On Tuesday, May 19, mixed martial arts fans were treated to the blockbuster announcement of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski joining the Strikeforce: “Lawler vs. Shields” card on June 6 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
And I know I speak for a lot of fans when I unabashedly exclaim “Hooray!”
“The Pitbull” adds a certain level of star power to an already solid night of MMA action. But in MMA, much as in life, you can’t rob Peter to pay Paul.
With that in mind, I’m wondering what the significance is of this announcement in terms of a future show from Affliction.
There’s no question that “The T-shirt Guys” have built their promotion around Fedor Emelianenko. He’s been in the main event of both “Banned” and “Day of Reckoning,” as well as a rumored third event, possibly against Josh Barnett.
But aside from “The Last Emperor,” the second biggest draw for Affliction has undoubtedly been Andrei Arlovski.
And why not? Tim Sylvia notwithstanding, the Belarusian has been a heavyweight terror prior to the Emelianenko fight. He has the look, the power and the skills to put on exciting fights — and even more exciting finishes.
And he boasts a very broad and loyal fan base.
Which is why I find the timing of his participation in Strikeforce, which according to the Strikeforce press release is being sponsored by Affliction, a bit peculiar.
Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has stated as recently as last week that a third show “is being put together right now.”
If that’s the case, it’s hard to imagine a successful pay-per-view without one of its leading stars.
Arlovski will compete on June 6, and his fight against Brett Rogers is one he’ll likely win. But let’s not pretend the fight does not come without risk.
“The Grim” is a big heavyweight with heavy hands. He can take a punch and has knockout power. Arlovski is not exactly a sitting duck, but he can be knocked out. And a loss to Rogers could be very damaging to his drawing power in future events.
What does a win or loss for Arlovski do to the timeline of a future Affliction event? Again, I find it hard to believe that Atencio and Co. would hold a third event — where every pay-per-view buy is critical, without one of their biggest draws.
If we opt for the best case scenario and Arlovski wins, how soon can he be ready to compete again? Two months? Three months?
Personally, if Arlovski won, I would much rather see him stick around and fight Alistair Overeem for the Strikeforce heavyweight title than return to Affliction to beat up on a mid-level talent.
Now let’s assume he wins but gets cut, or tweaks a knee, and faces a medical suspension. Or worst case scenario, he loses. What then?
I think the participation of Arlovski on June 6 is indicative of just how far along Affliction is in the planning of another MMA show. To be frank, not very far at all. After all, Atencio himself is fighting on June 27 in Mississippi.
If they are however close to announcing Affliction 3, which they very well might be, then they’re taking a big gamble on unintentionally excluding Andrei Arlovski.
Affliction 3 could be held at the end of 2009 with his inclusion, but that presents another problem. Brand building is nearly impossible without momentum, and two shows a year may not be enough to sustain fan interest, especially in today’s “NOW” culture (coupled with a monthly presence in one form or another by the UFC and Strikeforce).
Deep down I hope that Affliction can stay afloat. I like having different choices when it comes to MMA programming, and I understand that no business can make it big without taking a few risks.
It just seems that Affliction keeps taking all the wrong ones.
Coincidentally, Atencio’s fight on June 27 will be on a card named “Ultimate Chaos.” Draw your own conclusions.
I’m not sure what the future holds, but I can speak for the present. Andrei Arlovski is doing what any great fighter does: Win or lose, he’s fighting whoever they put in front of him on a consistent basis, without regard to promotion or location.
And like I said earlier, I know I speak for a lot of fans when I unabashedly exclaim “Hooray!”
71 Comments »
My question is, who will be paying AA’s salary?
My guess would be Strikeforce. Strikeforce can return the favour when Affliction needs a replacement or big name fighter for their supposed show
GoldenBoy promotions will have something to do with it also. Like I said months ago, the only logical step for a rival to the UFC would be for Afflication and Strikeforce to merge. GoldenBoy would be part of the arrangement as a partner, or silent partner. If people play their cards right, big things will be just around the corner.
I agree. I think that Affliction and Strikeforce should join forces – allow Affliction to be one of the big sponsors of the show, t-shirts, banners, commercials, ect, bring their fighters over to Strikeforce and have a much more solid roster of fighters – with name power and skill level.
Affliction paid him when they did the thing with Elite. So i imagine that’s the case now because strikeforce for sure can’t, and there is not question about this, afford 1 mil+ that he’s getting.
Three ways only work with me and two other girls
Three dicks in the same room = no progress. It would never work.
Lets see…”Fighters” with “T-shirt guys” with a “boxer” hmmmmm???? Ah! how about no.
I think it makes perfect sense for Affliction to do a merger with Strikeforce, but I don’t think it is such a great idea for Strikeforce. Affliction only has a handful of good fighters, and they are paying them big money. Affliction will eventually stop promoting mma cards, probably after the next show, so Strikeforce can just wait for Affliction to die a brutal death, and then try to pick up the guys they want after that. The UFC will try to get Fedor, but who knows if Fedor wants to go with the UFC. Even if Strikeforce can’t get Fedor, they can probably scoop up a huge chunk of the rest of the fighters.
TJ Grant vs Kampman possibly at TUF finale
AA on Strikeforce will possibly increase his name recognition for future Affliction shows no?? Also, if Affiction is going to stick around their payroll MUST be decreased meaning fighters will have to fight in other orgs to sustain their training and standard of living.
i agree, and maybe affliction can’t afford to put aa on there next card.
true roy…if they are thinking July then they had better hurry up
If Affliction and Strikeforce form a tighter partnership they would have a pretty formiddable roster of fighters.
First, you’re forgetting he took the Strikeforce fight with a little over two weeks to prepare (unless they’ve known for awhile and just announced it), so fighting in July would not be out of the question for him. Second, hopefully Affliction has come to their senses and are beginning to filter their fighters into and under the Strikeforce banner and forget their attempt at PPV’s, or they will combine with Strikeforce, create unified belts and make the Afflicition PPV’s the championship fights (ala UFC).
I’m not forgetting anything. My point is no one knows what could happen in a fight, i.e. he could face a medical suspension even if he wins and be on the shelf. It’s risky.
It’s definately risky, but they may be possibly hinging on an even riskier marketing strategy by cross promoting the Affliction PPV’s. They need some better exposure to draw more people in and a larger show like the upcoming Strikeforce may help. Even if they do need to sacrifice AA. Besides, like you said, who is he going to fight at Affliction that would be of interest anymore? I don’t necessarily like mixing organizations unless they both fight for the same belts.
Great Post Jesse
Thanks brother
AA vs Fedor in the fall if both guys win this summer…I’m glad AA is still in MMA
I’d rather see Fedor vs anyone else if he wins…ie. Overeem
Why Fedor? It wasn’t like it was a bad stoppage or controversial decision. I would much rather see a victorious AA battle Overeem.
AA/Overeem would be so fuckin’ solid it would give me a boner.
Uh, gay, not that there is anything wrong with that.
because he showed in their previous fight,that he has the tools to beat Fedor,and if it was not for a very arrogant move by Andre ,who knows what would have happened.
And, if I would have invented Yahoo……who knows?….lol.
I’d rather Fedor and Arlovski face new opponents as it’s too soon for a rematch. Like Jesse said, the stoppage wasn’t controversial, it was a beautiful KO from Fedor. Sure, AA looked good in the fight but less than a round of a title fight isn’t long enough to judge a performance on. I doubt that the result of a rematch would be any different. I’d like to see Fedor-AA II at some point but only after they have both faced other fighters like Barnett, Werdum and Overreem.
I’d rather AA stay in Strikeforce. They have a much better chance of building a solid organization now, he would get more exposure there. I believe eventually the Affliction guys will gravitate out to other organizations anyway. But, why would they leave now…if you’re getting a nice paycheck for fighting once a year, why leave until they tell you to.
introvert so you are back to being a d#ck,you know Andre was winning the fight ,he was frustrating Fedor,making him miss by a few feet everytime he tried to answer one of Arlovski punches,the only shots he had landed before the overhand right was in the clinch.Andre was getting the best of Fedor ,and got arrogant.I would like to see AA get another shot at Fedor,do I really want to see it right now,NO,but AA deserves another shot with Fedor down the road,
I agree, I’d like to see a rematch, but not for awhile. Problem is, after Barnett, assuming a win, who’s Fedor going to fight in Affliction that would be of any interest besides AA again (which in my opinion will end in much the same manner)?
he needs to earn antoher shot, he does not deserve one for getting knocked out in the first round.he did good but he was not hurting fedor with anything and we never even saw the gound game where he would have lost easily, fedor beat him at his own game in the first round.
I agree, but after Barnett, who is Fedor going to fight that would be an interesting match up for him, assuming he wins? Hell, it might make better sense for Affliction if Fedor loses to Barnett. It may make for much better potential fights for Affliction.
I’m not disagreeing with you scott…AA was ahead on my score card, FOR HALF OF ONE ROUND!!!!!
What if Kimo beat Royce Gracie?
What if Serra beat GSP in their second fight?
What if Cote knocked out Anderson Silva?
What if Tim Silvia beat Fedor?
What if Tito beat Chuck?
What if Gomi beat Diaz?
What if Vera…?
What if…?
What…?
…
Introvert, you really are crazy…But it’s all good!
I think Arlovski could kick the shit out of Fedor, that is if Big Nog would lend Arlovski his chin for the fight. haha
me too but if I had to choose an opponent for Fedor it wouldn’t be AA…takes away from the legacy imo
Becuase they will try to milk Fedor for everything fight possible…they could sell a rematch real easy….I’m with you AA vs Overeem is nuts but that is my hunch…
Hell, if AA can book a fight just 3 or so months after getting ktfo by Fedor, he can certainly fuck Rogers up and still fight for Affliction 2 or 3 months later. Anything can happen in a fight, but Rogers will not even be a challenge for AA if his striking is as good as it was against Fedor. Hell, he can probably even get away with some flying knees too.
Andrei does have the tools to beat Fedor. I believe that his striking is better, and if it goes to the ground they are both from sambo backgrounds. I do not feel that Andrei would sub Fedor but I do feel that he would be intelligent enough to get out of Fedors sub attempts to get it back on the feet. I think if they fought again Andrei would get the win.
I thought Arlovski was still sleeping?
with your mom
This is supposed to be a cut at juice22’s comment? shogun, you wouldn’t want AA as your step-dad?
it was weak but he put they same weak line up the other day so i had to follow suit. and yes i would let aa sleep with my mom.
How taste my pee-pee-pee!!!
burn
burn[ed]?
lol~ and now he’s itchy all over..
AA fighting on Showtime will help get Affliction back into the mind of MMA fans. Great fight btw AA should obviously take it Roger is still pretty green but hes not bad at all.
This is the same issue that I had with Arlovski taking the fight with Nelson for EliteXC. Whilst it helped Elite pull in higher ratings on CBS as well as keep Andrei in the limelight, a defeat would have been catastrophic for both AA and Affliction as it would have destroyed the proposed Fedor-AA WAMMA title fight. I think that Affliction are taking a big risk once again in a bid to keep their fighters busy and gain more exposure for them and the Affliction brand, as a defeat would once again damage AA’s drawing power. Whilst Andrei is the big favourite, Grim is a dangerous striker and could potenitally KO AA, so this is a massive risk in my opinion.
And that was a scary first round against “Big Country” — Arlovski got a gift when the ref stood them up…
true, but i don’t know what Andrei’s thinking with in his fights, He decides to take the fat boy down and winds up on the bottom.. He had him dominated in the standup and it was just extremely stupid to take him down and it almost cost him the fight..
Here’s my questions, and Jesse, maybe you can answer it: when Arlovski first signed on with Affliction, everything I read was that his contract was going to be for 3 fights. He’s had 3 fights under Affliction, so it’s his contract up?
2 fights under Affliction and one in Elite…
he KOed Nelson in Elite, beat Buenatello (sp?) in Aff. and got KOed by Fedor in Affliction…good question though…I guess when they cross-promote and lend fighters to other orgs it doesn’t count against their contract…Jesse, does that sound right??
He beat buenatello in UFC ,he beat Ben Rothswell in the first Affliction card,
yep…my mistake
Hooray indeed Holland. This is indeed last minute, AA did not know about this ahead of time and has not been preparing for it. The CBS fight was an extra one and does not count on his 3 fight contract, he still has one with Affliction. I agree with everyone, even Holland, this is very risky for AA and the maybe Affliction card was rumored for august, so he could make it if he stays healthy. He also has a June 27th boxing debut, not sure what will happen with that. He travelled to LA to prepare 6 weeks for the boxing bout, so now he has to come back to Chicago. Crazy sport!
indeed…crazy, but extremely appealing
From what I’ve read, Arlovski taking this fight has canceled his boxing debut.
As far as the contract goes, if his fight in Elite XC didnt count against his Affliction contract, did Elite XC just sign him to a one fight deal? Or was there ever any contract at all with Elite XC? I imagine there was. If not, the only contract he had was with Affliction, and the guy aint fightin for free, so someone is payin him, and if it was Affliction, I’d say that would count as a fight under Affliction. It was kind of a co-promoted deal there, so it was under Affliction one way or another.
I gotta say, after all the low level organizations out there that have come and gone in the last few years, Strikeforce is the first one outside of the UFC that I am admittedly excited about putting on events. I believe they have a solid and realistic business plan and are not overly ambitious with their events. However, my only drawback is that I’d still like to see one organization and one belt. I hate what happened with boxing over the years. Over time there have been so many organizations, so many belts, greedy promoters who held off putting on stellar fights until the fighters were past their prime, and just a complete mess of the judges and legitimacy of the decisions. In my opinion, that’s why boxing has failed. Like Dana White or not, the UFC is great because they pick who the fighters fight, and they make them fight. Somewhere along the line with boxing, the promoters were permitted to put on shitty undercard fights and so-so main events with questionable decisions and charge top dollar for the PPV, and we would all buy in and make them rich. I hope MMA never goes that direction.
it would be nice but its unrealistic, the ufc has put on shitty undercards and subpar main events like you say boxing did, with compition they have gotten better and they also decide who fights and not who is the real numbner 1 contender, and the last problem is the ufc can not sign every fighter.
It is unrealistic, but I’m hoping they all learned a lesson from boxing. MMA is by far more exciting, so even the undercard fights are entertaining. The UFC does understand that they need to put on exciting events, top to bottom, to keep the public interest. There has definately been some hits and misses on their cards, but they’re putting on an event sometimes 3 times a month now. It would definately be nice to have every organization fighting for the same belt, but yes, probably unrealistic…
With respect to Strikeforce, they are looking like a legitimate organization. I’m actually excited for their cards so far, which is saying alot considering some of the weaker organizations that have tried and failed.
Strikeforce is trying, I’ll give them that. If you want to talk about exciting, so far the girls fighting last week was probably the best card that night. Oh yeah, and that wicked uderneath uppercut knock out.
The UFC “tries” to put together good cards and usually succeeds, but we all know how that can go sometimes (ie Silva v Leites)
AA has cajones….a real fn fighter….whoever, whenever, where ever….nice….
X2 WAR PITBULL!!!
Good….AA needs to knock Rogers out and then come back to the UFC and get his title back. I would like nothing more than to watch Arlovski KO Lesnar.
Affliction was counting on selling Fedor (and Affliction) to the American audience with wins over Sylvia and Arlovski. They are now screwed because that didn’t work and Fedor is out of legit (marketable) opponents.
Affliction and Fedor = EliteXC and Kimbo – hinging the success of your organization on one fighter is doomed to failure; regardless of how good your fighter is.
Good point
yea and like a lot of you said, when fedor beats barnett which im pretty confident he will do so very easily then what the hell is left for him??? im thinking the winner of aa/rogers will face the winner of overreem/werdum…but fedor has nothing left after barnett…there isnt a fucking thing waiting on him in affliction..
im pretty sure aa will walk through rogers..i mean come on, he goes from fighting the greatest heavyweight in history to fighting rogers…so im pretty sure aa will fight the winner of overeem and werdum…which im pretty confident that overeem will pull out this time….aa vs alister is a great fucking fight….and seeing how affliction goes like 638384747339339 months between fights fedor is just gonna sit around watching everyone else fight instead of fighting himself…
i just dont see barnett doing shit against fedor…there is nothing that dude has to offer that fedor cant counter in a thousand ways….so its very likely that in less than a year we’ll see an arlovski/fedor rematch..
it really depends on arlovski’s contract…if he walks through rogers he might end up back in the ufc…him vs brock would be a huge fight to build up is brock if successful against mir..i dont see carwin or congo getting by that guy
i keep putting that comment because i got sick to death hearing aa and freddie roach run their c*cksuckers about how aa was going to run through fedor.
aa nuthuggers, your glass-jawed turd is no longer relevent…
and he’s still sleeping.
Ya know what, all the talk is about Arlovski takin out the Grimm, and I have always been a very big Arlovski fan, but I personally know the Grimm, and hes a homeboy of mine, and I can confidently say that this fight wont be as simple as you think, Sure Arlovski can BOX good, but can he wrestle? Not so much…and Da Grimm has Something Arlovski hasn’t had in a long time…He is HUNGRY…but I hope Arlovski underestimates Grimm just like the guy who wrote this…