Since I make a habit of reading everything on the Internet about MMA, I ran across an article submitted to MMARated.com by arielhelwani stating that Donald Trump will be announcing Andrei Arlovski's signing with Affliction.
The press conference will be held in Manhattan tomorrow; but the surprising news to me was the involvement of "the Donald" who is new to the face of MMA, save for having Tito Ortiz as a star on his TV show "The Apprentice" earlier this year.
Imagine my shock upon learning that Trump now has an equal partnership in the Affliction promotion of their "Banned" production, which many had opined should be titled 'Doomed' and predicted would be a financial disaster capable of doing in the Affliction company altogether.
According to Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, Michael D. Cohen, "everything Donald Trump does is the biggest and the best, and the "Affliction Banned" show will be just that."
After proclaiming Tito Ortiz to have impressed him as a very fine businessman, one can only wonder if their friendship is a clue to Mr. Trump's sudden interest in dipping his toe in the MMA pool to test the waters for investment potential.
In the future, will the Fertita brothers be the only billionaires to own an MMA organization, or will fellow moguls like Donald Trump and Mark Cuban find their way to the top tier of the MMA sports world?
As always, only time will tell who will be running with the big dogs and who will be leading the pack.
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4 months ago
The Arloski signing has been rumored for a couple of weeks now. I am looking forward to the show.
4 months ago
I'm not a big fan of trump but if he and other money men like cuban want to empty their pockets into MMA i'm all for it. On a side note, this fight card just keeps getting better and better .... vitor belfort is signed on now as well.
from 4 months ago
Vitor is training at Chute Boxe and is going to fight at 185 not 205. I thought they would bring him in to fight Tito but that's what Lil' Nog is for.
from 4 months ago
vitor wants tito bad, hes been saying so all over the internet. with trump coming in to affliction you gotta believe tito signing is a virtual lock. i hope these guys are in it for the long haul and dont go belly up before the end of the year.
from 4 months ago
Vitor at 185 is intruging. However, I do not find Ortiz vs Belfort to be a very interesting match anymore.
4 months ago
Arlovski is rumored to be fighting Ben Rothwell. I hope the old Arlovski shows up, because the one who fought Werdum and O'Brien would lose to Big Ben.
4 months ago
Ortiz beat Vitor three years ago. And I highly doubt Vitor has improved a lot since then. What makes him think a rematch would go any differently? He matches up horribly against Ortiz (though their fight went to a split decision).
There never was an "Old Vitor." That's a myth. He definitely had potential though, if he dedicated himself. I've heard that his coaches have to drag him into the gym and make him train, because he doesn't have the heart to hurt people and that's why he lacks a real killer instinct.
But who would he fight at 185 for Affliction? I'd like to see him fight Lindland, and have Fabio Negeo fight someone else.
On a side note, Vitor has the same record as Couture, 16-8. Coincidence? I think not.
4 months ago
Same record as Couture what does that mean! They are not 3-0 like the best mma out there who you ask? Kimbo! Holla! Big Rapper!
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