What a horrible week to be without the internet. Time Warner decided that when they shut off our neighbors’ cable that they would go ahead and cut ours for no shits. Upon a request to fix their egregious error, they said, “we will do it next week.” No other service industry cares less about their customers or the happiness thereof than cable providers.
I have said with every Affliction show we must approach it as if it is the last Affliction show. This was never going to be a long-term project. It just didn’t add up. Unfortunately it was not Afflictions ambitious model of MMA promotion being fundamentally at odds with the US market for MMA that crushed them. Josh Barneett struck the final blow when he tested positive (yet again) for steroids and left Affliction without a true main event just days before the show. The implications are numerous so I will try to the high notes quickly.
The Fedor Question: Where will Fedor go and what will he do? He still has one fight left with M-1 and the rumor mill is already churning tules of a fight sooner rather than later. There is even a chance that Fedor vs Barneett could happen in August, likely at the M-1 show. The UFC says Fedor is going to fight in the octagon but as long as that involves co-promotion with M-1, I don’t see it happening. If Fedor wants the money that I think the UFC is ready to pay him and wants the biggest possible fights, he needs to get the fight done. All signs point to Fedor wanting to fight soon so a fight to close out his contract makes a lot of sense. The UFC’s announcement Friday will likely not include significant information about Fedor but there is no doubt his name is going to come up.
Mousasi vs Babalu: Here we have the scrap of Affliction: Trilogy, the leftover in the fridge. I for one am really glad that this fight is not only getting moved to Strikeforce, but is also going to be for the Strikeforce LHW title. This good fight just got better. Sure it replaces the Overheem/Werdum HW title fight, but it is a sure fire upgrade. There are few really great match-ups waiting for MMA fans at 205 outside of the UFC, but this is one of them. I don’t think we have seen the last of Babalu under Zuffa contract, especially if he keeps winning.
Vitor Belfort: It seems a foregone conclusion that The Phenom will be wearing his Affliction t-shirt walking down a UFC isle. Dana wanted Vitor before Trilogy was called off and was confident enough to advertise the rejuvenated MW’s success despite the fact he was not under Zuffa contract yet. If Vitor is half as good as he looks, I would guess he is going to make some serious waves in the UFC. In fact, I will go out on a limb right now and say that Vitor faces Dan Henderson upon his return and Rich Franklin will face a returning Tito Ortiz at UFC 103. It is brash but I think it will happen. All I know is I will be very surprised if Vitor isn’t a downloadable character on UFC Undisputed within a year.
Josh Barnnett: I don’t care to make any sort of speculation as to weather or not Barnnett actually juiced for this fight. Certainly one could make assumptions that he did because of his history, but at the end of the day the damage is done. Affliction was going to die, one way or the other. The only REAL downside to this is that we don’t get to see Barnnett vs Fedor, and we likely never will. I was never convinced this fight was going to happen anyway. What I got from this whole ordeal was a complete ambivalence towards Barnnett. I quite simply don’t care about seeing him fight anymore. Rumor has it he has a wrestling match in his not too distant future. While I don’t suspect that this is the last we have seen from Barnnett in MMA, his future doesn’t look to bright. That is a lot of blemish on his baby face and I am not sure we are going to see him at the fore of HW MMA ever again.
So Affliction the promotion is dead and it is back to partnering up with the UFC. It’s a good partnership and always has been. I suspect the next few weeks will be filled with news of fighters and fights that make headlines but as always the spotlight will remain on Fedor. The time is now the chance is here. I think even the UFC knows that Fedor vs Brock is good for business right now. Fedor beating Brock is 100 times better for MMA than anyone else beating him and Brock beating Fedor would be one of the biggest upsets in history. Someone’s star gets made. But don’t be fooled by the flashy lights around Fedor, some of the real wheelings and dealings will be happening with the likes of Mousasi, Vitor, Babalu, and Little Nog. Strikeforce and the UFC are bound to collect on this foreclosure so keep your eyes peeled folks.
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