There is a rumor going around that Affliction VP Tom Atencio allegedly asked fighters to take up a 50% cut in their contracted salaries for the upcoming October Affliction show in Las Vegas. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer was first to report the rumor from the information we are gathering. Josh Barnett was asked by Fight opinion.com about taking a possible pay cut he had this to say,
"He was not going to take a pay cut to fight."
Also when asked about a possible fight for the October show with Fedor also added,
"It’s not up to him as far as whether or not the fight gets booked. He wants to fight Fedor, but can’t worry about the politics surrounding why the fight hasn’t been booked."
We have all already heard the rumor of a possible Fedor vs Arlovski fight being a very strong candidate for the show. We also know that Barnett is considered by many to be the biggest threat to Fedor right now even more so than Arlovski. If the rumor about the pay cut is true then Affliction really needs to start considering raising talent, no organization unless 100% backed with a very patient investor can last losing $3 to $4 Million a show (Estimated). There are many up and coming fighters who will become available when the IFL closes its doors on Friday.
There are also many fighters from Japan that do not have exclusive contracts. For the next card Tito Ortiz is being mentioned as a possible new fighter and he will not come cheap along with paying Arlovski and Fedor. We will let you know if any new information comes our way as usual.
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