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UFC ON VERSUS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC on VERSUS on March 21 live from the FirstBank Center in Broomfield, Colorado. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific!

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DREAM 13

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of DREAM 13 coming to you from the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan on March 22. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 3 AM Eastern/12 AM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of STRIKEFORCE: CHALLENGERS on March 26 live from the SavMart Center in Fresno, CA. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC 111: GSP VS. HARDY

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC 111: St. Pierre vs. Hardy live from the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ on March 27. The event will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and feature a heavyweight showdown between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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UFC FIGHT NIGHT: FLORIAN VS. GOMI

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of UFC Fight Night: Florian vs. Gomi live from the Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte, NC on March 31. The event will be headlined by a lightweight battle between Kenny Florian and Takanori Gomi. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 8:00 PM Eastern/5:00 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIII

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIII live from the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida on April 8. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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BELLATOR XIV

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Bellator Fighting XIV live from the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois on April 15. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 7:30 PM Eastern/4:30 PM Pacific!

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STRIKEFORCE: NASHVILLE

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of Strikeforce: Nashville live from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, TN on April 17. The event will be headlined by a middleweight title fight between Jake Shields and Dan Henderson and feature the US debut of Japanese submission god Shinya Aoki! Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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MFC 25: VINDICATION

--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE will present live play by play coverage of MFC 25: Vindication live from the Edmonton Expo Center in Edmonton, Alberta on April 17. Join us for the BEST live fight narrative in the world–the action begins 10 PM Eastern/7 PM Pacific!

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If you go by the rules, you end up being an accountant.

Robert Evans

Affliction ‘Trumps’ the MMA world

Donald Trump's invovlement with Affliction gives them a name familar to non-MMA fans to help publicize the promotion and the sportDonald Trump's invovlement with Affliction gives them a name familar to non-MMA fans to help publicize the promotion and the sport

There’s an old saying that ‘politics makes for strange bedfellows’. So too, apparently, does mixed martial arts. In the past year or two there’s been all sorts of names famous and infamous who’ve actually involved themselves in MMA, or else have talked about it or have been rumored to be getting involved. While not exhaustive, this list would include:

Mike Tyson, the Japanese yakuza, Oscar de la Hoya/Golden Boy Promotions, Mark Cuban, Vince McMahon, Shane McMahon, Brock Lesnar, Kurt Angle, Bobby Lashley, Chuck Zito, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Vadim Finkelstein, Mark Ecko, the Russian government, Bill Goldberg, David Mamet, every major TV network in Japan and the US, rappers Nelly, T.I., Lil Jon, Ludacris, Jenna Jamison, Busta Rhymes, Skinlab, etc., etc., etc.

None has made for bigger news or may eventually have more significance than Donald Trump’s recently announced involvement with Affliction Clothing’s new MMA promotion. Trump has purchased a still unknown but ‘significant equity stake’ in the promotional endeavor. In fact, “The Donald"? was noticeably vague about the extent of his financial involvement at a NYC press conference announcing the deal:

"I've got a lot of money. That helps, right? But also and perhaps more importantly, I seem to get a lot of attention. For instance, if I wasn't here today, you might have maybe one writer. And now the place is packed."

Trump continued, making comments that downplayed the size of the Affliction investment relative to his net worth and even being dismissive about making money at it:

"It's really something that I'm doing because I enjoy doing it. If we make money, that's great. I think we will. I think it will be successful. What I do is usually successful. It's financial, but it's not a very big deal for me. When you build a billion-dollar building like I'm doing in Dubai and lots of other places, that's a much bigger financial commitment."

A press release issued by Trump’s organization was a little less flippant about the reasoning behind their namesake’s involvement in MMA:

“I have been a fan of professional sports since childhood, and I am particularly impressed by the athleticism, courage, and strength of these disciplined athletes,"? Donald J. Trump remarked. “This particular sport resembles my business style of being fast paced, strategic, and aggressive…remembering to never give up. I am particularly excited to partner with Affliction and become a major player in promotion of MMA; the youngest and fastest growing sport to emerge in the last century."?

So how significant is Trump’s involvement with Affliction? From a financial standpoint its impossible to say without knowing the particulars of the deal. Like the man himself said, however, (he’s) ‘got a lot of money’ and ‘that never hurts’. Trump’s net worth is an estimated $3 billion which makes him a slightly ‘bigger billionaire’ than Mark Cuban ($2.8 billion). He’s likely worth more than both Fertitta brothers combined, though its even harder to pin down their net worth since one of their most significant holdings (UFC parent Zuffa, LLC) is privately held. They’re also in the process of taking the Station Casinos company private. In the Fall of 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated the net worth of the Fertitta’s at $1.3 billion each. In other words, Trump is now the wealthiest individual to ‘buy in’ to the MMA business.

Still, even assuming that these net worth numbers are accurate there’s no way to know the amount of money Trump has invested or his level of commitment and involvement. It might be essentially a ‘symbolic’ stake that Trump’s notoriously large ego couldn’t help making sound larger with the intensifier ‘significant’. On the other hand it could be a significant investment which would immediately make Affliction much more viable financially.

So what’s in it for Donald? While his casino holdings aren’t as extensive as they were during the Mike Tyson era when Trump Resorts would frequently host/promote/sponsor his fights, they are still significant. He still owns a 27% stake in Trump Entertainment Resorts and serves as the company’s Chairman and public face. Trump Entertainment Resorts has been in bankruptcy status for several years, though they continue to operate their well known Atlantic City casinos. This holding company is separate from the Trump Organization, through which he conducts his non-gaming business and provides the more substantial source of his wealth. But like Trump himself said on the occasion of the casino company’s bankruptcy filing its all "really just a technical thing" and it would require access to the company’s books (which we’re not getting) and a team of CPA’s to figure out what’s what.

Trump has also been trying to get a foothold in the Las Vegas gaming market for years without much success. Maybe he’s looking to use Affliction as either a thorn in the side of the Fertittas, or thinking that with the growth of MMA that being a ‘player’ in the sport will give him some more leverage. Or else he could just want some compelling fight events at his New Jersey properties, which might also be a way to ‘get back’ at the insular Las Vegas gaming community by creating an East Coast competitor to their lucrative UFC fight weekends.

Of course it could be as simple as him seeing Affliction as a promotion and MMA as a sport as a good investment opportunity. Still, Trump seldom makes things simple and always has an angle. Clearly he’s got some compelling financial incentive to ‘buy in’ at this point.

And what about Affliction? There may or may not be a financial upside for them, but even if Donald’s investment is nominal or symbolic his imprinteur on the company and the sport of MMA alone is highly valuable. Like it or not, Donald Trump represents wealth, success and business smarts to much of middle America and his validation of MMA will resonate through this segment of the population and the mainstream media outlets that serve them. His involvement alone can help establish Affliction as a major league promotion among those who don’t know the difference between Fedor Emelianenko and Kimbo Slice.

Furthermore, as he noted himself he’s a media coverage machine. Donald Trump’s involvement is a way to almost guarantee that they won’t get lost in the shuffle of big MMA promotions and the smaller groups that seek to join them. The fact that he’s also a shameless self promoter and will hawk his involvement anytime there’s a camera or microphone in his face doesn’t hurt either.

Like so many of the major stories that have broken in the past few weeks, Donald Trump’s entry into the MMA business can either have far reaching impact or none at all. Potentially, it could be huge but without knowing the details of the extent of his involvement or financial commitment we can only speculate. One thing for certain is that the MMA business just got almost as interesting as the fights themselves.

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written by Tin Hinst , July 14, 2008
I am really psyched about Affliction, there are a lot of small mma "leagues" that are trying to get as big as ufc. A lot of them didnt?cant make it because of the money and/or promotions. What Affliction has is the big money, and of course like this article says the big promotion to the ppl that even the UFC couldnt reach. They have got Fedor to come to the States, Dana White has been trying to get him for years. When he couldnt get him Dana started trash talking Fedor, that he is washed out and he hasn had a good fight in years. Dana did the same thing to Wanderlei Silva, he said he is washed out and too old, then when he signed him White started to sing Silvas praises. I hope that Affliction will pay the fighters good money, money that they deserve. Did u know that Keith Jardine got only 10 000$ for his last fight with Wanderlei Silva??? That didnt even cover the hospital bills. Dana sees the danger of Affliction, and thats why he is sponsoring a free fight card on Saturday (I am still watching Affliction), but in my opinion true fans who know what the main event of the night means they will go with the ppv. Affliction and Trump are starting something great and i think it will stay for a long time. Its about time someone stood up to UFC's reign, and hopefuly it will make Dana and the rest of mma treat (pay) the fighters better. Thank you
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written by Mike Wilkerson - 2GuysTalking , July 05, 2008
A few months back, I finished a reasonably involved research mission on the former mogul Howard Hughes in prelude to a series of reviews I'm going to be doing on movies/television, etc, and something I wonder - When Trump dies, will there be a mad rush of money-hungry "he told me this and"s that spring up and wonder where THEIR check is? There is a very strange scale that is created by the involvement of Donald Trump into the MMA realm - it's sort of a flame and gas relationship, actually. In one hand, you have one of the most business-savvy people in history (you'd have to be business savvy to "go bankrupt" as many times as Trump has and still have billions to spend) clutching onto stacks of delicious green cash. In the other hand you have a series of promotional companies, who all want a bigger piece of the proverbial MMA pie. They all want the current great fighters to flock to them. They all want the potential future great fighters to jump into their stable and provide services to their respective John's ordering pay-per-views and buying tickets to get their butts in seats of stadiums across the nation. Now smash them together, give 'em a stir and what do you have? Is it sweaty guys, an old dude and cash, or is it the next firestorm of American Entertainment? I've gotta' vote for the latter. When you have people watching the quality of today's prime-time television shows (mostly crap by the way), another portion that are Internetphiles (like most of the people reading and commenting here) and then the other people that don't know anything about Mixed Martial Arts, there is a GIANT seed that Trump is planting. Let's hope for some of that miricle grow stuff in the form of bags of cash for the MMA world. Otherwise I smell a draught the likes of which MMA would be hard-pressed to weather.
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