The UFC Created Affliction With It's Ban?

[hunterkiller]

Fight Biz: UFC forced Affliction’s jump from clothing company to fight promoter | MMAjunkie.com

Affliction was perfectly content with being an apparel company.

With its fashion-forward T-shirts appearing on the backs of actors, rock stars and mixed martial artists, the Signal Hill, Calif.-based company had carved out a niche for its label in pop culture. In less than three years, the Affliction brand had become synonymous with cool, with its artistic prints spotted at movie premieres, in magazines and on plenty of UFC fighters.

That is until the UFC banned the brand. So, Affliction turned to produce its own fights – a move not even in its business plan prior to the UFC dust-up.

"That's the funny thing about it," said Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio. "They (UFC) created their own opposition, their own competition. We would have never done it."

With that as the backdrop, "Banned" seems to be an appropriate moniker for Affliction's first attempt at staging an MMA event. The combined FSN/pay-per-view show is scheduled for July 19 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and with just over a week to go, more than 8,500 tickets have been sold.

And while starting a new MMA venture these days seems to be as easy as stringing three letters together, Affliction is debuting with a card that rivals that of even the best UFC shows. With the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Lindland, Renato Sobral and Ben Rothwell set to fight, Affliction boasts the finest lineup ever for a start-up promotion.

Atencio credits his long and varied involvement in MMA for allowing him to build relationships with fighters and bring instant street cred to Affliction. Atencio collaborated with Joe Moreira in the mid-1990s to run jiu-jitsu tournaments in California, spent some time as a fight photographer, and even fought himself in Mexico on a Total Combat show in 2005.

"It's been a passion of mine, so, for us, it was an easy transition," he said. "We already had the relationships with all of these fighters. These guys trust me, and I trust them and from word of mouth, some of the other guys came on board. I've known Pedro Rizzo for 10 years plus. I've known ‘Babalu' 10 years plus, Josh Barnett for three years … it's just relationships I've built, and these guys know that if I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to do it."

But, even with that top-shelf talent, Atencio realizes the first show is far from a guaranteed success.

"We're taking a huge risk," Atencio admitted. "With pay-per-view, there's a chance you're going to fall on your face. Hopefully, it doesn't happen with us. Mainstream (television) is not easy either. They're both very, very difficult to obtain, so when FOX was interested, that was really big for us."

A minimum of two fights will air on FSN, with Alexsander Emelianenko versus Paul Buentello and Vitor Belfort against Terry Martin slated to run. The PPV, with the main event of Fedor versus Sylvia, will follow at a standard rate of $39.95.

The soft-spoken Atencio loathes talking money, and he won't detail the dollars being shelled out to promote the event or his fighter payroll, which is expected to deliver career-high paydays for several athletes on the card. The number Atencio is willing to discuss is the one that will determine the show's bottom line.

"If we make our money back or we get close to breaking even, or if we do better than that, and we actually make a profit, then we're doing something right," said Atencio, who adds that the company has exceeded its original event budget. "We're in this for the long term. Right now, we're looking at three events. If it's as successful as we anticipate, then we're going to take it for another three and go from there."

Affliction's second show is expected in late October or early November.

And business icon Donald Trump is along for the ride – at least for now. Affliction made a splash last month, confirming that Trump had made an investment in the company's MMA business. Trump's involvement – Atencio declined to state how much of the company the real-estate mogul owns – has the potential to raise the profile of the promotion and open doors to other investors.

In addition, Trump's relationship with Tito Ortiz might help pave the way for Ortiz to join Affliction. Ortiz appeared on a celebrity edition of Trump's hit NBC TV show "The Apprentice" last year and has said he's looking to move on from the UFC. Affliction hasn't had discussions with Ortiz, but if "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" is serious about parting ways with the UFC, Affliction seems like a logical new home. Atencio says he's open to talking.

I hope they succeed. Since Affliction starting getting buzz, the UFC has been changing some things. Fighters are scheduled to fight more often and there's talk of Penn and Silva jumping weight classes. Competition is a good thing.

[Clint]

I find that hard to believe since the UFC dropped Affliction based on the fact that they were rumored to be starting their own promotion (and then they did).

Plus I just can't see Affliction going "Well we can't be on the UFC ppvs anymore, so lets just start our own MMA Promotion even though we are a t-shirt company". It's just not what seems like a logical step in that direction.

[Dimson]

Huh? Didn't the UFC ban them when they found out they were going to start their own org? Or did they ban them over that Fedor/Randy shirt?

[hunterkiller]

Here's what I remember. The UFC temporarily banned Affliction when Randy left because he started doing promo stuff for Affliction. Then GSP and Rampage were up in arms because that was one of their biggest sponsors so in December of last year, the UFC reinstated Affliction as an allowable sponsor. Then Couture did the photo shoot with Fedor. Then the UFC implemented a permanent ban saying it looked like a fight poster.

I know their had been plenty of talk about Golden Boy Promotions but none of that ever had any steam.

Inside MMA did the story on this back when the ban happened and there was no mention of a fight promotion being started, it was all about Couture-Fedor, etc.

You also have to remember in big business, a company may do something for one reason, and then use another as the cover story. I would think Atencio would know the truth behind it and there's no reason to not take him at his word. Everyone seems to take Dana at his.

[bega]

I think he is twisting the truth a bit but again everyone in business is.

In any case as thecoylewis said competition is good thing and I hope they grow enough to be a big player on the MMA market ( but not enough to take over UFC monopoly and become the only big player )

[Clint]

Originally Posted by thecoylewis

Here's what I remember. The UFC temporarily banned Affliction when Randy left because he started doing promo stuff for Affliction. Then GSP and Rampage were up in arms because that was one of their biggest sponsors so in December of last year, the UFC reinstated Affliction as an allowable sponsor. Then Couture did the photo shoot with Fedor. Then the UFC implemented a permanent ban saying it looked like a fight poster.

I know their had been plenty of talk about Golden Boy Promotions but none of that ever had any steam.

Inside MMA did the story on this back when the ban happened and there was no mention of a fight promotion being started, it was all about Couture-Fedor, etc.

You also have to remember in big business, a company may do something for one reason, and then use another as the cover story. I would think Atencio would know the truth behind it and there's no reason to not take him at his word. Everyone seems to take Dana at his.

The thing to me though is that his story doesn't seem logical to me. It's a big jump from getting banned from UFC events to starting your own MMA promotion. At a minimum there is a issing step in there.


Also on a side note, from this quote:

"If we make our money back or we get close to breaking even, or if we do better than that, and we actually make a profit, then we're doing something right," said Atencio, who adds that the company has exceeded its original event budget. "We're in this for the long term. Right now, we're looking at three events. If it's as successful as we anticipate, then we're going to take it for another three and go from there."

I get the impression that he is underestimating the difficulty and time/money involved in hitting the profit point in promoting a big MMA event.

[the_dark_angel_4ever]

Originally Posted by Clint

The thing to me though is that his story doesn't seem logical to me. It's a big jump from getting banned from UFC events to starting your own MMA promotion. At a minimum there is a issing step in there.


Also on a side note, from this quote:

I get the impression that he is underestimating the difficulty and time/money involved in hitting the profit point in promoting a big MMA event.

Not to mention the fact that they are set to lose $6 MIL + on this first card alone. What business man with a pulse would think "We'll if you're going to ban our company we'll create an org to compete with you and blow $6,000,000 in our first show. That'll teach'em!" Seriously!

[Oats420]

If Affliction can cause UFC to develop a free card within a couple months to compete with them... I say it's a win in all our books.

[ArMnHC]

IMO if Affliction makes it to a 2nd show, ill be surprised. they are throwing all their chips into this one show, and like someone already stated, they are gunna lose 6 Mil on this show. plus putting all the top fighters they have signed on one card is not a smart move either. someone is going to end up medically suspended at a minimum...not including who else gets hurt. it looks like a great show, but it just seems like a train wreck waiting to occur.

[kennywuzhere]

Originally Posted by Clint

I find that hard to believe since the UFC dropped Affliction based on the fact that they were rumored to be starting their own promotion (and then they did).

Plus I just can't see Affliction going "Well we can't be on the UFC ppvs anymore, so lets just start our own MMA Promotion even though we are a t-shirt company". It's just not what seems like a logical step in that direction.

i agree....rep'd