Tonight's Affliction: Day of Reckoning MMA show has begun, and it's stunning to see how many seats at the Honda Center in Anaheim are empty.During the first fight on the undercard, Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight, there appear to be just a few hundred people in the crowd. Rows upon rows of seats are totally empty. It gives the show a decidedly bush league feel. Affliction has claimed that ticket sales are going well, and Sherdog has reported that the show has sold close to 11,000 tickets. If that's true, at least 10,000 of those ticket buyers decided not to show up on time.
It's still possible, of course, that most fans are planning to arrive late (as sports fans in Southern California often do), and that by the time Fedor Emelianenko gets into the ring against Andrei Arlovski, the house will be packed. But it sure doesn't look good early on -- and it's a stark contrast to the UFC, where even the first fights on the undercard are usually witnessed by raucous crowds in the thousands.
UPDATE: I should note that by the time Fedor beat Arlovski, the place was mostly full. That could be an indication that Affliction tends to draw the same types of fans that boxing shows draw -- people who care only about the main event and not the undercard. The UFC, on the other hand, generally packs the house for the entire show.
