Affliction 2 Postponed

[machsaku]

definitely a sign that things are going well...

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/affliction-leaves-las-vegas-event-postponed-14361

[heckyl]

plwnt

[Paxlie]

This is really bad :(

[Chewbaca Joe]

"Andrei was six weeks into his 10-week training cycle."

Odd choice of words imo

[majorcunningham]

hopefully this means that fedor/arlovski is back on, i wouldnt mind seein barnett fight sylvia which would hopefully set up fedor vs barnett next...

[EckY]

Big announcement this Saturday at the Casamayor/Marquez fight.

Affliction back with Golden Boy/HBO deal??

[Desdichado]

I hadn't heard about the announcement. Here's more (http://mmamania.com/2008/09/10/tom-atencio-big-announcement-coming-could-it-be-affliction-on-hbo/) about it.

Didn't Affliction just sign a deal with HDNet? Strange that they will announce something on an HBO broadcast then, no?

[sweeptheleg]

So, here is my theory on this.

They also stated that Fedor will be featured on the postponed show in January. And the rumors are that Affliction and the UFC are working on a deal to cross-promote (I know, SOOO unlikely knowing Dana) and have Fedor fight the winner of Randy and Lesnar (or the final winner of the 4 man HW "tourney" going on in the UFC currently). This is why I believe that the show was put off. If a Fedor vs the UFC HW champ fight were at all a remote possibility, Affliction would be stupid to not hold off and save their money to promote that show which would no doubt break all the records.

just a little conspiracy theorizing here, say what you will, but I would love to see this happen.

Oh, and it would happen in a cage.

[EckY]

new rumour:

Golden Boy and Affliction paretering for combined boxing and mma events, starting with first in Jan.

Lot of people will hate this idea but if done right I think it could work well and open a lot of doors. Would be like the American version of what K-1 do when they mix K-1 bouts and MMA bouts, only problem is the pacing in K-1 and MMA is more simliar than boxing and MMA.

Think of Affliction putting together a decent undercard on HDNet, then having a few big fights on PPV/HBO, Arlovski vs Fedor perhaps, with a big name boxing match to cap it off, say a Hatton or Pavlik fight. It would force the boxing fans to take notice of MMA more, and if the right fighters and matchups are given could make them fans, could also lead to more crossover between the 2, MMA guys doing boxing, Arlovski for example and boxers doing MMA.

At worst I hope this just helps Affliction to stick around and put together more good fights.

[majorcunningham]

the only thing that worries me about combined boxing and mma shows is that the fans of the two sports are so polarised right now. well, i should say that boxing fans seem to be doing their best to shit on mma because they see it as a threat to the sweet science...

i just have this picture in my head of boxing fans booing the whole way through a fedor/arlovski fight and totally killing the spectacle - something mma fans wouldnt do in reverse. maybe im reading too much into it but i can see these shows being a bit of a disaster!!! i hope not tho because being a fan of both sports id love to go to one of those shows...

[Soulrise]

well, i should say that boxing fans seem to be doing their best to shit on mma because they see it as a threat to the sweet science...

There are plenty of MMA fans who shit on boxing as well. The last 4 or 5 live MMA cards that I've attended I've seen fans walking around with "Boxing Is Dead" shirts...

As a fan of both sports I'd love combined cards but I don't know if there are enough fans of both like me to make it work.

[EckY]

hopefully this would force them to start appreciating the other more, im sure the boxing fans will appreciate it more with it being in a ring for starters and if a guy like Arlovski is fighting and puts on a good showing like he did against Rothwell they cant hate that.

[ilostmydog]

What if not just the show was half boxing and half MMA, but the fights themselves were alternating rounds of boxing and MMA? :p

[heckyl]

What if not just the show was half boxing and half MMA, but the fights themselves were alternating rounds of boxing and MMA? :p

YES! 4 ROUND FIGHTS FOR ALL!

[Jarzi]

the only thing that worries me about combined boxing and mma shows is that the fans of the two sports are so polarised right now. well, i should say that boxing fans seem to be doing their best to shit on mma because they see it as a threat to the sweet science...

i just have this picture in my head of boxing fans booing the whole way through a fedor/arlovski fight and totally killing the spectacle - something mma fans wouldnt do in reverse. maybe im reading too much into it but i can see these shows being a bit of a disaster!!! i hope not tho because being a fan of both sports id love to go to one of those shows...

Are the regular fans really that fanatic? Sure there are "there can be only one" nutjobs but I'd think that those are small minority (though perhaps a vocal one). In many other countries combining boxing/kick boxing/thai boxing with MMA is rather common. Finlands biggest event Fight festival has combined MMA with kick/thai boxing from the beginning and it works.

[Chewbaca Joe]

I found this interesting: http://www.adcombat.com/Article.asp?Article_ID=16404

[sparkles]

Are the regular fans really that fanatic? Sure there are "there can be only one" nutjobs but I'd think that those are small minority (though perhaps a vocal one). In many other countries combining boxing/kick boxing/thai boxing with MMA is rather common. Finlands biggest event Fight festival has combined MMA with kick/thai boxing from the beginning and it works.

yeah but kickboxing is closer to boxing and kickboxing is also closer to mma.
So kickboxing + boxing is better as well as mma + kickboxing.

boxing - kickboxing - mma

So pitting mma and boxing together give just 2 polarised audiences. I mainly think the boxing fans will be bored with mma when they go to the ground and by their boxing skills.

[miscmisc]

I kind of think that boxing + MMA shows is a horrible idea. I can't articulate why right now, but that's how I feel anyway.

I'd rather focus on GB's promotional power and name than on such ideas, if they really team up in a serious way.

[Shiruba]

I don't mind as long as the boxing fights are decently big ones. But it might destroy the flow of the PPV, and there are other things like ppl thinking: "he could have taken him down" or something during Boxing fights.

[sweeptheleg]

I kind of think that boxing + MMA shows is a horrible idea. I can't articulate why right now, but that's how I feel anyway.

I'd rather focus on GB's promotional power and name than on such ideas, if they really team up in a serious way.

See, i am with you on this. I think cross-promotion in this case will do nothing but water down the MMA side of the card. I can guarantee you that most MMA fans that are not that much into boxing will use the time during the boxing bouts to go get beer, food, or take a bathroom break. It will definitely interrupt the flow of the MMA fights. And I don't believe that their are enough hardcore fans of both sports to support an event like that. it interesting.

We will see I guess, but I am not a believer in the cross-polinization of MMA and boxing.

[FieldingMellish]

I think its great Affliction are trying something different. I'm not at all convinced this is the right way to go about it, but at least its something 'new'. There was a combined boxing/MMA show a couple of months ago in Vegas that drew a good sized crowd. Of course, that show was free so its hardly the best comparison.

Like majorcunningham, I worry about the fans' reactions and I'm fully expecting MMA fans to very quickly boo a slow, strategic boxing match and boxing fans to shit all over any groundwork in the MMA fights. But even with Golden Boy involved, I doubt this show would have enough big name boxers to pull boxing fans to an event that also has 'that shitty groundfighting and deathmatch shit' on it.

[Jarzi]

Like majorcunningham, I worry about the fans' reactions and I'm fully expecting MMA fans to very quickly boo a slow, strategic boxing match and boxing fans to shit all over any groundwork in the MMA fights.

But those who don't subscribe to "there can be only one" philosophy can have a good time :)

[gols]

I think combined shows is a bad idea. There are very few people who really enjoy both boxing and MMA, and force feeding one sport to fans of the other is just going to end in tears.

[miscmisc]

MMA IS brutal. It's bloody. It does LOOK more savage-like than boxing, even though we all know it's so easy to exaggerate how dangerous MMA is. MMA will look bad to boxing fans if you put it right next to boxing, unless all the boxing fights turn out utter borefests, and all the MMA matches turn out to be extremely clean with so much action (without too much blood, preferably). Well, you might have to throw in a Volk Han or two to educate them on how spectacular submissions can be. Let a Rumina Sato flying-armbar some guy. And it still might not work at all.

And yeah, I do feel MMA fans usually don't give a crap about boxing. I fail to see any win-win in this combination, except the promotional might of the GB Promotion. They don't necessarily have to try to appeal to the boxing fans. I don't know, they should find a way to promote their MMA without mixing the two sports together.

[Chewbaca Joe]

I like boxing alot as a participatory sport but when it comes to spectating, the only thing worse than two MMA dudes stalling it out on the ground is two boxers hugging like long lost lovers on the ropes after every three punches thrown.

[FieldingMellish]

I like boxing alot as a participatory sport but when it comes to spectating, the only thing worse than two MMA dudes stalling it out on the ground is two boxers hugging like long lost lovers on the ropes after every three punches thrown.

Very true. And even worse, the absolute longest a boring MMA fight can go is 25 minutes, far more usually 15. In boxing its 36 and a single atrocious, long boxing match could just kill this PPV in terms of crowd reactions and entertainment.

[Jarzi]

Very true. And even worse, the absolute longest a boring MMA fight can go is 25 minutes, far more usually 15. In boxing its 36 and a single atrocious, long boxing match could just kill this PPV in terms of crowd reactions and entertainment.

That's a good point, boxing match can be way too long.

[machsaku]

I dread hearing Lampley or Lederman try and call an MMA bout during an HBO broadcast...

[FieldingMellish]

I dread hearing Lampley or Lederman try and call an MMA bout during an HBO broadcast...

You probably have more to fear from the sky falling on your head since unless things have changed radically, HBO have nothing to do with this.

[heckyl]

this is supposedly back on for January 24th featuring Fedor vs Arlovski... they released a poster.