The Mixed Martial Arts field, which many thought would end up with Ultimate Fighting Championships taking the industry down a road that would  go the way of World Wrestling Entertainment as being the dominant brand in professional wrestling, is about to become a very crowded field. Elite XC's Kimbo Slice - headlining CBS deal, coupled with StrikeForce going on late night for NBC on selected Saturday Nights, makes it interesting. Add in Mark Cuban's moves, including wanting to promote Fedor vs Randy Couture, and his lawsuit against Zuffa, owners of UFC, in order to get clarification on Couture's contract, makes it even more interesting. Now, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions looks to be getting into the game.

Golden Boy chief executive officer Richard Schaefer confirmed this week that Golden Boy, a huge power in the boxing world now, will expand and promote mixed martial arts events later this year, partnered  with the apparel company Affliction.

However, Schaefer did deny the reports that there is a deal between Golden Boy’s MMA promotion and HBO.  He did admit, though that he has spoken to HBO executives, and that he plans on doing so again. Yahoo!Sports reported Schaefer said he has a “very wealthy, very well known, very well-connected individual” whom he is speaking with about investing in the company. Though he wouldn’t say, that’s almost certainly Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

Schaefer did say that the Golden Boy-Affliction company has yet to be formed or even given a name, but he did tip his strategy by saying the company plans to use the same formula that has helped Golden Boy Promotions become one of the leading boxing promoters in the world, and quickly.

Here comes the line that people will talk about when Tito Ortiz leaves UFC. Schaefer said the new MMA company will offer an equity stake in it to a handful of established fighters. I can just see Jenna Jameson's credit card applications now!

Golden Boy, whose majority owner is Oscar De La Hoya, has given an equity stake in its boxing company to such boxers as Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Marco Antonio Barrera.

According to Yahoo!, Schaefer is ready to attack MMA. “There is tremendous turbulence in this business right now,” Schaefer said of MMA. “There is a lot of things happening and things could change dramatically. Everybody laughed at us when we started Golden Boy and said fighters turning into promoters could never work. Look at us now. I think we’ve proven ourselves in boxing. We’re going to do the same thing with MMA. We’re going to find the right fighters and the right (television) partners and we’ll come up with a way to make this work.”

We will keep you up to date on this explosive development as it breaks.