MMA: Affliction's First Card with Sylvia-Fedor No Longer in Dallas or on HDNet

The scheduled location for Affliction’s inaugural MMA event on July 19 no longer appears to be Dallas. Sources close to the negotiations between Affliction and HDNet have reported that the proposed deal for the venue and broadcasting rights has fallen through.

The event was supposed to take place at the American Airlines Centre. The arena and HDNet, an HDTV cable network, is owned by billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban who also owns the basketball team the Dallas Mavericks.

Cuban was in talks with Affliction, a company that makes shirts currently worn by many pro fighters and who had planned on starting its own MMA promotion.

The deal was that the preliminary fights would be broadcast on HDNet in order to boost sales for the pay-per-view to be shown directly after.

The main event is slated to be a contest between former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, who is considered to be one of the top five pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not the absolute best.

Sylvia is rumored to earn $800,000 for the fight with a win bonus of $200,000. Fedor will earn between $1.5 and $2 million dollars. Middleweight fighter Matt Lindland is also scheduled to be on the card.

The rumored bankroll for the card is around $5-6 million. These details raise questions as to how long Affliction can survive as a promotion with a limited roster and huge payouts, which will almost certainly net them an early financial loss.

This is not the first time that Affliction has faltered when negotiating with other companies over broadcasting rights.

According to earlier reports, Affliction was in talks with Oscar De Le Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions as a potential partner. The goal was later to secure a deal with HBO, a premium cable provider, but that deal was abandoned also.

Famed UFC personality and champion Randy Couture, who has been sponsored by Affliction, stated on a radio program Saturday night that the event might be held at The Pond in Anaheim, Calif. He broke the news while on “Rear Naked Radio” on 105.3 FM in Dallas.

In related news, rival promotion EliteXC has banned its fighters from wearing Affliction clothing at its events, following in the footsteps of the UFC, which did the exact same thing a short while ago.

These two organizations understandably do not want to promote a competing organization on their own turf. Some fighters have complained, saying that Affliction constituted 50 percent of their sponsorship money.

If Affliction cannot get a broadcasting deal in the next two months then their card may be solely on pay-per-view. They have not had an official press release regarding the unveiling of their new promotion.