Report: Arlovski could complete deal with Affliction as soon as May 19
SI.com's Josh Gross is reporting that the UFC has until May 19 to match Affliction's contract offer to former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski.
According to Gross, the deal Affliction has put on the table for Arlovski is a three-fight non-exclusive contract with the first fight paying him in the low-to-mid six-figure range.
Arlovski has already finished out his contract with the UFC, with his last fight a second-round TKO victory over Jake O'Brien at UFC 82.
Another tidbit in Gross' outstanding column is that the presence of George Greenberg from Fox Sports at a forthcoming Affliction press conference may be an indicator that the promotion's July 19 undercard could be televised live on FSN. At this point, however, this is still speculation.
For Gross' full column, including discussion of the UFC's resurgent lightweight division, head over to SI.com.
(Photo of Andrei Arlovski courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
if it's on fsn i can watch
if it's on fsn i can watch it! they should really resign arlovski. there's really no reason not to. he's a former champ
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83
Anyone know how much
Anyone know how much Arlovski was making on his UFC contract? Would like to know how much of a raise this is?
-The Captain
So if this happens... he
So if this happens... he would be fighting Rothwell? Damn that's a SICK card...
Captain, At UFC 82, Arlovski
Captain,
At UFC 82, Arlovski received a base pay of $105,000 + $65,000 for winning = $170,000 total.
That doesn't include other bonuses and sponsorship money.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/3867/ufc-82-salaries-paydays-for-anderson-silv...
affliction is going to be
affliction is going to be out of business after one show.
in my estimation AA deserves about $250 per...considering he's a marketable heavyweight and also ex-champ.
Read what Jeff Osborne --
Read what Jeff Osborne -- the Hook'n Shoot promoter -- has to say about Affliction:
Affliction—This promotion scares me the most. It's good to see a company care about the fighters as much as Affliction, but with their current business plan they'll probably die after one show. Without any TV exposure at all, how can you expect that they'll generate enough of a buy rate to recoup even 1/20th of the money that they spend? [Affliction headliner] Fedor is NOT a draw in North America. Fans are very disillusioned with "star fighters" or what MMA purists perceive as a "name". Fedor's BIGGEST buy rate on pay-per-view was 55,000 buys. That doesn't even bring in enough gross income to pay for him at his current price. Even with Bodog's monstrous marketing and huge ad budgets, we scored a whopping 12,000 buys on PPV with Fedor. I do think that he's one of the three best fighters on the planet, but he's truly the winner over the entire industry if he's getting someone to give him seven figures.
http://www.thefightnetwork.com/news_detail.php?nid=7201
He seems to agree with you Papa...
but...but didn't affliction
but...but didn't affliction make a billion dollars off those shirts? i wonder if this was their plan the whole time, to start up promoting fights...
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83
If he stays... who does he
If he stays... who does he fight in the UFC? I can't think of anyone except Nog that would make an interesting fight...
tim sylvia Underboss
tim sylvia
Underboss MMAfia
Head of the West Coast Family
ULTIMATE CHALLENGE CHAMPION UFC 83
He won't fight Tim in the
He won't fight Tim in the UFC... I could see that being the fight after if he beats Fedor... (which is a BIG IF)
If all that is true about
If all that is true about Fedor not being able to draw PPV money on his own (I have no reason to believe it isn't true) it makes me wonder if any of the top fighters are worth massive ammounts of money. Maybe this is a sport that people pay for the league or the brand rather then the individuals. Even in the UFC PPV sales are pretty consistent. There is the odd spike when you have certain bouts take place but not a lot. They are all sell-outs so it is not like certain names sell more tickets or PPV's. Riddle me this...how many more people are going to buy a PPV because AA is on the card? So in a pure business sence I think you let him walk. He'll be back when that other league folds. As a fan I say pay him and bring him back. What do I care it isn't my money.
In business you really don't
In business you really don't want to mix the revenue generated from one area of your company with the next. Just because Affliction makes a ton of money on their shirts doesn't mean they want to spend all that on their shows. The idea is for the shows to generate enough revenue to pay for themselves and then eventually become profitable. If their shows continue to lose money it would make absolutely no sense for them to keep pulling from their other revenue to cover those losses.
Fedor has not proven to be any type of draw here in the states, while his name is big among the educated fan, Kimbo's name is probably bigger among the casual fan, and the casual fan is who needs to be targeted, these are the people you want to turn into the educated fan. Arlovski certainly has more appeal here in the US and a Fedor AA fight would be fantastic, but in all honesty even though it would be their 4 th fight, Sylvia-AA would probably be a bigger draw right now.
Godfather and all-around Mafia Aficionado
Co-Founder of The MMAFIA
Live Blogger for Fightticker.Com