Affliction Folds

[Marquis]

So as i mentioned in the "Affliction Trilogy" thread, Yahoo sports has reported Affliction has folded and will now become a UFC sponsor. So as i also mentioned in the other thread, Affliction folding is great for Strikeforce, since Strikeforce needed the talent from Affliction for their upcoming show with Overeem and Riggs out, but what about now? With the UFC and Affliction reaching a agreement, does this mean the UFC will pick up Afflictions talent? For one they can't pick up all of their talent, but a good number they can.

We know Fedor will never join the UFC because of their exclusive contracts, and sadly will probably go fight cans in Japan. Babalu is still under contract with Strikeforce, so we won't see him. And Mousasi as far as I'm aware of is still under contract with Dream. So i would count those three out, but there's still some worthwhile talent aside from them that UFC might pick up in this agreement. The UFC has shown interest in Vitor, so I'm damn sure we will see him in the UFC now. Jorge Santiago now that hes back on a winning streak we could possibly see in the UFC. Jay Hieron i would love to see in the UFC. He has decent boxing, and fights at welterweight. A division in the UFC that has quite a few sluggers just like him. So I'm sure with Hieron in the UFC we can expect some fight of the night quality matches from him. Those are the only three i can see the UFC picking up right now. Maybe Paul Buentello, they really do need some more heavyweights, but yeah basically those three. And Mousasi is still a possibility somewhere down the line since he said on a radio show today that he's considering the UFC now after what happened with Affliction.

Dana's gonna give all the details of went down apparently on ESPN Radio 1100 at 9 pm ET.

 

[Minor League Brian]

I wouldn't count Fedor out just yet, I could easily see Dana bending a little to give Fedor the right incentives to join the UFC roster. There's just a lot going on now that I didn't actually expect to happen.

This is quite surprising, and it's all 1 mans fault. What a shame.

 

[Marquis]

I wouldn't count Fedor out just yet, I could easily see Dana bending a little to give Fedor the right incentives to join the UFC roster. There's just a lot going on now that I didn't actually expect to happen.

I can't see it ever happening unless Fedor gets rid of his management. Fedor want's the UFC to co promote with M-1, and allow him to join Sambo competitions. The UFC only loses if they co promote. They're currently the biggest company in the world, and will continue to be so with or without Fedor. M-1 needs the UFC, the UFC doesn't need M-1 at all. The Sambo competing is very damn Risky. He could easily get hurt in such a full contact sport, thus costing him to back out of a fight, which is something no promotion wants. Dana isn't the one who needs to bend with his demands, its Fedor that needs to bend.

 

[Minor League Brian]

I can't see it ever happening unless Fedor gets rid of his management. Fedor want's the UFC to co promote with M-1, and allow him to join Sambo competitions. The UFC only loses if they co promote. They're currently the biggest company in the world, and will continue to be so with or without Fedor. M-1 needs the UFC, the UFC doesn't need M-1 at all. The Sambo competing is very damn Risky. He could easily get hurt in such a full contact sport, thus costing him to back out of a fight, which is something no promotion wants. Dana isn't the one who needs to bend with his demands, its Fedor that needs to bend.

You're right but it'd be like...I'm trying to think of a good team to give an example, but I can't, so I'll just have to try and explain out-right; sorry if it doesn't make sense.

UFC's already got the stacked team, they're the big boys on the block. They don't need a new star player, but you know what; doesn't mean they don't want one. I could easily see Dana going out of the norm (to an extent, at least) to sign Fedor, but it'd have to be a vise versa/give and take scenario. Both parties would need to be willing to lean.

 

[jmt225]

Well, you never know Marquis... if could be the UFC who changes their policy. I mean, from what I understand... all Fedor wants is the contract offered, plus being able to still compete in Sambo tournaments. That's not asking for much, and I think at the end of the day... Dana just might agree to it.

Anyway, I guess Josh Barnett is the real blame for this, eh? Such a shame. His legacy is fucking ruined forever.

But right now I'm indifferent about this. If it ends up with Fedor signing with the UFC, then this was a great thing. If it ends up with Strikeforce obtaining some new, exciting talent... again, this turns out to be a great thing. But if Fedor starts fighting cans in Japan and all the leftover talent don't do anything for a while, then this fucking sucks. The next upcoming weeks will tell us whether or not this was a good thing.

I feel really, really bad for my friend Dev, though. Fedor is his hero, and he was so excited to see him fight in person. He spent a lot of time and money getting the trip together to go to LA for the weekend, and now it was all for nothing. That fucking sucks.

 

[Marquis]

You're right but it'd be like...I'm trying to think of a good team to give an example, but I can't, so I'll just have to try and explain out-right; sorry if it doesn't make sense.

UFC's already got the stacked team, they're the big boys on the block. They don't need a new star player, but you know what; doesn't mean they don't want one. I could easily see Dana going out of the norm (to an extent, at least) to sign Fedor, but it'd have to be a vise versa/give and take scenario. Both parties would need to be willing to lean.

I understand what you're trying to say. Of course the UFC wants Fedor. Fedor is without a doubt the greatest fighter ever to date, no one matches up to his legacy as of right now. With the UFC's marketing power, Fedor's legacy will be brought to the mainstream, which benefits Fedor and the UFC greatly. The thing is, even without promoting and signing Fedor, the UFC will continue to grow as it is. Sadly Fedor will not, not in the states at least.

As for Dana going out of the norm, he almost got screwed over for doing that with CroCop, so I'm sure he might be a little hesitant. Even then i don't see what Dana can do to bend. No way in hell should he co-promote, and the Sambo competing like i said is damn risky. Fedor would be a big name in the UFC, he would headline events with their marketing power. The UFC can't have him backing out of the main event cause he got hurt in some sambo competition. The UFC is offering the chance of possibly becoming the most popular fighter stateside with their marketing power and his legacy, i think they're offering him enough.