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By Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Columnist In case you haven't heard, t-shirt company Affliction makes it's first foray into MMA promoting on Saturday with the loaded lineup entitled "Banned". Headlined by Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko, and supported by Ben Rothwell vs. Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo, its been dubbed "the greatest heavyweight card of all-time" (a quote attributed to "Big" John McCarthy).
Not to be outdone, Dana White quickly put together a card to be aired for free on SpikeTV at the very same time. Its headlined by Anderson Silva vs. James Irvin in Silva's debut in the light-heavyweight division. I thought it might be a touch time consuming to type a full, fight-by-fight preview for each show (not to mention how much time it would take you to read), so instead let's break down the important aspects of each show and decide which show is more worth your time.
THE MAIN EVENT
Sylvia/Emelianenko or Silva/Irvin? Silva/Irvin or Sylvia/Emelianenko? I gotta tell ya, this is a tough one. On one hand, you have the long-considered #1 fighter on the planet in Emelianenko fighting an opponent we've been longing to see for three years; i.e. one with a pulse. This is his first full-fledged challenge since he won a decision over Cro Cop in August of 2003. On Saturday, will we see Fedor: The Legend, or will it all turn out to be myth? I don't know the answer, but the possibilities either way are intriguing.
Over in Zuffa-land, the new "#1 fighter on the planet" ventures up to 205 to take on "The Sandman". Now, I'm the biggest Anderson Silva fan out there, but I do NOT like this match-up for him. James Irvin was once the WEC heavyweight champion while fighting at 230lbs. In other words, he's a HUGE light-heavyweight. He's also a Muy Thai fighter, and while not as technically proficient as Silva, he's more powerful. This will be a stand-up war, fight of the night, and a loss for Anderson Silva. You heard it here first.
EDGE: UFC. Affliction has the advantage in name power, but UFC's main event will actually deliver (and then some) in the cage/ring.
THE MAIN/UNDERCARD
This one isn't even close. Affliction is giving us an all-star lineup, including Rothwell vs. Arlovski, Rizzo vs. Barnett, Matt Lindland and Babalu in action, not to mention the Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello and Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin fights that will be shown for free on Fox Sports Net prior to the PPV.
The UFC counters with... a Brandon Vera fight? CB Dalloway vs. Jesse Taylor? Yeesh. Don't get me wrong, I love Brandon Vera and I LOVE free fights, but Affliction dominates this category. Let's just hope some of the IFL talent making their UFC debuts on Saturday give us some unexpected solid fights.
EDGE: Affliction. By a mile.
PRODUCTION VALUES:
This one is a big unknown from Affliction. With the UFC, you always know what you're getting. The lame opening that Shawn Ennis hates, the pre-fight trash talking interviews, and the fighters coming down an aisle with their entourage in tow.
All we know about Affliction is that they were willing to spend a pretty penny to bring in the best talent available. I can't imagine they'd skimp on the production. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if this show eerily resembled an old Pride show. That'd be fine with me. Maybe they can even find that crazy lady to introduce all the fighters. Hey, a boy can dream, can't he?
EDGE: UFC. But only because its familiar and we know what we're getting.
INTANGIBLES:
Affliction has two things going for them here. One, they have a very good card to lean on. They literally have half of the top ten heavyweights in the world on this card. And two, the element of surprise. We don't know what we're getting from these guys, and that's very intriguing.
UFC, on the other hand, has one very big advantage: its FREE! This fact really can't be understated. If this was your average Ultimate Fight Night card being headlined by a couple of top-20, but not top-10, lightweights, I'd say watch Affliction and never look back. However, this show is headlined by Anderson Silva...for free. I guess this isn't technically an intangible, seeing as how intangible means "not touchable", and you'll physically be able to touch the money you'll save by watching UFC instead of Affliction. But let's not get wrapped up in semantics. Instead, let's just enjoy a fantastic night of fights. But that brings us back to our original question: which one should you watch?
VERDICT: To take the easy way out, both. There are ways to do this, some legal, some not so much. My advice: if you haven't done so already, jump into the new millennium, get DVR, and record the UFC and order Affliction. Done and done.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
