UFC is owned by billionaires Lorenzo and Frank Fertta, also the owners of Station Casinos. HDNet, which will promote its own league as well as air any non-UFC looking for exposure, is owned by Dallas Mavericks owner, billionaire Mark Cuban.
Affliction, a t-shirt company that has decided to enter the live event and pay per view business of mixed martial arts, has formed an alliance with real estate billionaire and reality show superstar Donald Trump.
Now Trump's son, Donald Jr., is getting in on the publicity surrounding MMA. In an interview with the Daily Intel section of New York Magazine's website, Junior talks about his father's involvement in MMA and the fact that as Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions for the Trump organization, he has a vested interest in his family's involvement in Affliction.
Just when you thought there was absolutely nowhere else to go beyond the towers and the TV show, the Trump empire is expanding once again. This time, the Donald & Co. have bought a portion of Affliction, the new mixed martial arts league, which will face off against Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in the realm of televised, no-holds-barred beatings.
In case you didn’t know, this is the blood sport that John McCain once called "human cockfighting"—pretty little Miss USA it ain’t.
"Our family has always been into sports," Don Jr. explains.
"Granted, my dad wasn’t exactly the kind of dad who would take us outside and play catch...I grew up watching boxing matches, mostly at the [Trump] properties in Atlantic City, and once mixed martial arts developed, I got really into that."
True to Trump form, the bottom line is never far from mind. He adds, "Plus, it’s a phenomenal growth sport."
We’ll see this Saturday night, when Affliction airs its first pay per view fight card. "To the non-fighter, extreme fighting can appear to be excessively violent," says Don Jr., who assures us the fighters are always in control.
So in control that the Little Donald himself would consider jumping in the ring? "At best, I’d give myself fractions of a second with a real mixed martial arts fighter," he laughed. "If I could do even that it would probably beat the oddsmakers’ expectations."
Much more on Donald Trump, Jr.'s foray into MMA Cage Fighting can be found at donald_trump_jr.
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about 1 month ago
When Pa Pa Trump squared off with Vince McMahon at a WWE event he survived with every hair in his combover intact, so he must feel pretty confident as Dana is already bald headed.
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