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The Donald says yes to bankrolling Affliction
By Zach Arnold | June 5, 2008
Dana White recently mocked the upstart Affliction promotion, stating the obvious – how or why would a t-shirt guy start promoting MMA?
Well, maybe it’s because Donald Trump is financially backing him, that’s why. Which could lead to Tito Ortiz signing with this new promotion. That would be bad news for Gary Shaw & Elite XC.
It seems pretty clear that Affliction may end up reviving a sorry and moribund heavyweight MMA scene by casting top veterans with some fresh faces. A roster that could include Fedor, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Ben Rothwell, Tim Sylvia, and crew sounds pretty damn good to me. It certainly would be competitive when compared to UFC’s current heavyweight roster, which does have some good upside in terms of young talent.
Make no mistake about it — you can argue until you are blue in the face that having a bunch of money marks throw cash around in MMA like the industry is their own play toy is a bad thing for the long-term credibility of the sport. I will certainly grant that argument to anyone who makes it, too. However, it is becoming crystal clear that the credibility of MMA right now amongst casual North American sports fans is growing leaps and bounds when you have names like Mark Cuban and Donald Trump associated with the sport. There’s no denying that point.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, Pro Elite, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Your post is unintentionally hilarious when Zach Arnold for over a year predicted PRIDE’s fall and still to this day decries PRIDE for it’s history and Yakuza connections. Not to mention the harsh criticisms of how they conduct business in Japan.
Generalizations are fun though!
Zach, you do know that Trump has been bankrupt (financially, he’s always morally bankrupt) at least four or five times right?
The guy is among the lower forms of life sucking the muck at the bottom of the casino pond.
Still, casinos+MMA=win in the US, so maybe they have a chance after all.
I suggest you look into how Trump does business. He is known for not investing a cent of his own money into real estate developments. Instead developers pay him a percentage of profits and give him a share of their company and in exchange Trump acts as the face of the company which gives them a higher profile and increases their credibility.
Affliction is simply paying Trump for the exposure.
Zach: “credibility of MMA right now amongst casual North American sports fans is growing leaps and bounds”
Ark: “Gosh, don’t you wish the UFC would go out of business? We do hate that UFC so much…”
Me: *head exploding*
How do you get UFC-hatred from that post? It was pure fact. I feel like I’m watching Fox News…
Someone sane: “We need to stop the war in Iraq”
Fox News: “You hate America and want terrorists on our streets killing people!”
I guess Bushies are MMA fans too? Who knew?
Jeremy (not that Jeremy) – Donald Trump has NEVER declared bankruptcy. That’s also a fact. His current let worth is $3B+ and he’s in no danger of losing it any time soon.
And what exactly makes him a “lower form of life”?
He may have not declared bankruptcy in name, but he was bankrupt. When you owe hundreds of millions to billion’s to your creditors you become partners in debt. He has even admitted this (check your facts). To see barrons need a bale out (one of the biggest and oldest financial institutions) also make a $3b+ point mute. It can be lost, and lost easier than you think. That entire aside I am a huge fan of “The Donald”. He actually inspired me to keep going after the loss of my fist company that I had started at 24. Having lost my ass, seeing him come back from the brink kept my scotch intake down during those times LOL.
Ment to say “All that aside” and “makes a 3b+….” not sure how to edit my post
I’m totally aware that at one point, The Donald was in deep debt and had to claw his way back to his billions – but to say “Trump has been bankrupt at least four or five times” is simply talking out your ass.
He has never, legally, declared bankruptcy – let alone 4-5 times.
Fun fact: the average millionaire has been bankrupt (or close to bankruptcy) 2.3 times. So yeah, you gotta take risks to make money.
I’ll sound like a super UFC fanboy when I say this, but here goes.
Until a company has proven – as the UFC has – that they can consistently put on shows that both produce good fights and make money, I won’t put much faith in their chances of surviving.
That being said, the Affliction card looks great and the promotion should be fun for as long (or short) as it lasts.
He’s a New Yorker, a capitalist pig, he’s on his third wife, and he’s a reality television star.
Which one of those doesn’t qualify him as being a lower form of life?
😉
Not a fan of trump nor am I impressed with his business acumen, but this can only be a positive for Affliction.
Not sure where to mention this but I have noticed a hug increase in MMA coverage in traditional media following Elite XC, I NEVER once heard MMA mentioned on KNBR, but following this weekends event they actually had a guy on from Yahoo sports to talk about it. What I found interesting was that they where pretty open to the idea as a whole- and these are old school crusty sports types- but kept mentioning how long and boring the event was. Two fights in the first hour and they missed the main event because it went over the Tivo time.
I can only assume that when a real product gets out there this will blow up in a really amazing way. I mean Kimbo is not even that good as a freakshow. We all know there are better pure fighters but there are also a lot of better entertainers out there as well.
Not a fan of Dana but I have to say he has been able to put out decent to amazing fights like clockwork for a few years now.
Wow the WWF-WCW parallels continue…
One group with all the big names and mainstream media buys up smaller groups or competitors to try to own the market.
One incredibly rich billionaire invests serious money into another group and buys a lot of big name talent to compete with the well known, top level group…
I mean sure, there are differences but wow is this similar. All the way down to Dana White and Vince McMahon being jackasses.
Rp
I’m not sure why being from New York makes you a lower life form (although I have been to Buffalo a few times and that is NOT somewhere you want to live…good LORD).
Being a capitalist is awesome, his most recent wife is smoking hot, and half the guys in the UFC are reality TV stars.
How does the mainstream fan know who ANYONE in the UFC is (newbies or veterans)? From The Ultimate Fighter, of course.
One group with all the big names and mainstream media buys up smaller groups or competitors to try to own the market.
One incredibly rich billionaire invests serious money into another group and buys a lot of big name talent to compete with the well known, top level group…
I mean sure, there are differences but wow is this similar. All the way down to Dana White and Vince McMahon being jackasses.
It would be really similar if it weren’t for the UFC being owned by near billionaires who bought the company when it was on the rocks and invested heavily in it and accidentally ran into the spark that ended up making them the biggest company on earth. That’s completely and totally unlike the WWF/WWE.
Stay on topic… He is pumping money into Affliction (or maybe he is the business posterboy) and that only helps MMA grow (publicity).