UFC Fight Night 14: Sabotage, a Tale of Tactics

"

One common thread among hardcore fans of Mixed Martial Arts—call it a unifying factor—is the predisposition to criticize UFC President Dana White. Few doubt his business acumen, but search the forums and you will find thread after thread, where backseat fight organization leaders criticize his attitude, his mouth, his way of relating to his fighters, payouts, the Pride FC fiasco…

But when a new organization rears its head and weak-minded forum seers prophesy Dana’s downfall, the tides turn, rivers run backward, and throngs turn out to assert the invulnerability of the UFC and its polarizing leader.

It happened as Pride fell from glory. It happened with the Russian M-1 promotion (perhaps the "M" stood for "Mirage"). It happened when Elite XC’s CBS event, despite the strong ratings, was fraught with controversy and unprofessionalism.

Now, again, a new promotion rises up to take its shot at...I would normally say "the big time," but really "viability" is the core issue in this sport. Still, amidst a landscape of sickly or decaying MMA organizations, Affliction: Banned appears to have all the makings of a very viable promotion.

The fight card is phenomenal. Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, and Ben Rothwell comprise 60 percent of the world’s top-10 heavyweight fighters.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland each command great attention, and those whom I haven’t bothered to name are all worthy competitors.

Branding is another key issue. Affliction has been a household name among MMA fans for years, and it seems natural that such a promotion could exist—particularly with the immense draw of the fighters that will be featured.

Then there’s Donald Trump.

*pause for effect*

 

Get your MMA, Football, and Boxing Prediction Strategies Now!

Mark Cuban, I get. Gazillionaire casino owners, I get. Donald Trump, I don’t get. But, at least in theory, what sane MMA fan could object to the notion of such powerful backing? I may not get it, but, frankly, I like it.

The UFC brings us a lot of great fights from great fighters, but many key athletes have slipped through the cracks. If a new, strong organization can scoop up these wayward warriors and give them a venue—in the US, at that—to do what they do, well, that’s what fans want.

So, to address the question on everyone’s mind, what does Dana White have to say about this? He’s hardly a man who welcomes competition. In interviews, he regards hopeful upstarts with aloofness and occasionally with disdain—much like the top fighters who have eluded his grasp.

But he’s never really had a reason or opportunity to compete beyond staying the course and putting on consistently good shows (I’m suddenly reminded of how he dismantled Pride and flushed the lion’s share of its attributes and talent down the toilet—but, water under the bridge, they say).

Clearly, White is paying attention to Affliction. And, clearly, he doesn’t want us to. Hence, the unanticipated (and suspicious) materialization UFC Fight Night 14; which was not-so-coincidentally scheduled for July 19. The same night as the Affliction promotion. On Spike. For free.

This was a rare maneuver on the part of a harsh, but generally passive Dana White. The strange thing is that, quite uncharacteristic of UFC promotions, UFN 14, which I’ve affectionately nicknamed "Sabotage," has all the tell-tale signs of an event that is simply being thrown together.

Yes, seeing Hermes Franca and Frankie Edgar fight would be an edifying experience, but it hardly has the appeal of, well, any of the fights on the Affliction card. So, to top off UFN 14, we will get to see Anderson "Spider" Silva fight James Irvin at 205-lbs.

I felt uncomfortable just typing that.

Anderson Silva has destroyed his UFC competition at his normal weight class of 185-lbs., so the idea of him fighting at 205 is not without merit. Irvin is a troublesome opponent, though, as he is not what we think of as "top-level" competition, yet he is in a higher weight class.

Even though the middleweight belt is not at stake, this is an enormous risk to the reputation of one of the UFC’s brightest stars.

I am reminded of Wanderlei Silva taking on the vastly larger Mark Hunt at Pride: Shockwave in 2004. At the time, "The Axe Murder" seemed invincible in his weight class, and Hunt, with all his wonderful advantages, is hardly a top mixed martial artist.

As the fight unfolded, though, Hunt overwhelmed the light-heavyweight champion with his size and strength, and handed Wanderlei his first loss since Tito Ortiz—19 matches prior. And besides taking heavy punishment from Hunt, that was the thing that stuck with Wanderlei: losing the mystique of invincibility.

James Irvin is not Mark Hunt, but he’s no slouch, and he will enjoy the comfort of fighting at a weight class he is familiar with. "Spider" can be thankful, though, that the size factor will not be nearly as disparate as the Silva/Hunt fight. The fact remains that it is a fight that no one asked for and, as the matchup is both short-notice and unorthodox, Anderson Silva has much to lose and little to gain from it.

The core question, though, whether or not one approves of the headliner or White’s tactics, is if the tactics will actually work. The maneuver, however clever, is utterly transparent and (in my humble opinion) utterly anemic. The Spike smokescreen offers little to woo fans from the fabulousness of the Affliction card.

Further, in this world of DVRs, forum play-by-plays, and pirated online video, the many thousands of fans who pass on UFN 14 in favor of Affliction will easily satiate their curiosity while nursing hangovers Sunday morning.

Conventional wisdom suggests that this inaugural Affliction promotion will lose money the first time around. It is also reasonable to suggest that, barring "gremlins" such as Elite XC experienced, Affliction: Banned should be a great event.

This writer is of the mind that Affliction succeeds or fails independent of any UFC attempt to preemptively smite the fledgling promotion. The names currently signed are extremely appealing and may well be the beginnings of a new gravitational pull in Mixed Martial Arts for homeless top fighters or those who, for whatever reasons, find themselves exiting top organizations.

I would not dare suggest the impending doom of the UFC. They are an established, well-oiled machine. All the key elements are in place for Affliction, though. If managed properly, there is no reason that we couldn’t soon have two top American promotions, standing toe-to-toe.

As I am writing, intelligence of an appearance by Megadeath at Affliction comes to me. I am conflicted...Affliction: Banned is now a borderline-multi-media event. Is death metal irrelevant to MMA? Yes and no. Irrelevant to the art of fighting. Very relevant to the dark and dangerous image of the new promotion.

I smell symbiosis.

 

Get your MMA, Football and Boxing Prediction Strategies Now!

"