Tom Atencio: "I didn't come out to compete with the UFC"
by Kelvin Hunt on Mar 2, 2009 12:44 PM EST
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PrintMichael David Smith has a very telling interview with Affliction's Tom Atencio:
So there's a chance you won't have a third show?
No, I'm just trying to figure out what we're doing, that's all. I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place. The fans and the media treat me like I'm on my 10th show. I'm on my third show, and I'm just trying to make sure I don't make the same mistakes that I made in the other events. If there's things I've made mistakes on I try to fix them. I'm trying to be methodical about everything. I'm just trying to make sure that whatever we do, we're doing it right. And then on the other hand, sponsors and everybody else are treating it like it is my second show and trying to make me prove myself, and that's what I'm doing. So I'm kind of between a rock and a hard place. It's only my third show. It's not like I've done this before. It's not like we come from another organization of smaller fights. This is right out of the gate, we showed up, we did a huge show, we did a second huge show, now I'm just trying to figure out how we do our third show.
I've been pretty critical of Affliction at times, because frankly I've never understood their approach to MMA in terms of running a fight promotion. Maybe it's the Virgo in me or something, but I've always had a plan whenever I do something especially if it involves money. Yet, Atencio is still trying to figure it out.
I understand you just signed Din Thomas?
I believe so. I've been working on it. I don't know if he's signed the final paperwork, but we have definitely been working on Din. I think he's a great fighter.
It's a little weird to me that you're signing fighters when you're not ready to say you're going to have a third show.
It's not that I'm not ready, it's just that we don't have dates. We're moving ahead. It's just a matter of finalizing the dates. I've learned a lot in this industry, and one thing is not talking before I have contracts finalized. The fight in Las Vegas, we had the date and the venue but nothing was finalized, and toward the end we decided it wasn't a good choice. To me, I just want to make sure we're done before we start giving anybody information.
I reached out to Din Thomas about him signing with Affliction, and I never got a reply back. So I'm still not sure if he has signed with them or not. Honestly, I don't see why he would sign with them. Regardless, it's weird that Atencio's stance is always sort of 'out of the loop' if you will. I mean how do you not know if he's signed the paperwork or not? Either he has or hasn't, it's that simple.
So what's the message you want fans to hear directly from you?
First and foremost, that I'm a fan. I love this industry 100 percent. This is a dream come true for me. I couldn't be happier, because of what MMA has done for me and also the clothing industry. I hope I can continue to support this and I hope that the brand continues to be involved in this industry. I'm not saying that we're pulling out, I just don't want to get ahead of myself. I love this sport and want people to know that I'm a fan just like they are.
Thoughts?
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I’ve been saying it for forever, they are losing tons of money every show they do. There’s really no way for them to cut the cost of each show at this point either. The salaries are what they are…and there’s nothing else that they could really cut, without hurting the show itself. They aren’t going to do well PPV wise, and despite what they say…I still don’t believe the PPV #‘s they were mentioning immediately after the second show. Those numbers just were not possible IMO. Not with it being sandwiched inbetween 2 UFC shows, a WEC show the day after IN THE SAME STATE, and the same night as a pretty big boxing match IN THE SAME STATE. That’s the only place where they could make money…on top of that…from the information I’ve gathered….they are not getting that big of a % of the PPV buys….
I really liked the second show Affliction did. However, their business decisions leave a lot to be desired in regards to guys that makes as much money as they do selling t-shirts. I just find it odd that they would just jump into this thing head first without doing any homework beforehand with this amount of money at stake.
http://www.mmaforreal.com
he’s gone from saying that “banned” was the greatest mma event ever" to saying" this is only my 3rd show and people treat me like it’s my 10th". it’s not like he has to say “we ARE going to take on the ufc”, his actions spoke louder than words ever could. the whole fallout with affliction and the ufc banning them had more to do with them playing dirty than anything. aside from the obvious fighters(randy,arlovski,gsp and sylvia) im sure affliction reps were in the locker rooms trying to poach every fighter they could. i’ll be honest, i liked “day of reckogning”, i thought i got my $40 worth, but these guys at affliction starting with atencio and todd beard have done things the wrong way the whole time. i still think there is a 50/50 chance they will have a 3rd show, but i doubt it will have fedor vs barnett. no way is barnett going to take a paycut after arlovski got paid 1.5 mil. atencio is pretty much stating what dana has said all along, "t-shirt guy doesn’t know what the f$%k he is doing. at least we have strikeforce to look forward to as a healthy alternative to the ufc. i’d bet the house that they stick around for a long while and put on many great events.
kelvin, i’m a virgo as well. no wonder i was drawn to this site.
agreed. i definetly want to see that fight, but i’m not holding my breath. from what i read and understood, barnett was offered fedor 1rst before andrei at DOR, but declined it saying that the timing was bad and that he and fedor are good friends. we’ll see.
by bdw on Mar 2, 2009 3:37 PM EST up reply actions
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