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“Holy crap, are you watching HDNet? There’s no one there.”
By Zach Arnold | January 24, 2009
The words from an MMA writer in regards to watching the Affliction undercard.
The phrases ‘plagued by empty seats’ and ‘There aren’t many fans here at this point, maybe 2,000 but it’s early’ are not uplifting.
Quote of the Night: “Merchant just said on the HBO boxing broadcast that ODLH was paid a fee to be at the Affliction fights tonight.”
Shane Mosley def. Antonio Margarito by TKO in R9 to win the WBA Welterweight crown. Here are the CompuBox stats. Affliction booked Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland opposite of this fight on PPV.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, Zach Arnold | 55 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
There is not truth to the rumor that sales for Affliction’s show are poor.
Dave Meltzer is saying that as the Nog/Maty bout started, there were 7-8000. It sure did not look that full.
Last time around, Affliction bought 500k worth of tickets. I would guess they did something similar this time around.
Whether or not Affliction bought the tickets themselves, there’s a lot more than 2,000 people there now. Can we maybe, I dunno, talk about the fights? Because they have been good.
I don’t know about all that, but I know I’m seeing some low blows.
Could the first PPV fight have gone any worse? That was horrible to watch.
I have a feeling when all the facts come out, we will find out that Affliction either comped a bunch of seats, or purchased a bunch of seats.
I decided to buy this one. Which means $135 for 15 days. I fear my upcoming cable bill.
On a side note… Tito Ortiz has been horrible as an announcer so far.
“I decided to buy this one. Which means $135 for 15 days.”
That’s a true fan.
I’m way too much of a cheap-ass.
All the prelim fights on HDNet were pretty stout. Davis/Quach and Duarte/Rios were meaningless but had some good back and forth. Matyushenko/Noguiera was boring for the most part but the ending was exciting and a bit sudden.
Agreed D.Cap. Some solid fights, but I was really surprised at Nog/Maty. I was expecting a much better bout.
What is up with Tito questioning the groin shots? I don’t like them questiioning the integrity of the fighter.
I am guessing Tito got an earful from somebody backstage because he suddenly started to praise Dan for continuing.
I think Tito is just talking to be talking, Jeremy.
I think he’s just blabbering.
The Affliction Announcers didn’t just completely ignore Soko’s time in the UFC, did they? Horrible!!
Buentello vs. Infant Fedor was a fun fight to watch, despite the fact that Infant Fedor wasn’t much of a challenge.
One thing that is very annoying is seeing the big screen with the Affliction & M-1 Logo’s on it while the fights are going on. It is VERY distracting.
Merchant just said on the HBO boxing broadcast that ODLH was paid a fee to be at the Affliction fights tonight.
Three new rules:
1. Don’t pay ODLH to be at your event over his own event.
2. Announcers who are also fighters can’t promote themselves during a fighter post fight interview.
3. Pointless interviews with Russian promoters can’t be done, especially when the person who you say is being interviewed is just standing around and not even talking.
How about that co-promotional support? Nothing sends a message to fans and corporate sponsors like saying that your organization has to ‘pay’ a guy who is supposedly helping promote your event to show up. AND… a guy who is stated in the newspaper as looking to scout your headliner (if he wins) for his own sport to promote.
Merchant could also be full of shit. He is not exactly a fan of MMA.
ODLH has no interest in MMA. That much is obvious. He is a boxing guy, and if he can pouch a MMA guy to help out boxing, he will do so. If that isn’t possible, he has no interest in the sport of MMA.
Personally, I want to become a promoter and have the 200 Olympic Silver Medalist in a Title Fight!!! WTF!!! Don’t people check the graphics first? 200? Try 2000.
Great action through 2 rounds in the Moseley vs. Margarito fight.
Gov. Arnie and Stallone are together ringside. It’s cute.
http://sports.yahoo.com/box/news?slug=ki-margaritogloves012409&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Margarito pulling an Akiyama with the heel tactic? 🙂
For the people like Ivan who complain why the UFC doesn’t show fighters after a KO…. This is EXACTLY WHY THEY DO NOT. It is freaky, and it hurts the sport to do so.
Lindland trying to wake up from a KO is freaky to watch.
Moseley is up 4 rounds to 0 through 4, most likely.
It isn’t just about showing the issue of a fighter being stretchered out or attended to, it’s also about the fact that UFC generally doesn’t give updates on a fighter’s condition or what is happening with them (i.e. what happened with Yoshiyuki Yoshida with UFC not mentioning anything about him 20 minutes after he was stretchered out of the cage on Spike TV).
Nobody likes to watch what happened with Lindland, but to sweep the violence under the rug and try to hide it?
5 to 0 for Moseley.
He’s too quick so far and he’s finishing his combinations nicely.
Through 7. Moseley is in control.
It’s probably 7 rounds to none.
Brutal 8th. Margarito saved by the bell.
We’ll see if there’s a 9th round.
Suger shane sure is “dope” tonight.
43 seconds into round 9, Moseley stops Margarito.
Brutal.
Very well done, Shane.
In regards to mosley/margarito …
I told you so. Perfectly predicted by me.
That was a very ugly bout.
Barnett is now in line for more Affliction moolah, so long as there remains an Affliction promotion.
Fedor/Arlovski vs. Barnett is show #3. What happens after that?
I really don’t know the answer to that, as once that happens, they really have nothing.
Sherdog is saying that the announced attendance is over 13k.
If you recorded the HDNet show, go back and check out the rafter seats. They’re all full when the floor is empty. That’s a pretty good sign that they might be papered or seriously discounted at the window.
The official attendance is 13,255.
Interesting note: My anti-spam word was worked.
An interesting coincidence.
I don’t think there’s any question about major papering here.
Consider UFC 92, where nearly 1/3 of the tickets were comps.
What in the world is going on here, Arlovski isn’t throwing any knees.
Seriously?
LOL
fedor cannot be beat.
Sick.
Arlovski has a negative chin. Forget about no chin. He is in negative zone.
Stiff little punch perfectly timed and executed.
They keep saying “this is for real” “convincingly.”
That was one of the most bizarre fluky shots I’ve ever seen. Weird. Real WTF moment. That’s not to say that Arlovski should even be competitive with Fedor (he shouldn’t), but that was weird.
Is “tooken” a word?
Just curious.
I’m not sure, did Tito say it? If so then it’s definitely a word. The man can do no wrong.
I know I’m posting like a madman here….
I wonder what this portends for the supposed boxing career of Arlovski. One must wonder about his ability to take a punch.
Good God. Now we’re being subjected to the “expert analysis” of Scott Ferrall and Chuck Zito.
Time to go watch Federer play tennis. He’s on ESPN 2 right now.
See y’all.
Arlovski= Glass Joe from Mike Tyson’s punch Out
By the end, I was actually enjoying the mess that was Tito Ortiz.
His gaffs could make for a great drinking game.
“Let me tell ya how your feelin tonight?”
“The pound for pound best Heavyweight in the world.”
Good stuff.
I hope Affliction can continue to promote shows.
Show 4 could be Tito against the winner of Fedor/Barnett
Affliction needs to get on CBS.
S.R.:
Wow, just wow.
Jeremy doesn’t share your hopes, S.R., as they lack a coherent set of belts he can then mock for not being as valued as the UFCs. Perhaps he’s excited about upcoming shows from some promotions that are hailed as making lots of money and being “respomsible”, like XMMA! I hear Ryan Jimmo’s on the card. I know I’m excited.
Tito against anyone is against my religion, but thanks for being concerned about my concern for “coherent sets of belts” whatever that means.