Global warming

Was just digging around on the official M-1 Global website – the seventh edition of the M-1 Challenge series takes place in two weeks and I was looking for a little info – and there’s still a strong Affliction presence, including a “Presented by Affliction” logo on every page and the use of Affliction in the titles of this promo clip. The clip was probably put together before the Affliction meltdown but the site is pimping it on the homepage as a way for fans to learn about M-1 Global in the wake of the whole Fedor Emelianenko/Affliction/UFC affair.

So my question is whether Affliction, which has just struck a sponsorship deal with the UFC after ceasing its fight promoting operations, is still affiliated with or sponsoring M-1 Global? Seems strange if that’s the case given the new UFC deal and the UFC’s general (and very specific) disdain for M-1.

This clip also relies heavily on Fedor to sell the brand even though he doesn’t compete in the Challenge series. Oh, and I love how the narration in this clip puts M-1 in the same category as the Olympics and World Cup soccer in terms of significance, spectacle and viewership. I get why they’d try to ally themselves with those events; M-1 Challenge pits teams from different countries against each other in a series of MMA cards. But a lot of MMA fans don’t know anything about M-1, especially if they’re primarily UFC fans.

As for the non-sports-loving general public, who certainly know about the Olympics and the World Cup even if they don’t watch, M-1 probably sounds like a machine gun or an Indy car race or a type of motor oil.