July 19th Let the games begin

Wow ! July is heating up Big time. Over the weekend it was posted by several sources that CBS was putting on a second EXC show for the 26th, a idea EXC was originally opposed to. This was in addition to a already big month of fights which included the UFC 86 on 7/5 and upstart organization clothing company Affliction's big PPV show on the 19th. Well today the UFC and Spike TV came out with a bombshell that they are putting a free show on the 19th as well to air on Spike .

This is a huge blow to Affliction and a serious coup for the UFC. Affliction reportedly has millions tied up in overhead, but little to any advertising dollars have been spent. The execs at Affliction where planning on 200-250k in PPV buys. This seems unrealistic to anyone outside of their board room. The card they are putting on is loaded with talent but not stars. If past history is a indicator then 50-100k in PPV buys would be average for them . Pride FC'S last card in the US did 50k in buys with more drawing power and better brand recognition without same night competition

So now the UFC is putting on UFN 14 on the 19th for free. This card has the number one ranked fighter in the world Anderson Silva, moving up in weight to take on a dangerous opponent in James Irvin. When looking at the published bouts so far for the UFC its hard to imagine the Affliction show succeeding .

The Affliction show seemed doomed to fail even before the UFC's fight night came out. Overpaying fighters and poor marketing are not a recipe for success. There money would have been better spent on a few name fighters on the first two or three cards instead of the throw as much as they can against the wall and hope it sticks.

The old adage is "don't start the fight finish it ". The UFC might have just done that to Affliction . Then the very next weekend we get EXC on CBS. The EXC show is shaping up to be a better card than there first offering (5-31-08 ) on CBS. It does not have the faces of EXC Kimbo Slice and Gina Carano but it has some of its best fighters. The headliner for the 26th is a rematch of the middleweight title fight from 5-31 Robbie Lawler vs Scott Smith.

What does this all mean ? We get alot of action in July ...and so far the winner is us the fans. With back to back free shows and and great PPV all around.