Duel diluting MMA fan base?

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Baseball had its All-Star festival earlier this week. Mixed Martial Arts will offer a similar feast tomorrow night with the sport's best pound-for-pound fighter and its biggest superstar headlining different cards. In what could be the first duel in a fight for supremacy in mixed martial arts, UFC welterweight champion Anderson Silva is headlining a UFC show on free television that will compete against a pay-per-view event offered by upstart promotional company Affliction. At this point, it's David versus Goliath in that UFC is the well-established leader in mixed martial arts, owning rights to many of the sport's top fighters. But Affliction, best known for its skull and wings T-shirts, is positioning itself as a credible threat, putting together a debut card in Anaheim that features Russian heavyweight sensation Fedor Emelianenko fighting former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. "It's a great day to be a mixed martial arts fan,'' said UFC president Dana White. Perhaps. But boxing seldom benefits when it has competing cards on the same night. It dilutes an already niche fan base and splits the media attention the two promotions would normally receive.

New York Post

Dana White, Claire Greenway/Getty Images Dana White, Claire Greenway/Getty Images
July 18, 2008  05:18 AM ET

Related to me, is he?

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July 18, 2008  10:08 AM ET

as a mma fan, i think this is crap. i want to see both. it seems pretty asinine to schedule this big of an ufc event the same night the biggest mma name outside the ufc(fedor) is fighting. seems to me this was dana's way of trying to get back at Affliction/Trump/Fedor for not being able to sign fedor to a ufc contract. dana knows that fedor is one of the few guys outside his org that can steal his thunder and he'll do anything to disrupt it including providing a free show in what he could normally draw millions with in pay-per-view. this is pure spite to discredit a competitor. i understand it may be a decent business move but as a fan this bites!

July 18, 2008  10:44 AM ET

TiVo is your friend Al_Cheese. Or DVR. Me and my friends (or My friends and I if you want correct grammar) are watching both. First the Affliction event, then the UFC.

July 18, 2008  11:06 AM ET

RobertMenn: Saw Batman |

yeah i know. actually i think i'm gonna hit up my favorite sports bar and watch fedor pound sylvia and hopefully watch silva smash the sandman's face!

July 18, 2008  11:12 AM ET

Dana is using Chinese busniess tactics... give your stuff away for free to destroy your competition.

July 18, 2008  11:17 AM ET

http://fannation.com/groups/show/42866

MMA Group

July 18, 2008  12:05 PM ET

what dana is doing is smart for his bussiness. He has a contract with spike, he is using it to block the competetion, give it away for free and give away good names on the fight card or pay for names. His hopes is many people dont bother looking at the other guy

July 18, 2008  03:41 PM ET

I don't a problem with it. I will be watching both events this weekend. I don't blame Dana for doign it, but I think it will have very little effect overall on the # of people who buy the Affliction PPV.

July 18, 2008  09:46 PM ET

Sorry to say, but that's business

July 18, 2008  09:56 PM ET

Yes it will hurt Affiction, Because everybody doesn't have DVR Yet! and why pay for an OVERRATED FEDOR(WHO'S GOING TO GET HIS **** KICK), when you can watch,Anderson Silva(THE BEST POUND FOR POUND FIGHTER IN THE WORLD) for FREE. NO CONTEST!!

July 19, 2008  12:44 AM ET

Fedor overrated?
krsmma what's your phone number? Let's get some money on this fight. I'll give you 10 to 1 odds.

July 19, 2008  05:42 AM ET

There is not one single reason to believe that Fedor is overrated. Not until at least someone can actually defeat him in the ring. He may not have fought in a while but until someone proves otherwise, he's still the badest motorscooter on the planet.

Oh, and Yoda, if you're wanting to put down some money on Fedor and you're willing to put out 10 to 1 odds, check out the Bodog betting line which will get you better odds than that.... Fedor -350 Sylvia +275

Place your bets, place your bets! Should be a great fight card. I'll be recording both.

July 19, 2008  10:25 AM ET

Overrated Fedor?

Must not be an mma fan

July 19, 2008  10:27 AM ET

TiVo is your friend Al_Cheese. Or DVR. Me and my friends (or My friends and I if you want correct grammar) are watching both. First the Affliction event, then the UFC.

RobertMenn: Benches 310lbs | 07/18/08, 10:44 AM

I'm going to do the same thing

July 19, 2008  10:28 AM ET

Even if I had to pick only 1 it would be affliction, better card.

July 19, 2008  01:58 PM ET

Anyone thinkg Dana had anything to do with Fedor being thrown out of the Affliction fight???

July 19, 2008  07:37 PM ET

So tired of seeing the Affliction tshirts. They are getting worse than the stupid Hollister shirts every "Todd Johnson" in the world is wearing!!

July 20, 2008  03:03 AM ET

Anderson Silva is the UFC Middleweight Champion... GSP is the Welterweight... get it right before you post it

 
July 20, 2008  03:08 AM ET

Oh, and Yoda, if you're wanting to put down some money on Fedor and you're willing to put out 10 to 1 odds, check out the Bodog betting line which will get you better odds than that.... Fedor -350 Sylvia +275

bigokie | 07/19/08, 05:42 AM

I realize the real odds. I was just trying to call out that fool who said Fedor is overrated.

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