Dana White Did Not Help Affliction

There's a narrative going around that by booking a free show opposite Affliction's debut, Dana White did Affliction some kind of favor. The people making the argument say that the UFC opposition created more interest in the weekend than there would have been otherwise. I don't buy this at all.

If Affliction was running unopposed this weekend, their ads might actually reach and have some effect on the millions of fans who watch UFC. Instead, those fans have been saturated with ads for Anderson Silva and a free show, and I haven't spoken to one casual fan even considering buying Affliction over the UFC show. Whereas these fans may have considered buying a fight on Saturday night just because they like fights, they now have a free option, and the idea of buying Affliction and weighing cards against each other isn't even a consideration.

Second, the narrative of competition is not a good one for Affliction. If they were running unopposed, all the hype would be on seeing Fedor fight again. Instead, three days out, the narrative is about the competition, and it's a contest Affliction can't win. People have pointed to the story on ESPN weighing the Affliction and UFC cards as proof that this has been a good thing for Affliction. Realistically, it probably did nothing to hurt or help, but certainly helped less than a major ESPN article on Fedor Emelianenko would have.


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i agree... I think this did not help affliction at all... It would have been better if there was nothing oppisite the Affliction show...

if both fights were for free i think i would see afflication but free ufc fights did out weigh a pay per view card by far,
question is how many fans are willing to shell out 95 bucks this month to see ufc 86 and afflication??

The fans that were not willing to shell out the money for Affliction wer not going to shell out the money anyway. I dont think the UFC putting on there card will do any significant damage to the PPV buys Affliction was going to do. If it did anything it is a sign that the UFC is taking notice of Affliction and is for the first time doing something about a rival.

I felt much the same way. That the UFC was in a way acknowledging that Affliction has a great card. When Elite XC came out UFC countered with Chuck Liddell reruns, and for the next show by Elite XC they're countering with a UFC rerun. But with Affliction they're scrambling to put together a live card.

I don't know if it helped them or not, but Dana is definetely feeling like this is tougher competition than the other organizations.

I don't think it's really going to have a significant impact upon people who were going to purchase Affliction. MMA fans who weren't going to purchase it, and have instead planned on watching Fight Night instead were generally planning on stealing it off the internet at a later date.

I'm going to buy Affliction, and then watch the re-air of Fight Night that just so happens to come on directly after Affliction ends. Funny how that works huh?

thats what I will do.. I will watch the replay of fight night.. instead of the live show to show my support of affliction..

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Posted by dstlvb

The fans that were not willing to shell out the money for Affliction wer not going to shell out the money anyway. I dont think the UFC putting on there card will do any significant damage to the PPV buys Affliction was going to do.

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no but what it does do is hurt any casual ppl that would have purchased it.


Unfortunately Affliction set their sights way too high on this one, as they wanted at least 250k ppv buys, and wont even come close.

It seems to be headed for a big financial loss, but i guess they'll gauge better for the next event

Pfft, the Fight Night card looks boring as hell. I'm not even really excited to see Anderson fight. I am however, so pumped to see Affliction that my blood pressure is dangerously close to uber death.

DVR UFC Fight Night and watch it after Affliction, thats what me and my homies plan to do. 6 straight hours of new fights to watch, I'm STOKED!!

will Affliction be shown on Japan's PPV? if it is i don't think that it'll matter that much, the Japanese MMA fans will definetly watch Fedor.....

Yeah, he has an audience in Japan, Australia, Russia as well as many die hard MMA fans who get it in the US. Now, how much that translates into actual PPV dollars I have no idea. I do know that he'll be fighting in Japan on New Years Eve which would be interesting if it was Randy Coture v. Fedor. That would be a huge fight on both sides of the world.

Gotta agree with the author here.

The UFC set up UFN for one reason and one reason only - to further enhance their stranglehold on MMA as a sport.

not only does it not help but it very well may kill the affliction card. it is really a shame because they have put together a great card, are showing all of the fights, and seem to be really taking care of the fighters better than the ufc. i want to see them do well but unfortunately it is unlikely to happen because they will lose a large % of the casual fans who will just say "anderson silva is fighting and id rather see him than fedor whatever his name is". even a number of diehards at this site have said they will save the money and just watch the ufc card.

really a shame because with all they have invested in this card poor ppv sales could really hurt this organization and that will lead to less good fights taking place. i mean this is the organization that finally put together a fedor fight against top notch competition. that alone makes me a fan of them, as all of the other organizations that have signed him lately have been more interested in making money and putting on a freakshow then a competitive fight. that alone makes me a fan and ill support them by buying the ppv...

Although some people look at the UFC as following the WWE model (they are by promoting all in house and setting up all the fights themselves by their decision not rankings) they are also following NASCAR's model. In the US it is almost impossible to see any kind of racing except NASCAR. I couldn't give a crap about racing but if I do watch it, I'd much rather see Rally racing or Leman's racing than guys drive in a circle over and over and Yes, I have been California Speedway and watched a major NASCAR race. I wish I could have those 5 hours of my life back but they are gone. But the truth remains, they swoop up all competition, buy up all the media outlets that broadcast racing and ONLY play their stuff.

Some might even call it the "clear channel" approach to MMA. Buy up all the radio stations in the US and then only play a certain content. News flash---that ALWAYS makes for a future crappy product.

Good news==the underground will always be there. IF UFC buys up everything they can be mediocre and put on cards like Chuck v. Rashad as headliners and some poeple will buy it but eventually it will die off and the next big thing will come along. With the speed and availibitliyt of information in today's world, I can watch Dream 5 the night of. I get to watch Mark Hunt v. Overeem for free! 14 years ago, I would have hd to get it 3 weeks later on VHS from someone who was connected to someone else in Japan. :)

I have no idea if Affliction will survive but I do know that I am watchign a better card for my money than the last 4 UFC fight cards I paid for put togehter.