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In a way, the old WWE/WCW “Monday Night Wars” were transferred over to the UFC and Affliction this past Saturday night, turning the night into the UFC/Affliction “Saturday Night Wars.” Affliction presented its first ever live event in Affliction: Banned, while the UFC attempted to counter it by having their own live event in UFC Silva vs. Irvin. The UFC event was headlined by UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva’s successful debut as a light heavyweight over James Irvin, while Affliction’s debut was headlined by Fedor Emelianenko becoming the first ever WAMMA Heavyweight Champion by defeating Tim Sylvia.
While the UFC ran a good event with a lot of good action, it was the debut of Affliction that will be making the most noise in the long run. Maybe not for the event as a whole, but for the repercussions of the nearly forty second main event between the aforementioned Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.
Prior to his exit from the UFC after UFC 81, Tim Sylvia was long considered to be one of the top heavyweights not only in the UFC, but in MMA as a whole. Tim Sylvia was a two time UFC Heavyweight Champion and competed against the best the UFC had to offer like Andrei Arlovski, Randy Couture, Frank Mir and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Then what do you think happened when Tim Sylvia left his comfortable surroundings of the UFC and entered a new promotion in Affliction? That question was answered in less then a minute when Tim Sylvia was choked out by Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Banned. Did this fight and subsequent loss by Tim Sylvia prove that the UFC has inferior fighters when compared to the rest of the MMA world?
Big time fighters have failed previously two when changing promotions, just look at these three prime examples when three PRIDE fighters came to the UFC.
First is Mirko Cro Cop, who entered the UFC after the bankruptcy of PRIDE and billed as one of the most feared strikers in MMA. Mirko Cro Cop debuted in the UFC at UFC 67 and easily dismantled UFC Heavyweight fighter Eddie Sanchez by the second round. Three events later at UFC 70, Mirko Cro Cop was put in a fight with Brazilian fighter Gabriel Gonzaga, with the winner getting a UFC Heavyweight Title shot at UFC 74. That’s were it all started to go downhill, because Gabriel Gonzaga shocked the world by knocking out Mirko Cro Cop with a head kick late in the first round. Then it all came to ahead at UFC 75, where Mirko Cro Cop lost a three round decision to Cheick Kongo, Mirko Cro Cop would request and receive his release from the UFC short thereafter.
Up next in Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, who came to the UFC from PRIDE as one of the biggest up and coming light heavyweight fighters in the world. In his UFC debut, Rameau Sokodjou wound up against the unorthodox Lyoto Machida and was submitted in the second round. Rameau Sokodjou would get his first victory at UFC 84 against Kazuhiro Nakamura, but only achieved the victory after Kazuhiro Nakamura wound up suffering a knee injury at the end of the first round.
Finally, a man who would leave the PRIDE organization as both its final PRIDE Light Heavyweight Champion and PRIDE Middleweight Champion, Dan Henderson. In his first of two historic fights in the UFC, Dan Henderson fought then UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson in a title unification fight, which Dan Henderson lost via decision. Then Dan Henderson fought UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva at UFC 82, but lost by submission in round two.
So out of seven total UFC appearances by Dan Henderson, Mirko Cro Cop and Rameau Thierry Sokodjou, the trio went a disappointing two and five.
I bring all of this up for one important reason, which was that when those three fighters went to the UFC after the death of PRIDE, nobody but the hardcore MMA fans knew who they were. So when they lost, the casual UFC/MMA fan saw a newcomer from a dead organization lose to a fighter or fighters that they all knew from viewing the UFC.
Now, when former multi-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia got dominated by Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Banned, that was a losing fighter who was not only known by hardcore MMA fans, but by the casual UFC fans who believed their fighters are more superior than other fighters. Although Tim Sylvia no longer competes under the UFC banner, he was still a fighter who is known more for his time in the UFC and considered by most a UFC fighter.
That’s why the UFC was hurt by Tim Sylvia’s loss, because when those fans watched or heard about his loss, they recognized him as a UFC fighter..
The other reason that Tim Sylvia’s loss hurt the UFC was now it makes the potential Randy Couture/Fedor Emelianenko fight more valuable in the fans eyes. The UFC is potentially looking stupider and stupider with every passing day for not forking up the money to sign the fighter between Fedor Emelianenko and estranged UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture.
For those with bad memories, one of the reasons Randy Couture disappeared from the UFC was due to the UFC’s lack of ability to sign Fedor Emelianenko for the dream fight. Now, whether the fight happens in the UFC or Affliction, the hardcore and casual MMA fanatics now want to see this fight even more, especially after how well Fedor Emelianenko toppled Tim Sylvia.
If Randy Couture somehow wins his legal battle with the UFC and fights Fedor Emelianenko under the Affliction banner, this could destroy a lot of the credibility the UFC currently has. How dumb would the UFC look if their current heavyweight champion goes to Affliction and fights Fedor Emelianenko? Right now, in the current MMA climate, there is no bigger dream fight on fans minds right now than Randy Couture versus Fedor Emelianenko.
If any other organization besides the UFC makes this signing, then the UFC may no longer be the biggest MMA organization in the world, which could be the UFC’s biggest loss.
You can contact David Tees at bigtees360@yahoo.com
