Title: Wrap-Up: Affliction, EliteXC, Tito, etc.
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Blog Entry: My previous blog was written toward the end of May and claimed that we may be on the verge of the biggest stretch of MMA action ever, with highest profile events and largest possibilities for mainstream popularity. I estimated a 7-week stretch culminating in the first Afflicition PPV, but EliteXC on CBS II, WEC 35 and UFC 87 delivered 3 extra weeks of high-charged action. So, we now hit a brief month-long respite, before going into "Round 2" of the UFC-Affliction-EliteXC battle which will likely take us to the New Year. Let's see where we are. There were many events and happenings over the past 10 weeks, but I identified 4 in my previous blog: Affliction's debut, EliteXC's CBS shows, Tito Ortiz' signing and quality of UFC events. Affliction Debut . This went rather well. It was a night of overall good fights and the production was not bad. Fedor, the only big name fighter to have never fought in the UFC (sorry Rothwell fans), dominated and won the WAMMA belt. In a way he personifies the anti-UFC movement, and his victory had a symbolic meaning. Other fighters also shined (Arlovski, Barnett, Blefort, Babalu), giving Affliction at least another really nice event possibility. The number of PPV buys is not known, but the live tickets were reported as sold out. The show generated lots of online chatter and was generally well received. In other words, Affliction debut was a success. EliteXC on CBS . The debut on May 31 garnered some of the highest TV ratings for an MMA event ever. But unfortunately, that was one of the few bright spots of this event. The fights were too amateurish, and hardcore MMA fans were disappointed. The production was better than EliteXC's Showtime events, but still far below the UFC standard or that of any other network TV sport. Since the event was geared to a casual fan or someone who's never seen MMA before, the question still remained whether EliteXC grabbed the attention of those people. The second CBS show on July 26 showed that the answer was, unfortunately, no. Despite improved production and fight quality, the ratings were sharply down, with CBS losing the time slot to various drama re-runs. Although EliteXC started off strong and had the biggest opportunities, it failed to deliver. Tito . This was pure speculation on my part. I figured 7 weeks would be enough to hear at least a rumor about his plans. It took a bit longer, but as of today, it seems that Tito is close to signing with Affliction (there have been at least 3 false rumors in recent weeks that he signed on to fight Babalu, but as of today, none of these seem to yet be true). If Affliction signs him, Tito will add a huge name to a list of already big names. And he can carry a show when Fedor is resting. I continue to believe that this is a big deal, and the prize goes to Affliction for coming closest. My guess is that they will succeed (although today's announcement that Babalu will fight for the Strikeforce title in September is a little odd). UFC . UFC's job was not to f**k up. They didn't. All of the planned events worked out well and the last one, UFC 87, was a great one. UFC "acknowledged" Affliction's threat by putting up an unplanned Fight Night event on Spike TV (i.e., free). It featured Anderson Silva's debut at 205, which he dominated in a brutal fashion. If Fedor was Affliction's stalking horse, Silva was UFC's, and both delivered resoundingly. But even more so, given Affliction's stable of top HW fighters, Lesnar's and Velasquez's strong performances were probably even more important than Silva's dominance. So, what does all that add up to? I think it's fairly straightforward. Affliction has set itself up nicely for about 2 more good shows. If they can keep the same fighters with lower payouts, they have a chance to last in the business. EliteXC failed and will fold within a year. UFC remains the top dog, but it may need to get a bit more inventive and take some risks if Affliction keeps putting on good shows. But, its future is quite bright. Take a breather now. Round 2 starts September 6.
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