The PPV landscape in late January just got more crowded

Friend of Inside Fights Ariel Helwani of MMARated.com is reporting that Affliction will be holding their next PPV in Anaheim, CA on Saturday, January 24, with the main event slated to be Fedor Emilianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski for the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship.

This PPV is set to be a MMA-ONLY affair in conjunction with Golden Boy Entertainment. Because I know some of you are curious, this comes one week after UFC 93 (featuring Franklin vs. Henderson) in Ireland, one week before UFC 94 (feature GSP/BJ Penn II) and the day before one of WWE’s “big four” PPVs – Royal Rumble.

To me, this is a risky move on Affliction’s part. UFC 94 is a must buy given the main event, and given the choice between Affliction and Royal Rumble, a crossover fan like myself is probably more likely to choose WWE as the Rumble is the unofficial kickoff to Wrestlemania – and one fun gimmick. Another interesting aspect is the lack of boxing on the card – ostensibly because they couldn’t find a suitable main event for the “sweet science”. You’re telling me that Golden Boy couldn’t find a suitable boxing match? Yeah, right.

And this sounds bad, and I know they’re trying hard to be a legit organization but every time I hear WAMMA I think of this guy:

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