Full Contact Talk: MMA discussion

Donald Trump will reveal on Thursday details for “Fighting Fedor,” a reality show starring the number one ranked heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko.

“Fighting Fedor” will cast 16 heavyweight fighters from around the world in a reality show similar to that of Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter.”  Filmed in St. Petersburg, Russia, the up-and-comers will train with Fedor’s Red Devil Sports Club.

The heavyweight fighters will compete in an elimination tournament where the winner earns a finale bout against Fedor. ALso during Thursday’s conference, Affliction’s Tom Atencio will reveal details of Affliction’s partnership with M-1 Global as well its exclusive contract with Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is the current WAMMA heavyweight champion.

The second Affliction event scheduled for October 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, has been cancelled. The main event between Josh Barnett and Andrei Arlovski was poised to toss the victor at current WAMMA champion, Fedor Emelianenko. But now Fedor’s next opponent is as big a mystery as that of Afflictions own survival as a financially sound MMA organization.

And boy, the rumors abound.

Affliction CEO Michael D. Cohen promised earlier in the week that he has an upcoming announcement that will change the world of mixed-martial-arts. But days passed and all that was heard from the Affliction main offices was the chirp of crickets at best. Therefore to keep things interesting and help a guy out when he’s down on his back, Full Contact Talk has decided to post a list of the top threem latest Affliction rumors.

Rumor #1. Talk has slithered its away across the web that former UFC star Tito Ortiz has decided to sign with Affliction to move up in weight and fight Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA belt.

FCT Response: Really? Seriously? Hey, in all honesty, this fight will sell tickets. Heck, it might keep Affliction afloat for a couple more shows. But Tito will suffer the same fate as Tim Sylvia. And possibly fall even faster than the big guy did on July 19. 

Rumor #2. Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Productions is rumored to be in talks with Affliction over a co-promotion where future Affliciton events will not only have aging heavy metal bands perform, they’ll mix and match MMA fights with boxing matches.

FCT Response: Huh? You know, Affliciton arguably has the best heavyweight division in contemporary mixed-martial-arts. Yet, the debut event was plagued with a production value equivalent to that of Friday Night Fights in the 1980s. It was better than EliteXC’s debut on CBS. But only by a small margin. Mixing short, flashy MMA fights with potentially long, boring boxing matches sounds like a recipe for failure. 

Rumor #3. Another ironic rumor claims HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban is considering a partnership with Donald Trump’s Affliction in an effort to survive the UFC’s stranglehold on the sport of MMA.

FCT Response: If true, I guess money does by love after all. Or is it the economic survival of two MMA organizations that can mend burned bridges? Does anyone remember the public war of words and near slander between Cuban and Trump not too long ago? It ranked up there with Trump’s war on Rosie O’Donnell. If this rumor turns true, it would be like Cain and Abel opening a taco stand together. 

The cancellation of “Affliciton: Day of Reckoning,” is masked in silence with regard to the reason for the sudden pull of the plug. But another rumor floating around the cybernetic toilet bowl states that ticket sales were a dump. Numbers as low as 600 to 700 total sales are being tossed around. If these numbers are accurate, that’s a staggering deficiency. The Thomas & Mack Center can hold nearly 20,000 spectators.

Full Contact Talk extends its upmost encouragement and support to Affliciton. But things are looking really, really sad at the moment. But then again, there are masses of MMA fans shooting torpedos at the Affliciton ship in hopes that a bankrupt Affliciton means Fedor verus Randy Couture in the UFC octagon in 2009.

More to come …