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By Zack Arnold

If you didn’t follow MMA 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, you would have no clue that two ‘big’ MMA shows are coming up in October. If you were the typical, casual North American fan that surfs the Internet only for a few minutes and watches a lot of television, you would have no idea that Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock is coming up next month. You would have no idea about Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett, either.

Remember the good old days when Affliction bombarded us with massive amounts of PR for their debut show, which was labeled as the greatest heavyweight card in the history of MMA? Those days sure feel like years, not months ago.

What happened?

Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock is about as easy of a match-up as you could possibly promote on paper. Two dynamic personalities, two interesting stories in the world of MMA, and yet if you believe the anecdotal evidence online, there is little or no heat right now in South Florida for this upcoming fight. How could this possibly be? Then, throw in the x-factor of the Miami Hurricanes playing Florida State at Dolphins Stadium that same night, and you have a potentially very bad situation on your hands as far as Elite XC drawing a major paid crowd to see a match-up that should automatically sell out the arena they are running in.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Josh Barnett is a match-up featuring two very talented heavyweights, both of whom have charisma and can cut a promo. They also can fight pretty damn well. Yet, it’s the match-up that absolutely is drawing yawns from both casual and hardcore MMA fans. I almost believe that if DREAM or another Japanese promotion was pushing this fight that the hardcore fans would be paying more attention to it than they are now with the fight being booked by Affliction. If Arlovski vs. Barnett can generate 50,000 PPV buys, then Affliction will be very fortunate to get out of their October 11th date at the Thomas & Mack Center without losing their ass financially. Unfortunately, like Elite XC’s upcoming South Florida event, it seems that Affliction has not found any traction with their Las Vegas event.

There is a lot at stake for both companies with their October events. You don’t want to say it’s a make-or-break situation, but the reality is that it is for both organizations. If Affliction can build some momentum off of their July event, then they could set the table for events in 2009. If Elite XC can do well both at the gate and with a TV rating on CBS, they could keep their television deal in tact with CBS and keep running more shows. However, it appears that both shows are on a negative course in terms of the overall business picture. I hate writing this because I want to see strong competition against UFC in the MMA marketplace, but you have to call a spade a spade here. Both Affliction and Elite XC are not getting the job done right now, in my opinion, with their upcoming October shows.

It’s not just a lack of recognition for both organizations. It’s a lack of energy. It’s a lack of vitality, aggression, and nose-to-the-grindstone carnival barking-style marketing. Where’s the fighting spirit?

Neither promotion has released a full fight card for their big events and we are approximately one month away from the time that these shows are scheduled to take place. Unacceptable.

Interestingly enough, there is a big question surrounding both promotions in regards to their lead play-by-play announcers. Since both Jay Glazer (Affliction/Fox Sports) & Gus Johnson (EXC/CBS Sports) work on Sundays for NFL coverage, it’s doubtful that either man will be available to work the October MMA shows. As good as Mauro Ranallo is as a play-by-play man in MMA, Johnson provides the casual sports fan with a real oomph as far as credibility goes for the EXC broadcasts. Glazer handled his business relatively well (alongside Frank Trigg) for the Affliction debut show on PPV.

There is a large enthusiasm gap right now amongst insiders, fighters, managers, and fans in the MMA business for both mega-events in October. Silence, this time around, is not golden.