Mixed Signals On Saturday

I snapped this shot at the entrance to a bar on Broadway in Nashville Friday.  Notice anything?

Is this a victory for the UFC or a problem?

The MMA nation cringes when a newbie refers to mixed martial arts as “ultimate fighting”.

(On teleconferences, I parse the serious fight writers from the general press corp by just that phrase.  One would expect a sports journalist at bare minimum to know what the sport they’re covering is called.)

For years the UFC encouraged the press to refer to MMA as “ultimate fighting”.

Now that the UFC is the Kleenex® of MMA, UFC President Dana White gets his silk boxers in a bunch when the general audience can’t tell the difference between EliteXC and the UFC, and now Affliction and the UFC.

I watched EliteXC’s CBS debut with a friend who invited others who don’t follow the sport and, sure enough, one asked, “What time does the UFC start?”

Careful what you ask for, Mr. White.

White is afraid that the mediocre skill level of a main event between say “Kimbo Slice” Kevin Ferguson (3-0) and “Colossus” James Thompson (14-9) will tarnish the brand name of the sport’s premier promotion.

On top of that, don’t forget that the UFC actually has an event scheduled 19 July to compete against the Affliction card: Ultimate Fight Night 14: TiVo’d, as I’m calling it.

Me?  I’m encouraged that the general public gives as much of a flip about what logo is bugged on their TV screen as I do.

Just make good fights!

Affliction has made Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked heavyweight“Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) face his bloated hype versus third-ranked “Maine-ac” Tim Sylvia (24-4) this Saturday.

The UFC has countered with a rigged-up IFL card headlined by a couple of good fighters making weight class changes.

All you need to know is that I’ll be covering Affliction live for Fighters.com; so, if you decide to watch the UFC, set-up your laptop for live results at Fighters.com.