Affliction may be facing an uphill battle leading towards its next event. Following its debut card, which the organization has deemed a financial success, Affliction may experience a few bumps in the road while putting together a follow-up extravaganza. First, the prize pupil of Affliction, Fedor Emelianenko, received a medical suspension that could last as long as six months.

It is hard to believe Fedor could sustain any type of injury during the brief amount of time he was in the ring against Tim Sylvia. Reports have indicated that Fedor’s suspension is due to a recurring hand injury. Did he really hit Sylvia that hard?

Despite what reports are leaked, it’s a pretty safe bet that Fedor will be cleared to fight before the October 11th event. It’s hard to imagine Affliction not being able to get around this minor pothole. That being said, Sylvia’s status for October 11th also remains in question. But does anyone really care?

It turns out that Sylvia supposedly has an injured left elbow. Affliction can afford to allow Sylvia to take some time off however. After his disappointing loss to Fedor, Sylvia isn’t a parciluarly huge draw.

Another lingering question that keeps popping up is if the event will actually take place in Las Vegas? It’s obvious that Affliction wants to set up camp right in the UFC’s backyard, although it is not quite necessary at this time. As long as it continues to put on one quality show after another, the venues will gradually become more grandiose. Where this event takes place shouldn’t be as big a concern as who fights on the card.

That leads us to the new million dollar question. Will Tito Ortiz take on Renato Sobral on October 11th? All indications up to this point favor such a fight taking place, but nothing is etched in stone. Nevertheless, Affliction should do whatever it can to seal the deal on an Ortiz vs. Sobral showdown. Even if it has to shell out a few extra bucks, Affliction needs to establish a continual pattern of quality events.

That means getting Fedor in the ring no matter what and also locking up Ortiz for the event. Yet, it can afford to leave Sylvia at home for this event. In fact, that might be one of the best idea altogether. And even if Affliction is forced to push the date back a few weeks, it should do what it has to in order to put its best quality on display. Anything less could ultimately suspend the organization from putting up a worthy fight against the UFC.

Tags: Affliction