Affliction Doing A Good Job Of Marketing "Day of Reckoning"

Although they are facing an uphill battle for the minds and hearts of casual MMA fans, I have to say that the principals behind Affliction Entertainment are doing a great job of exposing their upcoming "Day of Reckoning" event to the masses.

Over the past few days, I've read or heard about Affliction:

-in the New York Times
-on CNN
-in the USA Today
-in the LA Times
-on ESPN.com

The list goes on and on, but these are some of the big media outlets that have at least mentioned the upcoming event.

In most cases, these media outlets have featured extensive stories on the promotion itself and/or the major names (ie Fedor, Arlovski) who are involved in the event this weekend.

Donald Trump has been out in full force, promoting the event whenever and wherever he can.

The promotion has benefited from a great deal of trash talk between the two camps who are involved in the main event. Actually, most of the trash talk has come from the Arlovski camp - especially from Freddie Roach. Roach seems to be underwhelmed by some of Fedor's skills, and has vocalized his opinions over the past month or so. This has only helped to build up interest in the main event.

Affliction seems to be pulling out all the stops to make this event a memorable one.

A memorable fight between Arlovski and Fedor would certainly help to strengthen the promotion and bring in even more fans for future events. A memorable fight can do wonders for a promotion - just look at Griffin vs Bonnar I.

At the end of the day, I'm really hoping that all of this mainstream coverage translates into solid PPV buys and a strong gate for the company. At the end of the day, a healthy competitor for the UFC is only a good thing for fans.