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BENT COLUMN: Leaving Las Vegas: Tales of Overpaid Fighters and Overpriced T-Shirts By: Jason Bent, MMATorch Columnist
Sep 11, 2008 - 11:25:09 AM
No, I am not referring to the 1995 film which earned Nicolas Cage an Oscar, but rather the news that Affliction has just about packed it all in and decided to surrender in their battle with UFC for MMA supremacy. "Day of Reckoning" was to be Affliction's second event and was set for October 11 from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV and the show has been officially postponed and according to sources close to the venue this is due to very poor ticket sales. The show is now being moved to the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and tentatively set to take place on January 17, 2009.
Affliction contacted Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer Wednesday morning to inform him of the change in plans and the move to Anaheim. This can only be taken as good news for UFC and bad news for anyone associated with Affliction as well as MMA fans in general who wished to see more fights take place and the chance to see another company thrive in the MMA world along with UFC.
There was a billboard in Times Square in New York which featured Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett, and at this point their billboard seems as effective as the time when NFL quarterback Joey Harrington was at Oregon State and Nike arranged for a "Joey Heisman" billboard so as to encourage voters to cast their ballot for Harrington. This was a colossal waste of money and Affliction's billboard was as ineffective as Harrington's as Joey didn't win the Heisman and "Day of Reckoning" couldn't sell any tickets.
Harrington is now an out of work quarterback and both Barnett and Arlovski would soon join him on the unemployment line as most speculate that Affliction will soon be going out of business. I don't see Josh Barnett back in the UFC and while Andrei Arlovski would be a welcome addition the fact remains that he is not necessarily needed by any stretch of the imagination.
Randy Couture was needed; and in order to keep Affliction from possibly getting the chance to hold the super fight that would be Randy vs. Fedor, Dana White had to cut this off at the pass and bring Randy back into the fold. The return to the UFC of Couture is great for both Randy and the company as both needed each other in some way; the same need does not exist in terms of Arlovski.
Affliction's first show had a buzz about it but this show has none whatsoever and the billboard idea was simply a waste of money that could have been best used for other advertising attempts. Even Elite XC, which has gone through money like Montgomery Brewster trying to earn his inheritance, did not spend the money on a billboard in Times Square. When Elite XC's business model seems more fiscally solvent than your own, things aren't looking too good.
Which brings me to things that don't look good and the first thing that comes to mind are the t-shirts for which Affliction is famous for. These garish, nightmares of fashion are this generation's Zubaz pants and will be just as welcome should you wear them in about five years or so. The t-shirts are hideous and even Norwegian Black Metal groups would not use most of this artwork for an album cover; they look as if they have been drawn up by the loner from your high school art class who never spoke, wore a trenchcoat and carved pentagrams into the desk.
These t-shirts seem to be owned by just about everyone and are kept for more formal events or when all of their TapOut shirts are in the hamper and in need of laundering. Ever hear the phrase that something is like an asshole in that everyone has one? Well when it comes to Affliction t-shirts it seems as if every asshole has one rather than the other way around.
The fighters are paid to wear these shirts and for what fighters earn for fighting they take what they can get and will wear anything in exchange for it. If there were a sombrero company that was willing to sponsor fighters, every fighter would look like Juan Valdez at both press conferences and during post fight interviews.
We have fighters who enter the cage with "Condom Depot" on their asses so believe me that if the price were right you would see fighters in sombreros. Now, "Condom Depot" supports the fighters, as do I, but by no means would I wear a "Condom Depot" shirt and I sure as hell would not pay 65 dollars for it. But this is what people are doing when buying and wearing the Affliction shirts. Fighters are paid to wear these foolish things and because you want to look like them you are willing to shell out the money for the same shirt.
Most of the folks who procure these shirts along with the TapOut merchandise are either the local bar bouncer who imagines the shirt will make him look extra tough when he stands by the door on Saturday night or the guy who needs his pants to be tailored by the same people who make the XXXL gloves for Brock Lesnar. Of course this is just my opinion and these shirts may come in handy when you pair them with your Zubaz pants, lace up your British Knights sneakers and slap on the Member's Only jacket. One thing that is for certain is that while these shirts may not remain fashionable for long, Affliction's fight promoting days will be over even sooner, and will be looked back on as if it were the Vince McMahon-helmed XFL of the mixed martial arts world.
Affliction set out to not only promote MMA but to go toe to toe with the UFC, and they took a giant risk in doing so, but didn't set themselves up to be in this for the long haul. I admire their attempt and they came out with their guns fully loaded in the form of a very stacked Affliction:Banned card which featured arguably the best heavyweight in the world in Fedor Emelianenko, along with a lineup of heavyweight fighters that was nothing short of phenomenal. Michael Buffer was brought in to handle the ring announcing and they were more than ready to fire the opening salvo in what was to be a war on the UFC. They even hired Megadeth to play not one but three songs during the event!
Ok, that was one of their first colossal mistakes as there are bar mitzvahs who feature better entertainment; and thinking Megadeth was going to get over with the crowd would be like the NFL thinking that Leif Garrett would be an excellent choice for the Super Bowl halftime show. Anything they paid Dave Mustaine and company beyond all they could eat from the snack machine was way too much to dole out for such a nonessential part of the show.
However, they showed that the band was not the only thing they could blow money on as their payroll for the fighters was reportedly in excess of 3.3 million dollars and has been rumored to be even higher than this figure. Tim Sylvia was the big earner of the night with his pay being reported as 850K and Andrei Arlovski was just behind him at 750K for his efforts; and to say these purses were exorbitant is an understatement when you take into account that Rashad Evans received 120K for his victory over Chuck Liddell in the main event of last weekend's UFC 88 card.
Many will argue that the UFC pays fighters on a scale that is more in line with a Nigerian sweatshop than a major sports organization, and while that may be true, the fact remains that UFC understands how to keep their costs under control and maximize profitability. You cannot remain in business if your payroll exceeds that of what you are taking in at the end of the day; you will either have to cut loose a few employees or find a new line of business for yourself rather than go bankrupt.
Tim Sylvia was not worth 850K. Yes, he is a former UFC heavyweight champion but so is Ricco Rodriguez and that is not enough to make anyone bust the piggy bank to acquire his services. There are as many Tim Sylvia fans as there are people who thought Crystal Pepsi was an excellent idea, and paying Sylvia such an exorbitant amount of money was just one of the most prominent of Affliction's financial mistakes.
It is common knowledge that when you start a business you will be experiencing losses for a while as you establish yourself in the market, and the UFC clearly experienced its share of losses, but this was way too large of a loss to take for the first show. Affliction dug a hole that they probably will not make it out of and it is their own fault they are where they are today.
After Tom Atencio railed on about how the UFC didn't take care of their fighters and doled out so much money in pay the first time out is it possible for him to suddenly start paying guys less money? Will the fighters happily accept the reduction in pay? Would you accept a smaller paycheck this week than what you received the week before and feel bad for your employer because he made the mistake of paying you too much? Not exactly and this is the position Affliction has been in ever since they spent money on payroll like drunken sailors on shore leave at a whorehouse.
Affliction: Day of Reckoning may still take place, but I personally feel it is highly unlikely and if it does take place I truly believe it will be their last show. While I may have my opinions regarding Affliction the bottom line is that it is not good news at all for MMA fighters as well as fans when it comes to a promotion possibly folding. A fighter having more places to ply their trade is a decidedly good thing; and this is equally as advantageous for fans as more fight promotions means many more fights to watch and the chance to see fighters you wouldn’t normally see in action.
The blame should not be placed on Dana White and the UFC but rather on promoters who feel that the most important thing is challenging UFC rather than running a successful company and making money by promoting fights. If I were to start a beverage company tomorrow you can bet that my first plan of attack would not be to challenge Coca-cola or Pepsi at all, but rather try and get my product onto the same shelves and attempt to garner a share of the beverage market for myself. There are plenty of other companies who are serving a large portion of consumers, and making a nice profit, while being nowhere in the same league as Coca-Cola or Pepsi; and as such they will continue to survive and thrive albeit on a smaller scale than the soft drink giants.
The consumer who wants another choice of soft drink is served by these companies, and there are many who enjoy employment courtesy of said companies; this is a win for all parties involved. When it comes to MMA the same thing could happen if someone would decide to promote fights without attempting to directly battle the UFC. They should provide a complementary product while accepting that they cannot expect to compete on UFC’s level right away; and they should accept that the UFC is number one and show more concern towards profitability while serving the audience who is hungry to watch more MMA action.
Affliction decided to throw the gauntlet down and challenge the UFC immediately and threw more money at the fighters than Adam “Pac Man” Jones could at ten strip clubs. Tom Atencio made it rain and Tim Sylvia along with the rest of the fighters were smart to stand under the shower and fill their pockets. Affliction: Banned was a solid fight card which was loaded with heavyweight talent and could have taken place at a lower cost to the company and with little more deference shown towards Dana White and company.
The UFC is to MMA what the NFL is to football: the main brand name in each of their respective sports. If you are going to throw a hand grenade into the Zuffa camp, make sure you are prepared for the retaliation. Just like the soft drink example I gave earlier it would behoove a company to gain a share of the MMA market rather than to attempt to take it over in one fell swoop.
Again, if I started a beverage company and my product ended up on the shelf next to Coca-Cola, I would take this as a huge accomplishment and serve those who are consuming the soft drink as well as work on possibly gaining more and more of the market’s share with diligence and patience. It would not be wise to place a billboard across the street from every Coca-Cola bottling plant and purchase a Super Bowl ad declaring war on Coca-Cola.
It is much smarter to try and co-exist with the giant than it is to challenge him to a fight. Affliction challenged UFC rather than making an attempt to put on a show and find a place in the market for them to do business. I do not blame UFC for cutting the balls off of them by bringing Randy Couture back into the fold and for broadcasting the free UFC:Fight Night card on Spike TV the same night as Affliction: Banned. Because Affliction set themselves up for this by challenging UFC and attempting a takeover rather than just winning over fans with a quality product and earning a spot alongside the UFC.
This promotion was built to fail rather than built to last and Dana White is not to blame. Instead everyone associated with Affliction and its poor business model is to blame. Lucy didn’t pull the football away from Charlie Brown in this instance; Charlie Brown missed the ball with his own foot.
Postponing the fight card does not mean they have closed their doors, and we cannot say that Affliction is out of the MMA promotion business just yet, but clearly better days do not lie ahead for them; and the chances they can become viable grow slimmer with the passing of each day. Affliction can try to spin the news of postponement so as to make it seem positive rather than how it appears, but the only thing truly spinning are Affliction’s wheels and the machine is not going to move forward. It is a shame for the fighters as well as MMA fans as what could have been a good thing is going to come to an end due to an overzealous promoter who was looking at only the top of the mountain instead of focusing on his footing; and he fell off before he even had a chance to climb at all.
When you’re dating someone and they begin to seem distant towards you while saying “we need to talk” or “it’s not you, it’s me,” the relationship is over but things haven’t ended just yet. Avoiding the discussion and trying to buy yourself time is not going to make the relationship last at all, you are just postponing the inevitable end of the relationship. Affliction is doing the same thing and just telling themselves that they need some time to work things out. The relationship is over. Tom Atencio said Dana White’s name so many times that, similar to Beetlejuice, Dana White showed up ready to take action and took Randy Couture back along with taking away any chance Affliction had to succeed.
This calls to mind one of those novelty t-shirts which are sold for you to take back as gifts which imply that someone had a vacation and all you got was a t-shirt. Well, Tom Atencio promoted fights and all he has got left is a stupid t-shirt. He should consider himself lucky if this is the case as leaving with the shirt on his back will be much better than hanging around long enough to lose it to Zuffa. It’s time to move on for Affliction; they just have announced today that they need a little more time to pack.
