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UFC 7/19 Las Vegas card
By Zach Arnold | June 17, 2008
Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin (205 pounds)
Hermes Franca (coming off his steroid suspension) vs. Frankie Edgar
Over at AOL Fanhouse, Michael David Smith is suggesting that Affliction may as well cancel their Anaheim show in light of UFC running against them.
Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 59 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I guess they figured the Minnesota card was stacked enough. Edgar and Hermes, originally scheduled for 87, should be a close fight. I will be rooting for Frankie.
I like James Irvin. Too bad for him. I give him a slight chance.
I hope this backfires on the UFC and the media go big on the Affliction card being the better quality card.
I don’t know if Silva wants to stand and strike with James Irvin. On the ground I’ve seen Irvin show resilience, but nothing in the way of offense.
If he wants to be safe (and smart) Silva will try to turn this into a BJJ match.
I’ll be recording this on my PVR while I’m watching the Affliction PPV…
The ufc truly is a cancer on the sport.
Zuffa is a turmor that needs to be removed immediately.
Good news is, these mafia crime lords the Fertittas keep making enemies. Right zach?
Hey zach, your side column is missing a few sections. I see two tumors (ufc and wec) but no nutrients or fresh air (dream, elite xc, affliction).
If those promotions had RSS feeds that I could add to the page…
God, so many douches covering MMA these days. “Affliction should cancel it’s show”
what a moron
I don’t see either show impacting the other much.
Affliction was never going to draw more than 75,000 buys, and the 40,000 range is much more realistic. Those fans are going to order the show regardless of UFC running on the same night.
UFC will draw its normal base of fans, and the Affliction PPV numbers will be a drop in the bucket compared to the Spike audience.
So I don’t see what the big deal is at all.
So is this going to be a PPV card or is it going to be on Spike?
*sigh*
Read the damn link, JntJ. Read the damn link.
It’s on Spike.
Wade, I just have never understood statements like calling the UFC a cancer or a tumor.
To me, the UFC is the body. It is the organism, the life. These johnny-come-lately organizations, with their money marks, that were no where to be seen before the UFC broke the sport into wide acceptance, who have not taking part in the effort to lobby state governments to legalize MMA, etc. These organizations are like little tumors sprouting up everwhere, invading locally but always looking to metastasize.
I am surprised by the UFC’s strategy here. Usually they don’t counter program this strong, with a live event. The strategy seems to have been to let the competition kill itself. Affliction was one or two cards away from doing that given their business model.
I wonder of there is just some bad blood over past business deals and maybe something to do with contract tampering?
Business is business. Donald Trump is the reason the UFC is proactively trying to kill Affliction.
ProElite doesn’t seem to have the money or the talent to put on cards the size of what Affliction is proposing to do here.
UFC is fighting Affliction’s strategy of hiring all of UFC’s heavyweights and adding a few unaffiliated free agents by showcasing their depth at light heavyweight and showing off their golden boy middleweight fighting up.
If the other guys rumored for this card are included, it could easily be the strongest UFC card this year.
And, of course, the sleazebag White has the nerve to claim this has nothing to do with Affliction:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/nicki_jhabvala/06/17/july.19/?eref=sircrc
I hope Silva is forced to tap again, for laughs.
lol at this live card on July 19th having nothing to do with the Affliction card on the same night. I hope that statement was intended to be comedic.
Also, when is Yushin Okami getting his title shot?
Do I pay money to watch the Afflictions ppv card or do I not pay money to watch Anderson Silva fight? It’s all about cost of living these day’s right? UFC (I’m realist so just shoot me)
Why are people crying? Competition worked. It forced the UFC to give us a free card, right?
So far the card is:
Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin
Brandon Vera vs. Reese Andy
Hermes Franca vs. Frankie Edgar
Jake O’Brien vs. Cain Velasquez
Pretty solid card so far. And of course this is to combat Affliction, but no head of a company would publicly say that.
I think this card takes away about 5,000 PPV buys from Affliction. With that said, Affliction is going to bomb anyways.
Instead of running against Affliction, they should be running a show against the next EliteXC CBS special.
Makes no sense to do that. They will have less viewers, because network TV typically gets more viewers than cable. They never want to see that.
“Competition worked. It forced the UFC to give us a free card, right?”
Worked for who? Oh a “free” UFC card built with whatever dudes they can get on short notice to take away from, possibly, the biggest card in MMA history. This works for UFC, but how does it work for fans? If it “works” it will only tell UFC they can keep filling their shows with desperate TUFfers who will work for nothing and not bother to pay for any top class talent.
If it “works” for UFC then it’ll scare away any businesses actually concerned with putting on stacked cards with top talent from wasting their time on MMA fans. It’ll tell Gary Shaw he’d be wasting his time trying to bring in an Affliction guy or two, since all the “hardcore” MMA fans would rather watch Kimbo for free than pay to see Fedor.
Yeah, I really see how this will work out. Yay, another “free” throwaway UFC show.
I seem to be one of the few who thinks this is terrible news (not necessarily from just this site). Great, we get two events in one night, but its essentially killing Affliction’s chance of getting any momentum going. If you want to eventually see all the best fighters fighting each other, there has to be viable competition.
The UFC has appr. 60% of the top ten fighters in the top five weight classes fighting each other, depending on whose rankings you’re looking at. I want to see 100% of the best fighting each other. It’s never going to happen while the UFC has a strangehold on the industry.
It’s obviously more complicated and doesn’t just hinge on Banned’s success or failure, but Affliction gaining a little momentum would be a step in the right direction. Everyone just assumes Affliction will fail like everyone else has (I did at first as well), but that kind of attitude isn’t going to help us get to where we want to be. If we want to see the best fights possible made, we need to support the Afflictions and the EliteXC’s of this world.
We as the consumer will ultimately decide which direction the sport goes.
Arn Anderson: “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it.”
You people were screaming for competition. And now you got it. It just didn’t come the way you thought it would. This is what competition is all about. It is about one company trying to completely demolish the other.
Affliction was DOA. The PPV only system doesn’t work. They were banking on 200,000 PPV Buys. Even without the UFC card, they were likely getting 50,000 tops.
As for the best fighting each other, I have to laugh at anybody thinking the UFC is not the answer to this. The UFC is the only company putting on top level fights on a consistent basis. Every other organization just cares about pushing their fighters. If you really want to see the best fight each other, the UFC is the way to go.
As I said earlier, if it means that the UFC runs more cards to compete, so be it. I’m fine with that fact. What I find absurd is the matchmaking. Anderson Silva is a strong favorite against James Irvin, but why make that fight? If Irvin pulls off the upset (which is theoretically possible given Silva’s garbage wrestling and both’s strengths standing), what the hell does the UFC do then? No one will buy James Irvin and they will lose the aura around Silva.
“As for the best fighting each other, I have to laugh at anybody thinking the UFC is not the answer to this. The UFC is the only company putting on top level fights on a consistent basis. Every other organization just cares about pushing their fighters. If you really want to see the best fight each other, the UFC is the way to go.”
There’s about a million ways to sarcastically respond to this. I’m just going to go with three, because I’m sure there will be others. Here we go:
UFC gave title shots to two guys who won a reality show. That’s like the NFL putting on a show with AFL and CFL players where the best get to start in the Superbowl.
OR
Dana’s Big News: James Irvin = Top 10 LHW, everyone not under contract with him = crap. Confirmed by 45 huddle.
OR
Funny how the best fighters in the world often just happen to be the guys who have a few weeks free to yell out some drunken C Class fighters.
bring up the last years worth of Sherdog.com Top 10’s… And then view all those fighters and who they have fought. Only the guys in the UFC constantly fight top competition. The rest fight non-Top 10 competition. The proof is there. Your hate just gets in the way of that truth.
45 Huddle – you gotta give some props to DREAM with there lightweight fights they’ve had so far even thought you get alot of shitty mismatch’s. There the only one who comes close with top guys fighting each other. JZ Calavante vs Shinya Aoki, Hansen vs Alvarez, Uno vs Ishida, Mayhem Miller vs Jacare. I’m enjoying it like the WEC.
Whatever, I’m still driving down to see the GOAT fight and bullocks to the UFC.
As for the rest the UFC card looks like crap only a org huger could love I just pray to God Affliction finds a way to get these fights out there so the casual fans can see some of the other gppd fighters around. So much of UFC is boring garbage these days.
BEst fighters face each other? Umm yeah thats why several of the best LW, MW, and almost all the best HW’s are fighting else where. Thats why BJ Penn just fought, ummm who, not Sherk the guy before, Joe Daddy? Yeah, there are no other LW’s with better credentials than Daddy right Or forrest. Or Mir. After of course the nine month lay off.
As for Affliction being DOA, lets just wait and see. Judging only by the quality of card they are putting together, which is really all anyone should care about, they are the #1 org right now.
What I find absurd is the matchmaking. Anderson Silva is a strong favorite against James Irvin, but why make that fight? If Irvin pulls off the upset … what the hell does the UFC do then? No one will buy James Irvin and they will lose the aura around Silva.”
You are so wrong. If Silva wins, then his reputation grows. If he loses he still has the MW belt and nobody in sight of him at 185.
People will buy James Irvin if he wins. If he wins, he becomes a star. I don’t know why you put him down.
As for Affliction being “the biggest card in history”, that is a joke. It is a great card. I have no problem buying it, but it isn’t close to the greatest ever. Fedor v Tim is big, the others are interesting but not to die for. On the other hand, with WAMMA sanctioning this card, it really is huge!!!!
“And then view all those fighters and who they have fought. Only the guys in the UFC constantly fight top competition. The rest fight non-Top 10 competition. The proof is there. Your hate just gets in the way of that truth.”
They constantly fight the top competition inside the UFC. They can’t fight top competitors outside of it, and visa versa. Who doesn’t want to see Fedor vs Couture without all the legal BS that has come with it? Or see how Penn, Sherk, Huerta and Florian stack up today against JZ, Aoki, Gomi and Alvarez? Or see if Lindland is the one middleweight who can beat Anderson? Don’t you want to see all the best fight each other?
Fighters shouldn’t be forced to sign an ultra-restrictive contract that favors the strongest promoter. They should have choices.
That will be the result of true competition, not what’s going down on July 19. July 19 is a result of the UFC trying to squash someone before they become a viable competitor.
Its not the biggest card in history, Pride put those cards out (Hello 2005) but as far as star power it is one of the top ten. There could be some more interesting match ups e.g. Babalu v Lil Nog, Barnett V. The Pt Bull and Alexander V. Ben But as far as f ing good fighters that get my fan boy blood pounding I have not see anything to match it in a long while. Plus I can actually drive to it and don’t need a bloody time machine.
I’m going to Affliction live and I’ll DVR the UFC. For all the UFC fanboy morons, or all the UFC haters, this Affliction card proves that competition IS better for the fans and true fans of the sport will want it to succeed.
Due to the Affliction card, we finally get to see Fedor fight someone top five. We get to see many of the worlds most talented HWs on the same card. Dudes at home get to watch Aleksander vs Buentello on free TV or Anderson Silva on free TV. I’ll let the orgs battle it out…I could give a fuck…it’s their money.
Don’t get it twisted though:
Competition = fans win
That’s why I hope a second org succeeds out there. It’s good for the sport and good for the fans.
“If you really want to see the best fight each other, the UFC is the way to go.”
At 170lbs, you are correct. Otherwise, more often than not, the best are not fighting the best…not even in the UFC. Anderson Silva vs James Irvin? Please!
Mir beats Brock Lesnar and gets Nog? Cmon.
Winner of Florian/Huerta gets a shot at BJ? Cmon.
I can’t wait until the mainstream media really gets a clue and demands the best matchups. Even they are playing UFC fanboy, acting like they’re rooting for their fav org in the Monday night wars.
Affliction should cancel their show since it may not succeed in the long run? How about praising them for putting on a HW fight between 2 guys who are top 5 in the world?
D.Cap is right. This is a stupid fight. Neither the fighters nor the company nor the sport stand to benefit from any outcome of the fight. It’s just a powerplay.
You are so wrong. If Silva wins, then his reputation grows. If he loses he still has the MW belt and nobody in sight of him at 185.
People will buy James Irvin if he wins. If he wins, he becomes a star. I don’t know why you put him down.
James Irvin? A star? The guy is a career journeyman. He might be the only UFC light heavyweight “contender” capable of losing to Brian Stann. No one cares about James Irvin and most people think he sucks if anything. If he beats Anderson Silva, he destroys the guy’s persona of being “unbeatable” because, frankly, he’s a one dimensional fighter with no chance whatsoever of winning his next fight against anyone in the top 25 of the division.
Wow. Seriously guys, is this what you’ve come to?
I’m with JntJ on this. What the hell.
I’m looking forward to Affliction, it is a great card and I know that I’ll be buying it. I’ll just watch the UFC show the next day, no big.
I don’t get the whole fact that people feel the need to take sides and pull this “us vs. them” stuff — if you are really a fan of MMA, and not just a specific company, you really aren’t showing it right now. This is coming off like petty Kevin Iole defending his Zuffa Overlords kind of stuff.
Who was Serra before he beat GSP?
Who was Gonzaga before he beat Cro Cop?
Who was Forrest Griffin before he beat Liddell?
Who was Keith Jardine?
Unlike boxing, MMA can create stars because anyone can lose. In order to thrive, you have to give fighters the chance to break out. If you fear your stars will lose, then your stars ain’t that good in the first place.
Whoever wins, the UFC will win. But seriously, do people really think Irvin will win?
“I don’t get the whole fact that people feel the need to take sides and pull this “us vs. them” stuff — if you are really a fan of MMA, and not just a specific company, you really aren’t showing it right now. ”
The problem is you’re oblivious to what we’re actually talking about. The sides aren’t “UFC vs Afflcition” it’s “Short time goals of UFC vs long term goals of MMA” and I’ll gladly stand on the side that will benefit the sport as a whole. UFC trying to cut Affliction off at the legs is not it. Again, us wrestling fans have been there, done that. We know that UFC gaining a monopoly won’t mean them turning themselves into a dream fight league, but instead lead them even more down the TUFfer path of creating stars who will work for less than the legit top guys.
For all you praising what good “business” sense this move makes. What do you think makes more sense? Dana trying to sign a bunch of top guys who will take no less than $100 g per? Or building up a few guys like Jardine who will main event PPVs(and get put in the hospital by real stars) for minimum wage. What makes more business sense?
Forrest Griffin beat Liddell? 😉
I’m going with Dave on this one.
I’ll be watching Affliction and TiVo UFC. We, the fans, win this one big time. One dream card (no, not the best ever by any stretch of the imagination – but a great line-up and 2 of the top 5 HW’s in the world squaring off nonetheless) and another free show with an intriguing match-up.
If Anderson Silva cleans the floor with Irvin – which he most likely will, it sets up a huge money match with Liddell. And I think he’ll demo Liddell into next week too.
Matt Serra was a fighter who was built up on the UFC’s premier show to fight GSP. Gonzaga was undefeated in a UFC heavyweight division berift of legit contenders other than Cro-Cop. Forrest Griffin never beat Liddell. Keith Jardine is, once more, a fringe contender, as he was all along. Why are making such idiotic statements?
If Anderson Silva cleans the floor with Irvin – which he most likely will, it sets up a huge money match with Liddell. And I think he’ll demo Liddell into next week too.
And in the meantime, they can create an interim title! I’m sure glad MMA is nothing like boxing guys….
My bad, I keep thinking Griffin was the Tuffer that beat him.
The problem that Affliction is facing is this: MMA fans will watch both, regardless. However, we can only watch one event live. Since MMA can be found on the Internet after the fact, we face the dilemma of watching one live for free versus paying $40 to watch the other live.
Most people would prefer to watch the free event for free and save the $40.
Are you arguing that Gonzaga was a legit heavy weight before beating Cro Cop? And you’re saying that Serra was a legit welterweight before he beat GSP?
What about the two TUFers? Griffin and Jardine legitimize TUF by winning. You and most fans felt that TUF was an abomination and no one for a minute thought Jardine and Griffin had a chance. Griffin destroyed both the myth of TUF and Pride in one shot by submitting Rua.
Short-term memory, I guess.
Oh I 100% agree. The casual fan who is more familiar w/ UFC or only knows about mma = UFC is definitely going to switch over to the FREE UFC show rather than taking a chance on paying $40 for a card of fighters they’ve barely heard of or that used to fight in the UFC. While it’s not exactly solid logic on their behalf, it’s the way most will think nonetheless, so kudos to Zuffa for capitalizing. Reports are that they will definitely be losing money on this card but are willing to do so to cut out the competition’s knees.
Affliction is also to blame here because I’ve noticed little to no marketing on their part. As much of an “internet age” as we live in you still need to advertise and promote in the traditional mediums if you want to succeed. Why in the hell aren’t they capitalizing more off of Donald Trump’s involvement and influence? They actually have a chance to create a successful mma alternative, but don’t seem to have the basic business sense to figure it all out.
My inclination at the moment is to buy the affliction card and hopefully split the price with someone, DVR both of them, and immediately watch the UFC card after.
However, if Spike HD is available on FIOS by the time this rolls around, and another big name fighter gets added to the card, I might buy and DVR the Affliction card and watch the UFC card live.
It’s not like I have to choose until the time comes, and then it’s just going to be which one to watch live.
Oh yeah, for those of you bitching earlier about how horrible it was for the UFC to release Jake O’Brien – here’s a prime example of the “Be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it” situation.
Prepare to enjoy a potential borefest, although Velasquez probably has the tools to make O’Brien go 2 sleep.
Are you arguing that Gonzaga was a legit heavy weight before beating Cro Cop?
Of course he was. Was he a top 3 heavyweight? No, but he hadn’t been tested.
And you’re saying that Serra was a legit welterweight before he beat GSP?
No. Did the UFC spend a couple million dollars promoting the guy through TUF? You bet they did. Did I miss when James Irvin had a reality show? The closest thing to it was his interview segments on a “Best of WEC 2005” special HDNet ran that no one, probably yourself included, saw.
What about the two TUFers? Griffin and Jardine legitimize TUF by winning. You and most fans felt that TUF was an abomination and no one for a minute thought Jardine and Griffin had a chance.
Really? I said those things? Where? Still, when did Jardine become a big star for the UFC by beating Liddell? I don’t remember this. I remember him being fodder for the middle of the card even after.
“The problem is you’re oblivious to what we’re actually talking about. The sides aren’t “UFC vs Afflcition” it’s “Short time goals of UFC vs long term goals of MMA” and I’ll gladly stand on the side that will benefit the sport as a whole. UFC trying to cut Affliction off at the legs is not it. Again, us wrestling fans have been there, done that. We know that UFC gaining a monopoly won’t mean them turning themselves into a dream fight league, but instead lead them even more down the TUFfer path of creating stars who will work for less than the legit top guys.”
Sigh. I’m not interested into getting into a BSing contest here like so many people do, but you are just being abrasive.
There *are* people on here that are turning this into “UFC” vs “Everybody Else.” That is fine, that is their deal. Don’t just assume that you are speaking on a higher level than other people all the time, though. Most of us clearly understand the long-term vs short-term, and realize that it doesn’t really matter.
UFC stomping on anybody that tries to rise up is bad for business, period. Attempting to create a complete monopoly and not giving fans a choice will just mean that they will get lazy, much like WWE, and business will drop off.
So stop being patronizing and continue the fight discussion, please.