Attention MMA fans, this week’s column has been canceled.
This latest installment of “Pound For Pound” was to be spent previewing Affliction’s third pay-per-view card, schedule for Saturday, Aug. 1, but since the T-shirt company abruptly dropped out of the fight promoting business last week … well, let’s just say plans have changed.
Instead of discussing how long Josh Barnett has to last in the ring with Fedor Emelianenko before the American’s performance can be considered a success, now we’re left to wonder if Barnett has any future at all left in MMA – at least on this continent. I’m guessing the answer is no, after Barnett’s positive test for a steroid last week effectively yanked the final Jenga piece out from under Affliction’s already teetering tower.
Though he’s still (sort of) maintaining his innocence, Barnett must now be considered at least in the same league as Ken Shamrock when it comes to striking death blows to MMA organizations with their own foolishness. And to think, Barnett probably had as good a chance as anyone in the world of defeating the consensus No. 1-ranked fighter in the world. What a shame.
Instead of debating the various merits of Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral or Takanori Gomi vs. Rafaello Oliveira, we’re now simply left to wonder how many of the bigger name fighters will be plucked from Affliction’s bones by vulturous beak of the UFC. At least until Friday, when a press conference featuring Dana White’s latest “big announcement” is scheduled to “change everything we know about MMA.”
Yawn.
The UFC has already reportedly added the heavyweight attraction of Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley to its Oct. 24 show in Los Angeles and rumors of a UK television deal with ESPN are swirling. But it will all be considered a letdown, unless White is able to take to the podium and announce that Fedor is finally signed, sealed and delivered to the Octagon.
There is some lingering hope that that could still happen. Anonymous sources quoted in the LA Times are saying it’s a done deal. But that report has been questioned by several leading MMA blogs and with Emelianenko’s manager Vadim Finkelchtein continued to insist at a press conference on Wednesday that any event involving his client be a “co-promotional” endeavor with his own M-1 Global, I remain unconvinced that we’ll ever see Fedor in the UFC.
Barnett, meanwhile, already has a pro wrestling gig in Japan scheduled for Aug. 9, so his future in legitimate fighting is cloudy at best. And just in case you’re wondering, after months of fierce competition, fightin’ words and the UFC officially banning Affliction gear from their broadcasts, the two are already back together again, business-wise.
Both have issued the obligatory “let bygones be bygones” statements and the UFC has granted the T-shirt company a return to its live events as a sponsor.
Aside from that, the only thing that is really certain at this time about the future is that the UFC continues to tighten its stranglehold on mixed martial arts. Strikeforce now soldiers on as White and Co.’s only real competition.
With a huge Aug. 15 show featuring Gina Carano and Cristianne “Cyborg” Santos fighting for the first major female championship still on the docket, that company appears to be alive and well. But with ESPN allegedly continuing to show more and more interest in the UFC, things are progressing to the point where you have to wonder if a serious challenger will ever emerge or if Affliction’s failure constitutes game, set, match for avoiding monopoly in the sport we love.
So far, going head to head with the UFC has proved merely to be a good way to squander a small fortune. And if, when it’s all said and done, they somehow manage to shoehorn Fedor Emelianenko into the Octagon for a fight against Brock Lesnar, the death of Affliction will have to be considered a success for MMA.
Chad Dundas writes a weekly MMA column for CraveOnline. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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