Affliction's Biggest Problem May Be Feeding Fedor

Affliction's Day of Reckoning was another success in terms of the quality of the fights, but it is yet to be determined if it can be considered a success for Affliction MMA's coffers.

Perhaps the biggest problem to come out of the event was that Fedor Emelianenko decisively beat Andrei Arlovski in the first round with a powerful overhand right as Arlovski went in with a flying knee.  Watching the replay you can tell that Arlovski was out before his feet left the ground.

Having the number one heavy weight fighter in the world shouldn't be a problem, but it is for Affliction.  They would be better served having Brock Lesnar on their roster right now because Lesnar brings with him the one thing they severely need: Pay-Per-View buys.

Early reports indicate that the attendance for Reckoning was down from Banned and that the PPV buys fell into the same 100,000 range.  Meaning not nearly enough to support a fighter payroll of over $3 million for the event.  This figure is based on Fedor's $300,000 purse figure too which doesn't count the money he receives as a "bonus" or his PPV percentage.

Fedor is often compared to the UFC's middleweight champion Anderson Silva because of their shared omnipotence in their given divisions.  The two also share another less positive similarity in that they don't generate PPV buys indicative of their skill level.

Affliction brought in one time UFC heavyweight powerhouse Tim Sylvia for Fedor's first fight on US soil and Sylvia's name did generate some buzz and some buys for Affliction.  Similarly Arlovski has name recognition is the US and because of his command of the English language, good looks, and personality he was widely used in promoting the event.

So how does Affliction capitalize on their greatest commodity, Fedor Emelianenko?  Certainly not by having him fight Barnett, a relatively unknown fighter compared to Sylvia and Arlovski in the US.  This fight might not even be an option for Affliction as Barnett and Fedor are friends and have successfully avoided meeting in the ring in the past.

What Affliction needs is a well known name outside of their organization to match Fedor up against.  The problem is that all of the biggest names are already under contract with the UFC leaving the likes of Alistair Overeem, Mirko Cro Cop, and Fabricio Werdum all with limited name recognition and comparable skill available for this fight.