After a similar situation arose when Fight Entertainment Group held an event at the Los Angeles Coliseum last June, Garcia now requires a bond that covers twice the fighters’ costs. Though Atencio denied rumors of a $6 million fight purse (he claims that Emelianenko’s reported $1.5 million and Sylvia’s $800,000 are inflated by public discussion), he said Affliction would have no issue covering the bond.
Aside from promoter/regulatory body issues, part of the licensing process requires that both Sylvia and Barnett, former UFC heavyweight champions who tested positive for steroids during their time at the top, provide urine samples under CSAC supervision.
The UFC machine is large enough, smart enough and experienced enough to not have any of these hurdles make or break their events. They understand top to bottom what’s required to put on an event from a promotional, organizational and regulatory perspective. Add to that a significant bankroll and you begin to see why they, in fact, make the business of MMA business look easy. As for Affliction, one has to reserve judgment because it’s so early in the game, but I’m not the type to think that a stacked card can carry the day. Look at the last card the World Fighting Alliance put on before going belly up and having their fighter contracts purchased by the UFC. That card was full of the top free agents available at the time and the WFA went out of business directly following the show.
As for Josh Gross, I’m really impressed with his coverage at SI. Josh, if you’re reading this, keep up the good work.
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