UFC vs. Affliction – Saturday July 19th marked a landmark day in the world of MMA. It was the first time ever that two major organizations promoted their own fight cards on the same night. One was for free, the other was for an affordable MMA Pay-Per-View price of $39.95. A brand new organization took on the industry leader head on, and they are not even batting an eye. The UFC featured their best fighter and Affliction featured the best fighter in the world. How was a fan to choose?
History:
This entire “war” can be traced back to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture’s dispute with UFC President Dana White. The UFC Hall of Famer was highly popular during his time with the UFC and was able to parlay that popularity with the fastest growing clothing line in MMA, “Affliction.”
When Affliction decided to approach Couture about giving him his own line with the company, “Xtreme Couture,” he jumped at the chance. Xtreme Couture was in essence operated as its own business. They were able to sign their own fighters and none of their clothing had the name Affliction on it. It is a similar situation to what Nike did with the Jordan brand.
Last year, Couture decided to leave the UFC in his hopes of seeking out a fight against consensus #1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, because the UFC was unable to land the coveted fighter. This caused a war of words between he and White, which spurred White to ban all UFC fighters from wearing any Affliction or Extreme Couture clothing on their cards.
White thought this would be a good way to hurt Couture financially. Without the most popular fighters in MMA promoting the brand, sales were sure to plummet for the clothing line. This forced Affliction to think outside of the box and explore other ways of generating profits.
It seems as though White’s decision has come back to bite him in the end. Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has even stated that if not for the UFC’s ban of their clothing line at their events, it is highly likely that Affliction would have ever even considered entering the MMA arena.
At first, White and the UFC went on with business as usual. However, the arrival of a certain real estate mogul changed things significantly. Two months ago, Affliction named Donald Trump, and his billions of dollars, their Executive Vice President. That opened many eyes, including the UFC’s, and that is when Affliction really started gaining momentum.
MMA fans were in for a real treat on Saturday. Two major promotions put on two solid events. As far as which event won out, well that will have to wait until the final PPV numbers are in later this week. However, it is safe to say that most casual fans probably watched the free Fight Night 14, and the hard core fans will order the Afflcition:Banned PPV and use their DVRs to record UFC.
Here’s how a day in MMA history breaks down:
Preliminary Bouts:
Shannon Gugerty Defeats Dale Hartt via Submission – Rear Naked Choke at 3:33 in the 1stRound
Brad Blackburn Defeats James Gaboo via TKO at 2:29 in the 2ndRound
Nate Loughran Defeats Johnny Rees via Submission – Triangle Choke at 4:21 in the 1stRound
Rory Markham Defeats Brodie Farber via KO at 1:47 in the 1stRound
Tim Credeur Defeats Cale Yarbrough via TKO at 1:54 in the 1stRound
Main Bouts:
C.B. Dollaway Defeats Jesse Taylor via Submission – Peruvian Neck Tie at 3:58 in the 1stRound
Kevin Burns Defeats Anthony Johnson via TKO at 3:35 in the 3rdRound
Cain Velasquez Defeats Jake O’Brien via TKO at 2:02 in the 1stRound
Frankie Edgar Defeats Hermes Franca via Unanimous Decision
Brandon Vera Defeats Reece Andy via Unanimous Decision
Anderson Silva Defeats James Irvin via KO at 1:01 in the 1stRound
Fight of the Night:
Frankie Edgar and Hermes Franca ($25,000/Each)
Knockout of the Night:
Rory Markham ($25,000)
Submission of the Night:
C.B. Dollaway ($25,000)
Preliminary Bouts:
The Swing Bout between Patrick Speight and Justin Levens was cancelled due to time constraints
Paul Buentello Defeats Gary Goodrich via Unanimous Decision (30-27, All three Judges)
Vetor Belfort Defeats Terry Martin via TKO at 3:12 in the 2ndRound
Main Bouts:
Mike Pyle Defeats J.J. Ambrose via Submission – Rear-Naked Choke at 2:51 in the 1stRound
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Defeats Edwin Dewees via TKO at 4:06 in the 1stRound
Matt Lindland Defeats Fabio Negao via Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
Renato “Babalu” Sobral Defeats Mike Whitehead via Unanimous Decision (30-27)
Mark Hominick Defeats Savant Young via Submission – Armbar at 4:25 in the 2ndRound
Josh Barnett Defeats Pedro Rizzo via TKO at 1:44 in the 2ndRound
Andrei Arlovski Defeats Ben Rothwell via TKO at 1:13 in the 3rdRound
Fedor Emelianenko Defeats Tim Sylvia via Submission – Rear-Naked Choke at :36 in the 1stRound
