Affliction “Not Looking To Go Up Against UFC” But Still Considering July 11th
Michael D. Cohen
Ariel Helwani from Versus.com caught up with Affliction COO Michael D. Cohen earlier today to get official comment on reports that Affliction could hold it’s third, and potentially final, event on July 11th opposite UFC 100 and possibly Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s return to boxing.
Though Cohen confirmed the July 11th date remains under consideration, he also mentioned that the promotion is not looking to directly go up against the UFC and would prefer a date when they’re the only major event.
“Right now, nothing is signed,” Cohen said. “We are exploring several different dates including that July 11th date. There’s so much that has to go into deciding what date that third event is going to take place on. I don’t think we are ever looking to go up against the UFC or anyone for that matter. We are certainly not looking to share the viewers or the audience that is our there. We would like a date to ourselves because, at the end of the day, we want the greatest number of people to be watching.”
In the interview Cohen confirmed that a venue has been secured for the promotion’s next event but didn’t disclose the location. He also shot down rumors that the event could be the promotion’s last.
“It’s absolutely untrue. The Trump involvement has really elevated Trump’s Affliction to becoming a real contender in this sport. Trump’s Affliction Entertainment is going nowhere except to the top, and the company will continue throughout 2009 and well into 2010. It’s here. It’s here to stay.”
Finally, Cohen confirmed that money remains a major concern to the company, with fighters possibly facing pay cuts in the near future.
“You have to look to see what’s going on in the world right now. We want to be able to make the event affordable to the viewers, and those who are going to be in attendance. Obviously Affliction needs to make money in order to keep the engine going.”
For the latest Affliction news check out the MMAFrenzy.com Affliction category.
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I hope affliction trys to fight the ufc 100 by putting it on the same day theyll be putting the nail in there own coffin…..kris,eric or justin does anyone know the name of this ppv event yet….aff.1=banned, aff.2=DOR, Affliction 3 what will it be???
Affliction 3: Suicide.
Affliction 3= Execution…
I’m actually really glad to know that this isn’t gonna b their last event. I hope affliction does good their third event.
Why?
Because I like a lot of their fighters and I like the idea of someone other than the ufc making an impact in the sport.
me two but i mean strikeforce,dream,sengoku all better than afflcition imo and i would much rather see people who know how to run an mma promotion make an impact in the sport not a well as dana would put it “a tshirt guy”
Their real impact has been minimal so far. While I am all for healthy competition b/c it can help w/ growth of the sport it can have backlash as well. I find it ironic that Affliction kept being called Trump’s Affliction Entertainment considering he was just a partner I thought. The fact they’re talking about asking fighters to take pay cuts is rather ironic w/ everyone complaining about the UFC’s pay. After seeing what Affliction pays their lower guys then you know the cuts will be at the top and how many veteran guys do you really think will take a cut at this point? If they do end up on July 11th that is a sign they’re waving the white flag and if they push it to August(when Tito will be ok to go) I’ll know they’re serious about staying. Otherwise I’m not holding my breath about a possible 4th event.
Affliction’s biggest problems is not the UFC, its the “rock bands” hey I like the bands Affliction has playing I just don’t buy a fight card for the band tho so its kind of over spending and way over paying fighters… they needs more previews “ADVERTISING” they needs a count down like what the UFC has. They would be very smart to have some co-promotions with maybe Dream or Strikeforce or K1 if need be… and they are knew as the T-shirt guys and why have I not seen 1 of their posters printed onto 1 of there T-shirts? There posters look cool why not put it on a T-shirt? I know a fair bit about business and I’m a huge MMA fan period. They need changes.
yeah they really need to go viral w/ their advertisement w/ this fight.
I like the fighters of Affliction- Fedor, Barnett, Belfort, Linland, Arlovski, Heiron etc- but honestly their business model sucks. Firstly, they didnt have to pay that much to all of the fighters- Arlovski $1mil? sylvia almost 800g’s. Man that money laid to waste. Paying Fedor big is a bit OK since he is one of the best if not the best in the world. Seconly, they should FIND their own talent- getting former UFC fighters are OK BUT you have to discover new talents! Put some fresh faces on the main card for everyone to see. Third- marketing. They should at least have some commercials for it. Remember Affliction is know as a SHIRT not as a event, unlike UFC. So they should double the commercials or print ads for the EVENT. And lastly- do not waste money on bands- I know most of the bands they put are LEGENDS already but we didnt order the event to watch a rock band. all that said,if they are able to convince most of their fighters to take a pay cut- hey most of us are getting that, improve on the business side of things, bring in new fighters and maybe established ones- Overeem, Aleks, Aoki and CO-PROMOTE- then they will be fine. Learn from your mistakes Affliction. I wanna watch more of your shows.
all good points!
Good stuff evil, i agree. you sound like a fighter?
It’s just a cover to keep the actual date secret, and prevent the UFC from throwing together a Fight Night or something like that.
even if they tried to do that they’d just re-air a PPV on spike haha
I think Affliction could be a lot better than what it is now. They just need to organize themselves better. They should just rely on Fedor always being the main event. Like big_evil said they should find new talent and fresh faces, not just have former UFC fighters(most of whom are washed up), but i don’t like Affliction anyway so i don’t care if they survive or not. I would like to see more MMA organizations like the WEC.
safecount.net add just popped up?????
Thanks for the heads up, obviously it shouldn’t be. I’ll look into it ASAP.
Affliction should just give it all up