http://rearnaked.blogspot.com/2008/09/afflictions-gamble.html
When I first heard the announcement that Affliction and Golden Boy would promote hybrid events featuring boxing and MMA fights, I shook my head in disbelief. However, it did not surprise me.
Companies in trouble often grasp for straws. Affliction could not sell a thousand tickets for their second event. A fatal miscalculation led to their predicament and now the solution is a collage of boxing and Mixed Martial Arts.
I just do not get it, and neither do most other Mixed Martial Arts fans.
The concept sounds intriguing at first. Combine the two sports and create a mega-event. The problem is that the two sports are not as closely linked as people think. Both feature fighting and a referee, but the similarities end there.
- B/R Ticket Guide
MMA has succeeded because it is not boxing. Boxing events are built around one huge fight and a series of lesser matchups. MMA uses the pro wrestling formula and builds a strong card from top to bottom. It lives off of the concept that any fighter can win and some day become a star. It is the polar opposite of boxing.
The details of the hybrid events have not yet been revealed. I sincerely hope they think it through and go with moderation. A fight card split between boxing and MMA would be a disaster.
The only way I could see this working is if the events feature a series of MMA fights and one boxing match. The boxing match would need to be a huge draw and feature top talent. Then the one big boxing match would draw PPV buys without annoying diehard MMA fans.
Any more than one boxing match and you run the risk of alienating MMA fans, who are usually not boxing fans to begin with.
I am not sure when or where the misconception began, but it grows with each passing year. For some reason, people think MMA fans are also interested in boxing. They think MMA fans are simply disgruntled boxing fans.
While there are some who fit this description, the majority of MMA fans could care less about boxing. To me it is like Wimbledon deciding to hold ping pong tournaments at Centre Court.
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2 months ago
"To me it is like Wimbledon deciding to hold ping pong tournaments at Centre Court." Ha ha.
I disagree with your point that boxing is different to MMA, because both sports rely on the main event to attract customers. I think the difference is that a huge boxing fight is a lot bigger than a huge MMA fight, how many people in Mexico or the Philippines care about Fedor's next fight?
2 months ago
I've heard of several different events where they mixed MMA and boxing, and all of them were a disaster. The prototypical boxing crowd (that will pay for tickets to events) is completely different demographic-wise than an MMA crowd.
That's not to say they can't make this work. It's just that they face long odds.
2 months ago
boxing and mma have no right being in the same card mma is a clean sport and fair, boxing on the other hand is not my point is as simple as two words don king think about it. Its a sad day to be a mma fan i do hope im wrong i willnt buy aff again they could have been a great show but they $$$$up doing this.
2 months ago
This is a great idea.... Competition is great.... UFC eliminated Pride... which was a better mismanaged company with better fighters. Then they got fake wrestling fans by signing Brock. Last thing I want to do is goto a UFC event and have some loud mouthed wrestling fan sitting there. Besides Brock is a huge steroid guy that just lays on guys... sure he was a good college. If your gonna bring a guys that outweigh the division.... at least make a super heavyweight division. OK.... that was a bit off topic... Anyhow.... alot of people jumped ship from boxing fans to MMA fans and some just started out as MMA fans. So why not try to salvage boxing by getting people interested again. If it doesn't work.. so be it. Dana White would have tried something to get the rest of the boxing fan base eventually anyways.... people need to quit being naive.
2 months ago
"Besides Brock is a huge steroid guy that just lays on guys."
Lesnar has never failed a steroid test, not in college, not when trying out for the Vikings or before any of his three MMA fights. Want to know why? Because he doesn't take steroids. The dude is a natural athlete, a gifted freak of nature. His body isn't a "show" body, the kind of body you get from steroids. His body is a "do" body, the kind of body that comes when you have unreal genetics and combine it with hard work.
If you want to discredit Lesnar, you're going to have to come up with a real argument, or at least one with some semblance of truth.
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