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Is ‘mmalogic’ connected to Zuffa?
By Zach Arnold | January 29, 2009

Update: MMA Junkie and MMA Mania have posted information regarding Tom Atencio denying the reports.
So, Bloody Elbow is pushing a story that Affliction wants to make peace with UFC and that the MMA operations will soon be finished. Naturally, it’s curious that this type of ‘inside’ news would be broken on a blog as opposed to one of the independent sites (Sherdog, MMA Weekly, etc.)
The poster on Bloody Elbow, ‘mmalogic‘, is being pushed as a credible source on past MMA stories. As you will note from comments posted last September on Bloody Elbow, site readers over there started connecting the dots in regards to who the poster is.
What makes this interesting is that by leaking claims that Affliction wants to wave the white flag in terms of no longer competing with Zuffa that it all but eliminates any sort of leverage Atencio might or might not have if he is in fact doing this.
It’s no secret that Zuffa employees read message boards, blogs, etc. What is interesting is whether or not more and more UFC employees will start using blogs to manipulate the message they want the public to hear. The organization already has friendly broadsheet media outlets that aren’t willing to push back against them, and then you add on the generally UFC-safe Yahoo Sports coverage team, and what you end up with is a pretty sophisticated strategy to influence both hardcore and casual MMA fans.
If Zuffa employees are taking a more active role in blogs, then it certainly signals a rise in the way MMA blogs will be used as communication outlets for UFC, WEC, etc. and perhaps astroturfing in the future.
Topics: Affliction, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 105 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Well Jeremy if you’ve heard me practicing Rosetta Stone I sure don’t sound like Sakakibara… But I’m trying. I guess sounding like Beard is all relative. But considering the Fertitta FAMILY (not Frank 3 and Lorenzo) were a well known mob connections under Frank 1. I don’t think i’m breaking ground here by accusing his progeny of not worrying about the morality of having guys shill for them.
For fucks sake…
DAMN YOU FIGHTLINKER!!!
Do you think you could find the reference to that debt again? I’m curious to see what the terms of that debt issue is.
I could see the indentures giving the debt holders, say, a put option or an accelerated put schedule upon Station violating a negative covenant, but it seems extremely unlikely that the Fertittas would ever agree to ever having to put up their own (non-Station) cash.
GKH: I’m sure Station is some sort of closely held corporation. Unless the Fertittas had to co-sign on the loan (pretty damn unlikely), then that’s some sort of fevered pipe dream. Piercing the veil to their personal assets would be difficult.
“There is a post over at fightlinker by a guy called Thomas Gerbilski that claims to provide proof of the situation. ”
LOL
Gerbilski is the pseudonym fightlinker uses whenever they are doing a satire post. It is the same name they used to ‘break’ the Luke Cummo coffee enema suspension story, the one that a number of major MMA blogs picked up and ran with as a legit news story.
Any time you see the name Gerbilski on a fightlinker byline, you can rest assured it is an Onion style parody piece and not legit news.