Affliction VP: We want to be a force in this industry

Early in the day on Wednesday, MMAWeekly.com spoke with an Affliction representative who confirmed that the promotion's sophomore offering, "Day of Reckoning," originally scheduled for Oct. 11 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, has been rescheduled for Jan. 17 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio spoke exclusively with MMAWeekly.com to clarify his company's decision to postpone the event.

"We not canceling it, we're not postponing it, we're rescheduling it completely," he said. "It doesn't make sense to do it where we wanted to do it, it's a positive."

Sources close to the venue had informed MMAWeekly.com that ticket sales thus far have been "abysmal." Atencio conceded that ticket sales for "Day of Reckoning" were weak.

"Of course," he said. "It was a business decision. We came out strong, and we want to continue with that momentum and continue strong. We don't want to come out and be weak and have to give tickets away. We want to continue to be a force in this industry."

Atencio declined to comment whether Fedor Emelianenko would spearhead the show's new Jan. 17 date, but promised an announcement about the company's future at the Marquez-Casamayor fight in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"From a business standpoint, we don't want to lose money," he said. "We want to be here long term. It's a wise choice. This is definitely a positive."