Bleacher Report - Articles by Adam Schoonover

Golden Boy Production will be the worst thing to happen to MMA.

Adam Schoonover — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 14:08:20 -0400

I have never been a big fan of Affliction, but if this deal with Golden Boy Production goes down and they try to make a Boxing/MMA card, I will be their biggest hater.

I will boycott every one of those freak shows. It’s the same thing as trying to watch football/baseball at the same time. They are two differently paced sports that don’t go together.

I don’t put vegetables in my Lucky Charms and I don’t put Boxing in my MMA.

Why, when MMA is on its rocket ship ride to overtaking Boxing as the dominant combat sport in America, would it take a hundred steps back by looking as if it could not survive without Boxing carrying it.

While I don’t feel that boxing will disappear anytime soon (if ever) it is on the decline. MMA pay-per view matches are out right beating boxing in pay-per view sales on a regular basis, losing only to Boxing's last remaining superstars.

This feels like a pathetic thing to do for both Boxing and Affliction. This is a poor attempt by Boxing to get some of their lost glory back while riding MMA's coattails, and by Affliction for showing once again that they don’t know, get, or listen to what MMA fans want.

Affliction would gladly sacrifice all of MMA’s hard earned reputation just to try to hold on to their short lived life.

Look at all the crap that has come out of the boxing community (which includes promoters, athletes, commentators, and fans) and I quote for example: Lou Dibella (boxing promoter), “It has nothing to do with boxing the same way wrestling has nothing to do with boxing ... it’s human cock fighting in my view or, uhm, pit-bull fighting.”

Jim Lampley (boxing commentator), “[It] means nothing ... it's a bar fight ... boxing is a skill that is lightyears beyond anything they have in ultimate fighting.”

Floyd Mayweather: “I feel the guys in UFC couldn’t make it in boxing so they chose the UFC. They fight for, like what, twelve minutes. They fight a street fight for twelve minutes.”

Why should MMA do anything to help Boxing's overpaid pretty boy promoters cash in on their hard work?

Now that they have bled Boxing dry, they are trying to moving into MMA. Can MMA survive if Boxing's corrupt promoters stick their noses in its business?

Sadly I fear for a short time, yes it could, but at a great cost to the sport.

What will Affliction do if this doesn’t work? Have Fedor fight a bear, or maybe have Arlouski jump 19 cheerleaders while wearing roller skates.

It’s just sad and pathetic.

The Affliction's Time of Death

Adam Schoonover — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:57:32 -0400

What is the real cause of Affliction's slow death?

With all the hype and great debate going on throughout the Internet about the UFC /Affliction rivalry how can it be that Affliction already have lost, before the fight really started?

Answer: Donald (my wig is fooling no one) Trump.

When Affliction was promoting their first event, Donald (I married my daughter’s Malibu Barbie) Trump went on live radio and saying that they had sold out of tickets when in fact there were thousands left. And whose bright idea was it to have Mega Death and fire works, (because we all know MMA fan are wrestling fans)? Once again Donald (I want to be the white P Diddy) Trump.

The fact is Affliction was spending money they didn’t have to try and meet the UFC head on. This is what Donald (I’ve gone bankrupted before) Trump has always done. He tries to go bigger and better than anyone else without knowing anything about it. Let's face it, Affliction the t-shirt company would have never tried this without him. Last I checked, Tap Out didn't try this and they out sold Affliction three to one.

As long as Donald (the MMA KILLER) Trump continues making the comments and decisions he has been he will only speed up the process. Affliction needs to fix their pay rates and start with smaller events to build up to the big events, but there is no way The MMA Killer will let them.

With the cancellation of there Oct. pay-per view will we really ever see a second Affliction event? I’m the first to say I’m not a big Affliction fan and was disappointed with their pay-per view, but I had hoped for a longer rivalry than this.

Now what will Fedor and the other fighters do? Where will they look for jobs? Who in this world of MMA can hire them? WHO? Oh yeah the UFC baby!

Will The UFC Be The Next WWE?

Adam Schoonover — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:17:59 -0400

What is the future for the UFC and MMA?

Dana White and the Fertitta brothers have done more for the sport of MMA then anyone else, but where do they look for an examples of future promotions of MMA to stay on top?

The answer is the WWE.

Being the closest in term of logistics on sport “entertainment,” the WWE is a perfect template for MMA to follow.

Now, I’m not talking about the stupid fireworks and rock shows. I’m talking about how the WWE is still growing and has managed to remove any real competitors. The WWE is the top dog in the wrestling world, having put their biggest competitor (WCW) out of business and making themselves their only competition.

After creating "Smackdown" and buying out ECW, the WWE and Vince McMahon have positioned themselves as their own best friend.With three top wrestling shows on different channels and a huge list of wrestlers on the payroll, there is no room for anyone else.

Vince McMahon can move his wrestlers around his different organizations to boost ratings and keep things fresh. It also gives him the ability to put on the must see match of top wrestlers from the different organizations. They also own several handfuls of small organizations where they look for new talent and train them.

Now, look at Dana White and the Fertitta brothers. With the purchase of Pride, WEC and (I believe) Britain’s cage fights, the UFC is slowly grabbing the whole market. With MMA growing all the time, it is only natural there will be more then one MMA organization, but who’s to say the UFC won’t own them.

The fact is UFC is on the right road with all the hard turns behind them. As it stands, Affliction has the best chances of making a run at UFC, but they just don't get that MMA fans aren’t wrestling fans.

Fireworks and rock shows are stupid.

EliteXC is running out of money and Dream 6 is just that: a dream.

They just won’t be able to dethrone the UFC as the MMA kings.

However, say the UFC buys out Affliction and keeps them alive (unlike pride). Now, they own their competition and can cross promote like mad men. Or say they buy and “fix” EliteXC. That would put them on primetime as well with SPIKE. Now they can test new fighters out there first and build up their hype before bring them to the UFC roster.

At UFC's current growth rate, it is not hard to see them taking this route in the near future. But, you never know. Life is funny. Today, Dana’s saying he hates Affliction and they’ll be out of business before January. But, tomorrow he may say they’re the second best investment he’s made.

The Fertitta brothers are the money behind the UFC, which means they’re the ones making the big decisions. Yes, Dana’s input probably plays a big role in their decisions, but it is still up to them. Dana White is their guard dog watching over their house, so he likes to bark a lot.

A Final thought: when Vince McMahon took the WWE public, he went from being a multi-millionaire to a multi-billionaire over-night with endless resources at his disposal. How long before we are buying our UFC stocks and action figures?

Tito Ortiz on The Way To Loneliness at The Top

Adam Schoonover — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 11:59:07 -0400

When did Tito's fall from grace start?

Was it when he was too afraid to fight Chuck Liddell the first time? No...that was over money right? Tito and Chuck were too good friends to fight for what they paid them. My bad. It's not like Chuck Liddell had openly said he hated Tito and had signed the contracted Tito wouldn't sign.

Or was it when Tito was the first in MMA history to be spanked inside the octagon? (Thank Randy Couture.) No, we could live with that and still root for Tito. His trek to the biggest ass in the MMA started when he made himself more important then the sport he says he loves.

Here is a recent quote from a Tito's interview about his possible Affiliation deal.

"Mr. Trump works fast and gets busy in a lot of the things he does and he's going to give me the best deal possible," said Ortiz.

"I know they want to make some money and I know they got over 100,000 pay-per-view buys on their first show and with me it's guaranteed to be over 500,000 pay-per-view buys just by the number of fans that are going to follow me no matter where I go, so they're going to get their money's worth just in pay-per-view no matter what."

Tito blames Dana White for all the problems in MMA calling him every insult in the book, but nobody is a bigger fan or has done more for this sport and its fighters in the last two years than Dana White.

True Dana is a dick and is lacking in tact, but he says what he means and stands by it. Something Tito has failed to do time and time again. Tito is banking on his name recognition to carry him, a name that was made by Dana White and is not even in the list of top 10 ranked Light Heavyweights.

Saying he needs to be paid more, when he banked over $500,000 easily in 2006 not including endorsements or his Ken Shamrock fights which where two out of his four fights that year.

Here are some numbers for you from UFC 59: Tito made $200,000 for fighting Forrest Griffin who only made $16,000 and did not bitch once. Tito's record is 16-6-1. Let’s break this down, three wins go to beating Ken Shamrock, a draw with Rashad Evans (yeah right, watch that fight again Tito loses from pure lack of effort).

Compare that with Forrest Griffin's record of 16-4, who has been fighting for a fraction of the time Tito has and has done more.

Every time Tito has been put up against a top ranked fighter he came out the loser. One fight in 2007 and one in 2008 winning neither and he had the balls to ask for more money.

Tito has become the new Ken Shamrock, a stepping stone for new fighters on their way to the top. He is not worth ordering on pay-per-view. All of his last fights have been huge letdowns and have left a bad taste for the cards he was on. Tito is a Fight Night Fighter at best.

Can some one please explain to me why Tito is getting paid at all?

He claims to hate Dana White but does everything in his power to try and be like him. It is plain to see that Tito is trying very hard to make himself into a manager/promoter like Dana White, and he is trying to use his own name as a springboard to this end.

That is dangerous for MMA since Tito has caused event problems like fight cancellations or rescheduling. His belt being stripped is a perfect example of this.

According to MMA junkie Dan Stupp, Tito Ortiz is hosting formal negotiations with all the top promotions—Affliction, EliteXC, the AFL and even, surprisingly, the UFC.

"I don't know if we're really negotiating, or simply helping Tito stroke his giant ego," one frustrated company representative said Sunday, Aug. 17.

Tito is going to be a cancer to any organization he joins and if Affliction is not careful it might be terminal. If they give this power-hungry, sell-his-own-mother-for-the-right-price, madman too much influence in the inner workings of Affliction, they are going to be in a very bad place.