Trump has also spent the week promoting that the Affliction MMA PPV show is
sold out as a live event, when ringside seats are still available as of this
posting. Why Trump would take the "sold out" approach for "positive vibes"
instead of moving the seats when he needs to, is something I cannot
explain.
Pay your dues or learn the hard way.
That's
a mantra Dana White believes in, whether it's a young fighter starting out in
mixed martial arts, or a start-up business.
White is president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the top MMA
organization in the world, and spent years working to make the UFC profitable.
Now, at last, he is reaping the benefits, so it's understandable that White gets
defensive when another organization tries to take a piece of the pie.
The
latest being Affliction.
"Nobody knows this sport or business of mixed
martial arts better than I do," White said. "I can sit right back and watch
everything that everybody does and tell you exactly what's going to
happen."
Come Saturday night, the two go head to head, though White
already predicts doom for Affliction. In fact, he refuses to call them
competition.
"The guy who owns this company sells T-shirts for a living,"
White said. "They've never even put on a show."
Affliction, an apparel
company based in Signal Hill that has grown popular in MMA circles, is venturing
into the show business side of the sport with its production of Banned, a
pay-per-view event scheduled for Saturday night at the Honda Center in
Anaheim.
Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction, is aware he's been
referred to as the "T-shirt guy" by White. He said it's just another sign that
White feels backed into a corner.
"When somebody's threatened, they fight
back," he said. "They tend to get their feathers ruffled."
Affliction's
card has gained attention because it's scheduled to feature some of the sport's
top heavyweights, including Fedor Emelianenko, considered No. 1 in his weight
class. The heavyweight division is considered one of the weakest in the
UFC.
"Every single one of our fights could be a main event," Atencio
said.
Affliction is going big in other areas as well, partnering with
real estate tycoon Donald Trump in raising capital, bringing in former UFC
referee "Big" John McCarthy to serve as television analyst and securing heavy
metal band Megadeth to perform during intermission.
Despite these signs
of being a first-rate operation, White said Affliction is setting itself up for
a first-round knockout.
"I see them as a smaller league that's trying to
get up off the ground," White said. "They're going to blow way too much money
doing it, and they won't be around much longer."
White hasn't made it any
easier for Affliction. On five weeks' notice, he patched together a six-fight
card that will run simultaneously with Affliction's show; only the UFC will
broadcast its event from the Palms in Las Vegas on the basic cable channel Spike
TV.
Headlining the card is one of the UFC's best fighters, middleweight
champion Anderson Silva (24-4), who will move up to the light-heavyweight
division for a one-time non-title bout against James Irvin (14-4).
For
the money-conscious cable-ready consumer, the difference between watching a free
UFC show and paying $39.95 to watch Affliction might be a
no-contest.
Affliction
appeared to land one last counterpunch, however, making a deal to broadcast its
card on closed-circuit television at Gold Coast casino, which is directly across
from the Palms on Flamingo Road.
"It's just another opportunity to watch
our fight," Atencio said.
As
for Trump's involvement, he simply wasn't impressed with UFC's business strategy
and said the company's counter-programming is additional proof that it's peering
over its shoulders.
"Obviously, they consider this a threat and they take
it seriously," Trump said. "[We're] a group of people with a lot of money who
like this particular sport, and I can see someone wanting to [counter
us]."
The bad blood between the UFC and Affliction goes back a few
years.
Affliction has promotional deals with a number of UFC fighters who
wear the company's clothing during appearances. White then banned his fighters
from wearing the Affliction logo during UFC events because Affliction, he said,
"started competing."
"I don't like the way they do business," White
said.
But White's action inspired Affliction executives to produce their
own shows.
By not being allowed to wear the Affliction logo, the UFC
fighters were the ones losing out on the additional income, Atencio
said.
"[White] creates his own competition," he said. "By banning us, it
just made sense for us to start our own organization. . . . We as a team wanted
to give back to the fighters that helped us out."
But White gives no
ground, though he does offer this advice to companies that want to venture into
MMA productions: Start with small shows.
Shortly after he purchased the
UFC with partners Lorenzo Fertitta and his older brother, Frank III, a UFC event
was held in which they managed to sell 3,500 tickets and earned only $118,000 in
gate receipts. That was in 2001, and they lost $2.4 million that
night.
It took a few more years of frustration and near-bankruptcy before
the UFC made it into the black.
"You want to learn how to do this
business," he said. "Spend 44 [expletive] million dollars to figure it out like
I did . . . maybe you'll make it, maybe you won't. Good luck."
Affliction
will have an even more difficult time, White said, because the company is
promoting fights on the side, not as its main source of revenue. In reality,
putting together regular shows is more than a full-time job.
"For the
last 10 years, all I've done, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, is mixed martial
arts," White said.
"I don't take my eye off the ball, I have the road
map, I know exactly where we're going."
Where the fans end up this
weekend is still to be determined. Atencio has one suggestion.
"Watch the
pay-per-view and tape the UFC," he said. "I'm going to. I'd be a fool not
to."
The
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