Opinion: MVP the new Affliction?

Most Valuable Promotions has officially put its first event in the books. Whether MVP “Rousey vs. Carano” proves to be the start of something permanent or a flash in the pan is still very much up for debate. What can’t be debated is the striking number of similarities to the flash in the pan that was Affliction. Please don’t take this as me immediately assuming the MVP moniker is going to be nothing more than a brief footnote in MMA history. It's a blatant possibility that happens, but there were enough things to work with that the promotion could hang around for a while... if they play things smart and learn from their— and Affliction’s—mistakes.

First, the similarities. Affliction “Banned,” which took place in July of 2008, was headlined by a former Ultimate Fighting Championship star, Tim Sylvia, feeling scorned by the promotion and leaving for a larger payday, facing one of the biggest names in the sport who never stepped foot in the confines of the Octagon: Fedor Emelianenko. The main event ended by submission in less than a minute. Underneath the main event were several names who reached the zenith of their popularity within the UFC. The fights themselves weren’t bad, but they weren’t particularly competitive either. The UFC countered with an underwhelming offering of fights that would draw those that only follow the UFC away from potentially seeing what the spectacle was about.



There were other things as well, but enough similarities have been established. I did purposely leave out the salaries – at least just in terms of listing similarities – given that’s something that could ultimately prove to be the biggest fulcrum for whether MVP finds success. Affliction paid their fighters extravagantly compared to the UFC salaries at the time. MVP has been doing the same thing, Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano, and Francis Ngannou all reportedly receiving salaries in the seven figures. In the long run, Affliction couldn’t afford to continue to pay those salaries. The problem is, once you’ve established that’s what you’re about, good luck scaling back paydays, even if it is legitimately necessary for the survival of the organization.

Much like I’m not saying I want to see MVP fail, I also wish MMA fighters were making more money on the whole. Given the UFC is the 800-pound gorilla in the arena, it’s obviously a shot at them. Unfortunately, other organizations like Bellator have tried outspending the UFC for talent, only to end up defunct. When fighters only fight so often – and less so as they get paid more and more – it's difficult to expect fans to get their fill of fighting from strictly following a single fighter or organization... unless that organization has spent years building up its foundation to the point where it’s a rarity for them to have a week off. You know, like the UFC.

What MVP and Affliction do have different is the platform through which the product was delivered. Affliction’s two shows were pay-per-view experiences. MVP is going to greatly benefit from its partnership with Netflix – provided it continues – as a huge chunk of the global population will already have paid the requisite fee to view the event. They can even go back and view it later if they so desire, whether from word of mouth or to experience the event multiple times.

More important than any of that, Netflix has the money to back up the promotion if they get a number of views they’re happy with. Based on the reported numbers from this first offering – 17 million global eyeballs at its peak and the new US record for views of an MMA event – they're certain to run more events. However, that’s also accounting for unprecedented star power they won’t be able to replicate going forward.

As great as Emelianenko was, he never inserted himself into the pop culture lexicon. Sylvia was less noteworthy than Emelianenko, despite being the fighter from the UFC. MVP featured Rousey and Carano. Rousey remains the biggest female star in MMA, despite he last contest prior to the event coming a decade before. At one point, she was the largest name in MMA. Carano has managed to make a footprint herself – albeit, smaller – due to her association with Star Wars and the ripples made with her subsequent firing and lawsuit with Disney. Rousey, now able to end her career with a win, has declared herself retired and Carano’s performance is likely to inspire less views rather than more if she were to return. Given she’s 44 and was happy to walk away from the sport as long as she did prior to this event – her last fight prior to this was 17 years ago – I don’t think we’ll see her again. Plus, does anyone the UFC will let Jon Jones out of his contract and provide MVP a marquee matchup against Ngannou? Given he refused to give them – and the MMA world – a fight with Tom Aspinall, don’t expect them to grant him any favors. Thus, don’t expect MVP to be able to repeat its advantage in star power again.

Even as Affliction only lasted two events, there was some lessons learned from their first event. For instance, the second event didn’t feature the live concert the first one did. While those in attendance at the live show mentioned how awesome Megadeth’s performance was, it didn’t translate well to the television audience. These are people who are tuning into see fights, not a concert. I’m as big of a fan of Megadeth as anyone else, but when people are tuning in for one thing, don’t be surprised if they tune out when you give them something else.

Here’s where MVP has a huge opportunity to learn from the mistakes of this past event. The pacing was terrible. The total amount of fight time for the main card was 22 minutes and 5 seconds. That’s less than a single title fight, yet it took viewers more than three hours to get through. If there was a committed block of time like there would be on a television station, I would understand drawing things out with talking heads whom no one really wants to hear from. Given Netflix has more flexibility than that, there’s no excuse. I don’t care to hear from Jake Paul. I have nothing but respect for Cat Zingano, but she wasn’t needed for the event. I was getting bored and restless. I know I wasn’t the only one. If MVP can improve the pacing, ensure their books are in order, and run with frequency, they can give the UFC a scare. Otherwise, expect their existence to be short lived.