Affliction: Day of Reckoning MMA event rescheduled

Affliction Entertainment has announced that their Day of Reckoning MMA event originally scheduled for October 11th in Las Vegas has been postponed, with a rescheduled date of January 17, 2009.  Furthermore, the venue of the event has been changed from Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center to the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA.  This was the site of their inaugural MMA event Affliction: Banned and is considered by many to be the best venue for the sport in the US.

Day of Reckoning experienced a number of problems since its announcement, primarily involving injuries to competitors.  Originally, the main event was to feature WAMMA heavyweight champion and consensus best fighter in the world at the weight, Fedor Emelianenko, defending against former UFC champion Andrei Arlovski.  After Emelianenko was ruled medically unable to compete at the event due to hand injuries sustained in his fight against Tim Sylvia in July, the main event was switched to a “#1 Contenders” matchup between Arlovski and Josh Barnett.  While the fight itself promised to be a very solid matchup—The Savage Science (www.thesavagescience.com) suggested it could be a “potential heavyweight classic”—the casual MMA fan saw it as a hastily arranged “Plan B” necessitated by Fedor’s injury.

Further exacerbating the injury problems, Vitor Belfort was forced to withdraw from his scheduled matchup against top middleweight Matt “The Law” Lindland due to a hand injury suffered in his Affliction: Banned fight against Terry Martin.   There were other logistical issues due to the quick turnaround from the July show and concerns by many fighters who also compete in Japan that an injury suffered at Day of Reckoning could keep them out of the traditional New Years’ Eve mega-shows there.  Not only are these big events a tradition in Japan, but they represent a huge payday to fighters that compete on these cards.

While the usual Dana White/UFC sycophants were quick to claim “victory” over Affliction, the rescheduled date may be more of a tactical retreat than anything else.  Without being specific, Affliction VP Tom Atencio suggested that the UFC—and their well connected owners, who also own the Station Casinos chain—were doing everything they could to make holding the event in Las Vegas more difficult than it should have been.

The drama surrounding the rescheduled date has been heightened by Affliction itself who indicates that a huge announcement with major implications for the sport is in the offing.  At the very least, sources indicate that Fedor Emelianenko will fight on the rescheduled card.  Additionally, there are also indications that Tito Ortiz will finally sign a deal with Affliction and make his debut at the January event.

If Affliction has been guilty of anything, its excessive optimism at their ability to quickly put another event together and give it the promotion it needs to make it a success.  This is the most significant edge that their better established foes at the UFC have in their favor—greater synergy between the matchmaking and promotional elements of the business.

Ultimately, MMA fans need to remember that the sport is still in its infancy.  The UFC is a dominant company at present, but it was only a few years ago that their future was very much in doubt.  In 2004, Zuffa had absorbed $34 million in losses from the purchase of the UFC.  They rolled the dice on “The Ultimate Fighter” TV series, with Zuffa owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta footing the $10 million production costs out of pocket.  The show was a huge success, and deserves much of the credit for springboarding the promotion into mainstream popularity and financial solvency.  The lesson, however, is that as recently as January 2005 the UFC was in the red to the tune of $44 million and their future was very much in doubt.  By its very nature, fortunes can change very quickly in the fight game and that’s even more the case with a sport that has only existed in its legitimate form for just over a decade.