(Props: CombatLifestyle)
BloodyElbow kicked up a lot of dust last night when they published a rumor saying that Affliction was preparing to shut its doors as an MMA promotion, and might be trying to arrange a deal with Zuffa to cut some of their extensive losses. In response, Tom Atencio went on the Hardcore Sports Rage show (Sirius 98) to deny the reports, saying that Affliction’s MMA promotion still had the backing of Golden Boy Promotions, Donald Trump and M-1 Global:
The rumor apparently originated from an incident on the Tom Leykis Show, where someone called in claiming to be the Affliction VP. The real Tom Atencio denies he was on the show, and denies that Affliction is reaching out to the UFC for a parachute, though he wouldn’t speak about the details of the company’s financials. ("That’s like me coming in and asking you how much you make at your company," he said.) Atencio suggested that the UFC felt threatened by Affliction’s relationship with Fedor Emelianenko, and asked everyone to just please chill out:
To add a new wrinkle to the story, Fight Opinion claimed that the original BloodyElbow rumor post was actually planted by Zuffa itself, though BE vehemently denies it.
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"You mean you can't pay the fighters more than the event makes? Who knew? And please stop with this "fighters made the UFC" crap. With no promotion or behind the scenes BUSINESS these fighters would have to go back to fighting and training in obscurity. Also, most of these guys would still practice MMA anyway"
THE FIGHTERS DID MAKE THE UFC! The fighters are the ones puttin asses in seats.. They do all the work and make all the money for the BUSINESS.. Fans pay to see the fighters not the promotion