On July 19th, Affliction, an upstart MMA promotion will hold its inaugural event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. Although the clothing company has received a lot of media attention about showcasing one of the best MMA line-ups in recent memory, a distinction needs to be made between an event that features great fighters and one that puts together a great fight card.

At first glance, the “Affliction: Banned” main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia isn’t a bad match-up. In addition, the winner will be crowned the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) heavyweight champion.

For the past five years, Emelianenko [27-1-0] has been the consensus number one ranked heavyweight in the world. However, when Josh Barnett is also under contract for the same show, it’s astounding that he isn’t squaring off against the former PRIDE champion. Barnett is considered a top-4 heavyweight and would probably be a tougher challenge for the Russian fighting machine.

Therefore, while Affliction has assembled a cast of fighters that includes some of the best in the world, the match-up’s themselves are essentially a collection of mismatches. Here’s what you’ll get with the joint venture of Fox Sports Net and $39.95 on Pay-Per-View;

Instead, with some creative matchmaking, Affliction could have been promoting this fight card; 

Tim Sylvia vs. Aleksander Emelianenko

Andrei Arlovski vs. Pedro Rizzo

Ben Rothwell vs. Paul Buentello

Matt Lindland vs. Vitor Belfort

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral

Mike Whitehead vs. Edwin Dewees

The latter fight card certainly represents significant upgrades in competition and would surely justify the $40 asking price of a new MMA promotion, as well as defend the notoriety surrounding the event. In addition, hardcore MMA fans – who will account for the majority of PPV buys – would be more inclined to purchase the show if it presented marquee fights rather than just names alone.

Regardless, the UFC has decided to combat Affliction’s event with a live show on Spike TV, which will be headlined by pound-for-pound king and middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Nonetheless, even though one event is free and the other is available via PPV, it’s clear that Affliction has missed an opportunity to stage one of the greatest nights of fights in the history of MMA.