Affliction Entertainment is competing with the UFC – whether they like it or not.

By signing as many big name free agents to produce all-star shows, Affliction has positioned themselves as contenders to the UFC’s unquestioned reign atop the mixed martial arts world. Unfortunately, Affliction does not want to be compared with the UFC. What they prefer to do is be an alternative to the market leader.

To be a viable alternative, Affliction needs to have a successful run in 2009. The man who heads Affliction Entertainment is Tom Atencio. We recently caught up with Atencio to discuss the competition with the UFC, what he thinks about future opponents for Emelianenko, and who they may be looking to sign in the not-to-distant future.

Question: For the main event of the pay-per-view, how did you decide on Andrei Arlovski against Fedor Emelianenko as opposed to Josh Barnett?

Tom Atencio: As far as the American public goes, Arlovski’s a bigger draw and is more well known here. Barnett, if you talk to people overseas, is well known there, and that’s another fight everyone wants to see. Barnett needs to beat (Gilbert) Yvel in order to fight Fedor. If Yvel beats Barnett, Yvel would be next in line. Of course, that is assuming Fedor wins, but Arlovski has a great chance.

Q: Since Arlovski is a well-known name here, are your pay-per-view expectations going to be higher?

TA: We’re definitely hitting it harder. With the economy the way it is, it’s definitely something we’re going to have to combat. Expectations for myself and my partners are absolutely bigger.

Q: For the first show, the talk was about 100,000 buys. Is that correct? How many buys were there?

TA: We did over 100,000 buys, but I don’t give exact numbers.

Q: Is there a certain number of shows you’re looking to do in 2009?

TA: Right now, we are looking at four events for 2009, but that could change. Right now, I’m just looking at the January show, and the next show would be about four to five months from there.

Q: About thirty-five miles away and on the same night as your show January 24, Golden Boy Promotions – one of your partners - will be having a pretty big card of their own headlined by Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley. What are your thoughts on Golden Boy having a show in the same area on the same night?

TA: We spoke about it. Right now, we don’t see it affecting us too much. The UFC counter-programmed us with the free Anderson Silva fight against our first show, and it didn’t affect us that much. At this point, I don’t see the boxing audience coming over as heavy as some people think. I’d like to change that and hopefully, I will someday.

Q: Isn’t a concern though from a media standpoint to get the word out there for the show? There is only so much local space available. Now, you’ll be competing for space with the boxing show.

TA: Absolutely. We’ll be competing a little bit. It is what it is. Golden Boy is our partner, and we’re making sure that both events are known. It’s a collaboration between the two of us to make it work out for everyone.

Q: Will Golden Boy be considered a partner for your event as well?

TA: Yes.

Q: Golden Boy works a lot with HBO, and you’re currently working with Showtime on this PPV. That brings in a few possible television outlets for Affliction MMA. What is the current status for Affliction’s TV?

TA: Right now, we’re working one event at a time. We’d love to get network television. We’d love to get Showtime, but this is only our second show. I think people are losing track of that. We’re coming off the momentum of the first show. We stumbled a little bit with the failed Las Vegas show, but now we’re back. Once we get past this show, we hope to be able to land a TV deal.

Q: You mentioned the Las Vegas event that had slower ticket sales than expected. How are ticket sales for this event going?

TA: They are going pretty well. We’ve done a lot of marketing. We’ve got a lot people on board to assist that want us to succeed.

Q: One of the big recent signings for Affliction MMA was former Pride and UFC fighter Sokoudjou only days after his UFC release. He is scheduled to fight Babalu. How did that deal come about so quickly?

TA: I contacted Dan Henderson. He and I have a good relationship. I know he trains with Sokoudjou, and I thought Sokoudjou would be a good addition. We were going to have Lindland vs. Babalu, but the weight was an issue for both guys. We needed a need opponent for Babalu and Sokoudjou came about.

Q: The guy fighting Fedor Emelianenko is Andre Arlovski. He was part of the CBS show that eventually doomed CBS. However, Arlovski was not in the main event as it was Kimbo Slice. Slice may not be the best fighter in the world, but he certainly is a draw. Is he someone you’d be interested in bringing in?

TA: At this point, I’m not looking at Kimbo. Until he gets back into training and proves himself to be a legitimate MMA fighter, I won’t be interested. It’s easy to be a critic, but I take nothing way from him. He is a fighter who got into the cage.

Q: How about the other big draw from EliteXC – Gina Carano?

TA: I think Gina is a great fighter. She has proven herself many times. But having said that, if we were to bring her over, I think the only fight out there is her vs. Cris Cyborg. I haven’t really looked into it, but I don’t know who else there is.

Q: Likely what would need to be done is to have the main event and then have another female fight on the show to build a contender.

TA: But the question is – who would that be? I don’t think there is anyone in the same weight class that has enough appeal.

Q: Another guy that been linked with Affliction is Tito Ortiz. He has also personally linked himself with Elite XC and the UFC in recent months. What are your thoughts on him possibly coming in?

TA: I’d love to have Tito come on board. Right now, Tito won’t even be available until July for back surgery. I’ve become friends with Tito. I think he’s a good guy. I think he can still fight, but it’s just a matter of finding a home for him – whether it’s us or back to the UFC or even somewhere else.

Q: How about Ricardo Arona?

TA: I’ve always been interested in Arona, but there are a lot of people out there I am interested in. Guys like Robbie Lawler and Paul Daley. There are a lot of fighters out there. Whether Arona comes over is another question – I’m working hard with the Brazilians. It’s hard for me to bring in lot of fighters because I just don’t have enough shows for them to fight on.

Q: At the last PPV, you spent a lot of time promoting a possible Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko fight. Are you disappointed with how it finally played out with Randy Couture returning to the UFC?

TA: I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t, but at the same time, I understand. He has a family to take care of. I would have loved to see Fedor and Randy fight, and I’m sure the American public would have too. I’m sorry – everybody wanted to see it and not just the American public. In the end, I just don’t think that fight will happen.

Q: Another guy formerly in your organization had some serious issues with Randy Couture’s wife Kim. The current status is that Kim has a restraining order on him. Do you have any information to add on the situation?

TA: Todd is a great friend. What happened in the past just happened. That’s in the past, and we just want to move forward. I like to keep things positive. That’s just the past.

Q: What do you see as the long-term goals with Affliction MMA?

TA: The long-term goal is just to have a viable company that is here in 5, 10, 15 or 20 years from now. Somebody that gives the 800 lb. gorilla a run for their money. It’s not that we originally set out to do that, but that’s the position everyone has put us in. There are a lot of companies that went under so we need to step up to the plate to be the alternative for the fighters and the viewers.

Q: We’re about a month away from the show. What are your thoughts on the upcoming event?

TA: I’m really looking forward to it. I just want to make sure everyone knows about the Affliction Day of Reckoning on January 24. It will be available on PPV live from the Honda Center. We’ve got some great partners with M-1 Global. We work with them on the international side. They are kind of like a farm system for us. It’s a great partnership as well as the Golden Boy partnership.