This morning I noted the report that UFC wants to put a live fight between Wanderlei Silva and Brandon Vera on Spike on July 19 in an effort to undermine Affliction's pay-per-view debut.
But Dave Meltzer of Yahoo reports that Silva's camp has turned it down, saying the Axe Murderer, who last fought at UFC 84 in May, can't be ready to fight in a month. So it appears that Silva won't be on a Spike card -- unless UFC President Dana White can find a way to persuade him.
But that doesn't mean the Spike card won't happen, as Meltzer reports that other fighters are being approached about the possibility of doing the show. It's not clear how likely it is for a live UFC show on Spike is, but it certainly hasn't been ruled out.
If it does happen, the Affliction show will be a bust. I don't know if I'm quite as pessimistic about Affliction as Michael Rome of Bloody Elbow, who says Affliction is likely looking at less than 40,000 pay-per-view buys, but I do think that the folks at Affliction had better be prepared to lose a lot of money on their first show.
If getting good talent, headlined by Fedor Emelianenko, is seen as the first step in a long-term effort to create a strong MMA organization, fine. But if Affliction thinks it's going to turn a profit on its July show, Donald Trump is in for a very unpleasant surprise.
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