When the popular clothing brand Affliction, which markets itself to fighters and fans of “extreme” sports, launched Affliction Entertainment in June of 2008, the MMA world was very optimistic. It was the makings of what could potentially be the next major promotional organization. One that would gather up all the great fighters not signed under the UFC. However, many remained apprehensive as it was unclear if Affliction was poised for greatness or destined for bankruptcy.

Affliction: Banned, took place a month later in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. The fight card was stacked, and would include a fight between former Pride FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emeliankenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. It also featured two other heavyweight and one light heavyweight fight, each including a former UFC champion.

With an exciting fight card, free to watch undercard, live performance from the band Megadeath, and famed ring announcer Michael Buffer, it seemed that Affliction had the ability to achieve all the fan’s expectations.

The event had a total attendance of 14,832, grossing $2,085,510 at the gate and well over 100 thousand pay-per-view buys which generated somewhere in the ball park of another $2.1 million. This made their total revenue from the event around $4.2 million.

Banned was considered a mini success; nearly selling out the Honda Center and experiencing record high pay-per-view purchases, more than any MMA promotional company other than the UFC.

However, everything hadn’t played out as well as things seemed. Behind the facade of a packed Honda Center and solid pay-per-view numbers, Affliction Entertainment had taken a hard financial hit. What seemed like a healthy growth in the company; was in reality the beginnings of a bloody financial ulcer.

Affliction had purchased nearly one quarter of total gate earnings themselves and total fighter payroll for the event was $3,332,100; more than three quarters of estimated revenue. After fighter salaries, many expenses were still unpaid. With less than a million dollars left to do so, Affliction was bleeding profusely.

In January of this year, six months after Banned, Affliction: Day of Reckoning was scheduled to take place. Another stacked fight card featuring Emelianenko defending his title against former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, and former light heavyweight UFC champion Vitor Belfort in a 195 pound catchweight fight; meant another stacked payroll.

The event which once again took place at the Honda Center, had 13,255 in attendance with a total gate of $1,512,750, and was projected to have between 150,000 and 200,000 PPV buys. But with a reported payroll of $3,318,660 plus bonuses, the financial hemorrhage was only made more profuse.

Affliction: Trilogy was scheduled to take place on the first of this month, nearly seven months since their last event. The main card was destined to be an MMA classic, featuring the much anticipated match up between Emelianenko and former UFC & Pride sensation, Josh Barnett.

To the shock of the MMA world, Barnett was forced to pull out of the fight 10 days prior to the event due to positive steroid tests. The fight that was supposed to pull Affliction Entertainment out of bankruptcy was now the final nail in the coffin for the company.

Ridiculous payrolls, long periods of time between events, and lack of hype and advertisement had all taken their toll and on July 24, Affliction Entertainment declared bankruptcy.

Although Affliction Entertainment is no more, Affliction Clothing was a separate entity and is still a vibrant company. They once again have a deal with the UFC to sponsor fighters. It was a falling out between the two companies in January of last year that had lead to the formation of the now defunct Affliction Entertainment.

The fate of the fighters signed with Affliction is uncertain. However, it is suspected that the UFC will pick up the contracts of some 22 or so fighters left out in the cold by the cancelation of Trilogy. But for right now, their fate is largely uncertain. What we can be certain about is that when the UFC decides to sign some of the best fighters in the world, it can only mean exciting things for MMA fans.

A few words on the demise of Affliction’s fight-promoting business and how Afflictions efforts will be viewed in the annals of MMA history.

Josh Barnett's positive test destroys Affliction: Trilogy

Firstly, Affliction’s failure proved that on the grand stage of modern MMA in America, brand awareness is more important than putting on quality fights. Both Affliction: Banned and Affliction: Day of Reckoning featured cards that were loaded with quality fights between quality fighters, but without any vehicle to promote to promote their cards (other than the internet), only hardcore MMA fans took notice and were willing to put down money to watch Affliction. In the end, both cards failed to turn a profit, and Josh Barnett’s single-handed sinking of Affliction: Trilogy was the final nail in the coffin.

Any meaningful promotion Affliction tried to start was blunted by the fact that many casual fight fans buy into UFC President Dana White’s expletive-laden rants. Ever since Affliction started promoting fight cards, White has constantly trashed Affliction VP Tom Atencio, Affliction’s main draw Fedor Emelianenko, and many of the other ex-UFC fighters who fought on Affliction cards. And while some of these criticism had basis, many were just spiteful attacks aimed to hurt Atencio, a former business partner of White and the UFC. However ludicrous some of the attacks were, though, they worked; many non-hardcore or longtime fans of MMA fully bought into White’s argument that Affliction was made up of scraps that fell off the UFC table, that none of the fighters would make it in the UFC, and that Fedor, widely regarded throughout the world as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in MMA, was nothing unless he came and “proved himself” in the UFC.

The way casual fans in the US are so illogically loyal to the UFC is a triumph for White and the UFC marketing machine Zuffa has built. From the massive exposure the UFC gets on Spike TV to the ongoing success of The Ultimate Fighter to the slow-but-sure battle of legitimizing MMA in America as a major-league sport, White has led the way in making MMA mainstream, and along the way has plastered his own face onto every UFC product, marketing himself as well (if not better) than the marquee fighters in his organization. His tactics have won over a whole new legion of fans, but the truth is that most of the new converts are fans of the UFC organization only, and don’t know and don’t care about any other facet of MMA which is not of the Zuffa brand.

P4P champ Fedor will be in the UFC sooner or later

Other nationally recognized promotions like Strikeforce still manage to thrive because they keep their payrolls relatively low and stress that they don’t seek to challenge the UFC in terms of market share. Affliction, by bringing in Fedor and a host of other highly-regarded and expensive names, tried to challenge the UFC as the top dog and were promptly beaten down, forced to cease all fight-promoting operations and slink back to being an official sponsor of the UFC, the position they were in before they sought to promote their own shows.

For lesser-known aspiring fighters, the end of Affliction means one less option in getting national exposure; that’s not a huge deal, with companies like DREAM, Strikefore and Bellator also around, but remember that competition between companies always works in favor of the fighters and the fans. Affliction’s demise may bring Fedor into the arms of the UFC and make possible a host of superfights that fans have long wanted to see, but in the long term, less competition will hurt fighter’s rights and erode the product being sold to fans. For every big-name fighter that the UFC will poach from Afflictions roster, a less-known fighter from the UFC will be cut loose, his dream of fighting in the big show prematurely ended. Meanwhile, fighters on the Affliction undercard are now left scrambling for a new fight anywhere else after seeing their paycheck snatched away from them at the last minute.

Affliction and its “trilogy” of cards will serve as an example to any other promoter who wants to expand into the US in the future that Dana White is the boss of MMA stateside, and it pays not to cross the boss.

In 1993 Rorion Gracie and Art Davie organized an eight man single elimination tournament. The tournament, known as The Ultimate Fighting Championship, pitt masters of different martial arts against one another to determine which fighting style was most superior. When the tournament aired it was a mini hit. Unknown to him at the time, Gracie had uncovered the niche market and fan-base for the sport we now know today as MMA.

Since then, countless sanctioning organizations have tried to organize MMA “leagues.” Among the more popular ones today are Affliction, Elite XC, and PRIDE. However, none have reached the success or popularity of the UFC, which seized the market through their popular television show, The Ultimate Fighter, now in it’s tenth season, and used popular television personalities like Joe Rogan to analyze and announce events.

In the last few years, the UFC has become synonymous with MMA.

However it was not until this summer that the UFC reached the “next level” of popularity. A level that spans across countries and is able to draw millions of viewers. With the release of their first video game UFC 2009 Undisputed, their first event in mainland Europe, and the record breaking 100th card on July 11th, the UFC’s popularity has exploded, which begs the question – is MMA still a niche sport?

Yes. I believe it still is.

I also believe that the niche is growing. The test of the UFC’s popularity hangs in question as long as The Ultimate Fighter is still airing. When that show comes off the air, it will be interesting to see what direction the UFC takes to maintain its growth. If they lose much of their exposure and on the fence fans when the show is taken off television, well then MMA as a whole is likely to take a serious blow to fan following.

Popularity lies in the young generation of fight fans. This being the case, the UFC still has to prove that it is not a generational fad; like roller blades or boy bands. As demographics begin to change, so will the popularity of the UFC, for better or worse.

I think the UFC is past the point where it could die out completely, leaving it to go in one of two directions. The UFC can level off in popularity just as professional wrestling did in the late 1990’s, or experience huge growth, and rise to the level of a second rate mainstream sport like tennis or soccer.

I think that the latter of the two situations is more likely. On the other hand, an explosion of MMA and the UFC out of it’s niche into the mainstream does not seem too farfetched. However, It is still way too early to predict what direction the sport will head in.

If the UFC can maintain their growing popularity through the next decade, they will have a cemented place in sports and entertainment. I think they can do this. The UFC has already proven it’s marketability. Now they must expand on it.

"The Grim" made his case as a top-tier HW at the expense of Andrei Arlovski

In an inter-promotional heavyweight bout set up by Strikeforce and Affliction, former UFC champion and world-ranked heavyweight Andrei Arlovski lived up to his reputation for having a weak chin by getting run over by Brett “The Grim” Rogers in the first round of their fight at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields.

Arlovski got two tentative leg kicks of offense in before Rogers charged him while throwing huge punches. Arlovski was pressed against the cage wall before getting smashed with three clean shots to the face by Rogers and was down and out just 22 seconds into the fight.

It was a sweet introduction into the big time for the undefeated Rogers, who has never fought outside of the first round in an MMA and is still untested defensively or on the ground. Arlovski’s tentative start let the youngster Rogers seize the initiative, and with a flurry of pure aggression Rogers likely put paid to Arlovski’s days as a top heavyweight fighter.

As the MMA world recovers from Strikeforce: Shamrock versus Diaz and gears up for UFC 97, fight fans can be pleased with the fact that they are now spoilt for choice in terms of MMA options. In the post-EliteXC world, the UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and the WEC can all put out quality fight cards with quality fighters.

But from the ashes of Pride FC, two newer Japanese promotions are finally bringing the heat back to the Asian MMA scene. Both DREAM and World Victory Road had struggles at the beginning; Japanese MMA isn’t as popular as it was during the Pride heyday, and many of the cards had a “circus freak” feel to them in an effort to garner attention and TV deals. But now both promotions have started to right the ship, and for fans who either have HDNet or don’t mind staying up way into the morning, there’s a treasure trove of significant fights coming up from the Land of The Rising Sun.

Some of the highlights include:

Hatsu Hioki vs Ronnie Mann (World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 8 – May 2)

With both DREAM and Sengoku currently holding featherweight tournaments, Hioki is the torchbearer for Sengoku’s tourney, as well as the hot favorite. The big and flashy names may most be on DREAM’s side, but Hioki is the man which most MMA publications rank as one of the top five featherweights in the world. With wins over WEC veterans Jeff Curran and Chris Manuel on his resume, Hioki will look to continue his tournament journey with a win over English-Japanese fighter Mann, who brings a 16-1 record with him to Sengoku’s tournament quarterfinals.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Gesais Calvancante (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Before the second coming of BJ Penn and the rise of fighters such as Shinya Aoki or Eddie Alvarez, the consensus top lightweight in the world was American Top Team fighter Gesais “JZ” Calvancante. As a middleweight, Calvancante won back-to-back K1 tournaments, and big things were expected from him when he moved to DREAM’s lightweight division. A series of nagging injuries and a decision loss to Aoki halted the JZ hype, and Calvancante will look to get back in the lightweight title picture with a win against Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri.

Former Pride standout Kawajiri, who was denied his desired matchup with Caol Uno when Uno re-signed with the UFC, will look to take out his frustrations on Calvancante and position himself as the next contender to Joachim Hansen’s DREAM lightweight title, as former number one contender Alvarez has signed exclusively with Bellator Fighting Championships.

Jason Miller vs Ronaldo Souza (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Most American fans will now recognize Jason “Mayhem” Miller from his MTV show “Bully Beatdown”, where Miller offers alleged-teenaged bullies money to let professional MMA fighters rough them up on national TV. Miller will have slightly loftier ambitions at DREAM 9, when he faces Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza for DREAM’s newly vacated middleweight title.

Souza, one of the MMA’s finest Jiu-Jitsu fighters, already has a victory over Miller from DREAM’s earlier tournament, but when tourney winner Gegard Mousasi decided to immediately jump to light heavyweight, the door was opened for Miller and Souza to fight a second time, this time with a title on the line.

Best of the Rest:

Former Japanese MMA golden boy Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will face Greco-Roman wrestling champ Joe Warren at DREAM 9as part of DREAM’s featherweight tourney. Yamamoto received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Also slated for DREAM 9 is a matchup between former DREAM middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi, who will fight former Pride and UFC fighter Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at light heavyweight.

At Sengoku 8, reigning Abu Dhabi champion and grappler extraordinaire Alexandre Ribeiro will have his second MMA fight against Team Grabaka fighter Kei Yamamiya. Ribeiro’s first MMA fight was a submission victory over pro wrestler Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku 5.