill the division with guys like Arlovski, Rothwell, and possibly Sylvia. Couture will likely only fight in one battle and then retire, so that leaves the division with roughly four fighters. Sorry, but that isn’t going to sell over 500,000 PPV buys, and their salaries will likely surpass any profit for the first couple of shows unless we see a massive marketing campaign, but then again, that costs money too.

Golden Boy isn’t going to work, even if these rumors are false. We can have all the hope in the world that they will become a major player and produce fights we want to see, but the truth is that the MMA market right now needs to be in a state of turmoil for big changes to happen. It’s only in a slight state right now with the UFC’s lawsuits coming down the line, but the UFC still holds the top talent, and it looks like many of those fighters will be re-signing the dotted line. Zuffa also has control over upcoming talent with the WEC which makes the outlook even grimmer for newer promotions. ProElite seems to have had the best idea in grabbing already established promotions instead of trying their hand at entering new markets blind. Maybe that's the idea that Golden Boy should follow.