Anderson Silva to Fight On FREE TV!
June 19th, 2008 by World Wide EdIt’s official. The fight for MMA supremacy is on like Donkey Kong!
The rumors were just confirmed that the UFC has put together a card to be aired on July 19th, the very same night that rival league startup Affliction is to air their Banned card on Pay-Per-View. The card will feature Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva moving up to Light Heavyweight to face James “The Sandman” Irvin and will be aired on SpikeTV (Digital Channel 0559) for free.
And that’s not the end of it. There have also been rumors that the UFC is considering putting together yet another card for July 26th to go up against the next scheduled CBS EliteXC event on broadcast television. It’s getting insane in the membrane!
Then again, the UFC has always been the dominant name in MMA. They’re just pushing their muscle around. Ultimately, this is, I think, a good thing for us fans. We get to see the best in MMA competition, regardless of the organization who puts it on.
Talk to me!
* What do ya’ll think of this?
* Which are you planning to watch? Personally, I’m doing the DVR thang! 
* Do you think Affliction (who is now backed by Donald Trump) can get some traction with their big names?
Tags: Affliction, Affliction Banned, Anderson Silva, CBS EliteXC, dana white, Donald Trump, James Irvin, Light Heavyweight, Middleweight, Middleweight champion, MMA, SpikeTV, UFC
June 19th, 2008 at 8:33 am
I don’t think Affliction will last. The UFC has the worldwide reputation and fighters willing to work their way up, while Affliction seems to find established fighters and throw money their way. It’s like the NCAA…any college coach can tell you that the way to build a successful program is to recruit freshman and not stockpile your organization with juco transfers.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I like the Dream Grand Prix better than UFC. Dream’s tournament format seems easier to follow and not as confusing as the UFC, and the fights just seem more entertaining. Just my opinion.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:35 am
I will go Tamashiro’s early Saturday, get some seafood-ness, make something, stay home Saturday, watch the free one.
But, yeah, heh, starting to get too many MMA organizations. It’ll be interesting to see who ends up the Marvel and DC comics equivalent, and who ends up being some of the smaller organizations (and, best of all, able to gauge which is more hard-core and truthful to the sport — the smaller companies or the bigger, more “marketed” groups).
June 19th, 2008 at 11:15 am
Regarding the greasy chicken,
It’s too bad that the only 2 real American based leagues worth watching–WEC and UFC–are owned by the same company (Zuffa), which is why you see the WEC focusing on lower wts and the UFC on higher, so it’ll be hard to really have a Marvel vs. DC (X-Men all the way, baby!) type of MMA rivalry. EliteXC, after the CBS fiasco, is not likely to gain more hard core fans, the IFL is in trouble right now (I think on the verge of bankruptcy or something) and all the other ones seem to be regional minor leagues for fighters to get into the UFC or WEC.
Randy Couture has left the UFC (contract dispute still ongoing, I think) and despite the inability to sign Fedor (who incidentally got roughed up by Hong Man Choi before tapping him out), the UFC is still the top draw, showing that it’s a brand appeal organization (instead of specific athletes) which is what you need for sustainability.
As far as internationally, DREAM and all those other ones are not trying seriously (or at least not succeeding) in getting a significant share of the US market. It is nice to see some Asian fighters come over, though, with Dong Hyun Kim fighting and winning in the BJ Penn-Sherk UFC night and hopefully Yoshihiro Akiyama will make it over here as well.
June 19th, 2008 at 11:16 am
P.S.–Kentucky Fried Chicken Grease, thanks for backing me up on another heated blog on HA. (At least I remember you were one of the few with me on that one.)
June 19th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Well, the wife frowns upon me buying any PPV that does not include GSP or BJ Penn, so I will have to pass on Affliction. (This, despite the fact that Fedor is one of my favorite fighters, and that I long ago pledged to pay money to see him whoop Tim Sylvia. Oh well.) This leaves me to watch Anderson, which really is a great deal at a price of zero dollars. I’m curious to see how he’ll handle the bigger guys, especially on the ground. He’ll also lose the slight height advantage he currently has. It should be a good fight.
And I’m with frankie regarding Affliction’s business strategy. Throwing boatloads of money at fighters for your first show is not a good way to establish your brand for the long haul. Of course, if it was Fedor vs. Couture, that might be a different story . . .
June 19th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I think its great that UFC is coming out with more shows. I can’t get enough of it. It should be even more interesting now that Lorenzo Fertitta has joined UFC full-time. EliteXC seems to be trying to become the next WWE, which I cant stand. IFL is broke. I haven’t seen DREAM yet. I am excited about Affliction though. Big name fighters and finally some good heavyweights, not washed up fat guys like Mir. Also, is this enough time for Anderson Silva to train and get used to fighting bigger, heavier fighters? We’ll see I guess.
June 19th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
* frankie:
Yeah, I think it’s hard for any organization to last unless it’s got the revenue coming in to supplement the revenue going out. I doubt Trump will stick around for long if he keeps pouring money into it with no return. I loooove what Mark Cuban is doing with HDNet. Not only with fighting but with all his programming. Hopefully, we can at least get one strong competitor to the UFC though, so we can see the sport grow to unbelievable heights.
* omilu:
I like the showmanship of Dream. The fights are technical when the fighters speak on the mic after the match, it’s fun to see the emotion they exude. That Eddie Alvarez is a beast! Mark my words, he’ll be champion one day.
* Chicken Grease:
Hehe, shoots! No fo-get da beer!
* frankie:
Yeah, I heard somewhere that most people still equate MMA with the UFC and vice-versa, like Kleenex to tissue paper. It’s gonna be hard to beat that. Oh yeah, and I like to see my fellow countrymen do well in Dream.
* Daniel:
Don’t quote me on this one, but I heard that HDNet may be carrying the Affliction event, so if you have HDTV service from Oceanic, you may be able to catch it without wifey getting mad.
* Jazon:
Agreed with all except Mir. Yes, he’s a bit overweight and may never see the belt again, but I think he still has a few decent fights left in him. His announcing skills on WEC is a bit questionable though. Hehe. Silva will be ready fo sho!
June 19th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Heh, no beer for me, my friend. I’m allergic to . . . what is that? Hops, I believe my doc’ says.
Heh, no problem, frankie. What you said was sensible, how could I not support.
Well, folks. It’s almost the weekend.