Affliction's second card a make or break prospect for MMA upstart
After trying on several other occasions to host a second show, the upstart promotion run by the popular T-shirt company, along with funding from Donald Trump, has finally managed to muster up enough cash to get all costs covered, and put together an impressive card.
The first time around for Affliction, there were a lot of mistakes made, and that has nothing to do with the fights they put on, if they want to stay afloat as a promotion, and eventually challenge the UFC, they will need to work on these areas to keep the fans entertained and intrigued.
First off, the production values, or should I say, lack of production values.
The first show, entitled “Banned” only intrigued the hardcore fan, if you want to reach a wider fan base you have to have elements that tell the back story of the fighters, creates controversy, and gets you into their life to find out what type of person they are. During a break between fights Affliction decided to only show a wide shot of the entire arena while the commentators were bantering, and that was for lack of a better word, pathetic. There was no reason for the wide shot to be seen more then twice during the entire night and it added nothing to the show, and it comes off as lazy and unprepared.
The other improvement Affliction needs to make is with the commentating, and it looks like that will happen. They have brought in “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz to colour commentate, now if he is any good at it or not will be another thing, but what Ortiz does bring is experience, knowledge, and most importantly controversy. As respectful of a sport that MMA is, you always like a little bit of hatred now and then to spice things up. Affliction has also done away with Jay Glazer, Frank Trigg and “Big” John McCarthy and moved to play by play man Sean Wheelock and colour man Jimmy Smith who will join Ortiz ring side.
At least changing commentators happened, now if it will be better or not is something that we will just have to wait and find out.
The actual fight card itself this time around I would have to say is much more rounded, and better for Affliction. On the Banned show, the promotion had a heavy influx of Heavyweight fighters, going to the roots of boxing where the big strong guys are the most entertaining, but that's not exactly the case in MMA. This time around the “Day of Reckoning” show has a much more rounded roster of fighters on it, and features fighters of all weight classes.
The main event is going to be one for the ages. Andrei Arlovski taking on Fedor Emelianenko, right, is quite possibly the biggest heavyweight fight ever, since Fedor took on Mirko Cro-Cop in Pride and is a bigger fight then Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture in the UFC last November.
The crazy thing about Emelianenko is he is bar-none, the best heavyweight fighter in the world, and is rated by many as the best pound for pound fighter in the world, but nobody even really knows about him! He boasts a 29-1-0 record, with the only loss coming because he was struck illegally in a fight, sustained a cut to his eye and was forced to quit. He later went on to avenge that loss, but the fact remains that because Emelianenko fought in Japan for so many years, and dominated each and every fight there the only real fans that know about him are the hardcore fans who followed the sport when it was frowned upon. Emelianenko made waves when he disposed of former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at the last Affliction card in just 36 seconds and that was just the beginning of his exposure to the North American fan.
Andrei Arlovski is no joke either, he doesn't boast the record or credentials of Emelianenko, but he is considered the best striker in MMA, and many say he could compete for a title in boxing if he wanted to. Arlovski brings a lot of challenges to the table and is the only real competition that Emelianenko has faced in the last 18 months, not counting the tearing apart of Sylvia.
A lot of times when Emelianenko fights, it's a sure thing he's going to win, but in this case there is some doubt about Emelianenko being victorious, and that creates interest, and is just what Affliction needs.
Some other fights on the card that will draw in a lot of interest include Josh Barnett fighting Gilbert Yvel, this fight will no doubt be a war as both guys have huge knockout power and if this fight doesn't end with someone seeing stars I will be very surprised.
One of the more exciting fights on the card will feature 205er Renato “Babalu” Sobral, when he takes on Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. The two fighters always bring it and are both so well rounded. You have the top level Judo skills of RTS and the superior ground skills of Babalu and that makes for an interesting matchup.
My fight of the night is going to be Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon. Horodecki is a London native, so naturally I will be pulling for him but Dan Lauzon is no joke, he is the younger brother of UFC standout Joe Lauzon. The fight for Horodecki is going to be a coming out party of sorts; it will be his first fight on a real big stage as he has primarily fought in the now defunct IFL. These two 155lb fighters will make for a great show, and I am glad to see it getting on the main card as it will surely entertain and open up a broader spectrum to fans, and for these two relatively unknown fighters.
