Atencio: There's a competition now

Clothing company turned mixed martial arts promotion, Affliction, debuted at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Cali. Saturday night. And with a live gate of $2,085,510, match maker and vice president, Tom Atencio, was happy with their inaugural event and is planning their next show slated for November.

"There's competition now. That's all I can say," Atencio told the media at the post-fight press conference. "We didn't start to do it. We didn't start out to compete with anybody. We just wanted to do what we do and do it well. And I think we did a good job."

Any new promotion that emerges larger than a regional show is inevitably going to be compared to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. And with a fight card made up mostly of former UFC fighters, including four former UFC titleholders, the comparisons between the two began about the time the announcement of Affliction's formation was made.

"You can't take anything away from the UFC. They built the industry that they built," said Atencio. "Like I always say, they're the que-tip of the industry. You can't take away what they did. But just like any other business, as I said before, if people are happy working for you, they're going to work harder. That's our model. And it seems to work."

"I think that the fans showed that they support these fighters, stated the Affliction Entertainment vice president. "It's not about the company. It's about the fighters."

"Obviously the guys are happy. And they came to me, so it wasn't that difficult because a lot of people, they want to be treated well," he added. "It's just like any other company. If you're happy where you work, you're going to work harder. And I think that's the key."

Affliction is planning their next event for November, but a location hasn't been decided upon.