Ozzfest: Metal legend to perform at Affliction 'Day of Reckoning'

by Jesse Holland on Aug 21, 2008 5:21 PM EDT Comment 44 comments

WAMMA I'm comin' home.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has announced that Heavy Metal legend Ozzy "When Doves Cry" Osbourne will perform live at Affliction "Day of Reckoning" on Saturday, October 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Much like fellow Affliction endorser Megadeth did at the promotions July 19 'Banned' event, the Ozzman will look to rock the Vegas audience and viewers at home at varying intervals throughout the night.

Also like Megadeth, much of today's generation may be scratching their heads over Affliction's choice of talent.

That's to take nothing away from the Grammy Award-winning Osbourne, who re-wrote the book on Metal with the landmark albums 'Blizzard' of Ozz' and 'Diary of a Madman'. I guess you can also count his stint with some little-known group named Black Sabbath.

But Ozzy, who's starting to look like a cross between The Undertaker and Yoko Ono, will turn 60 in December. While you can make some concessions in the studio like he did on 2007's excellent but toned-down 'Black Rain', a live performance is a whole different story.

And MMA fans are not a patient bunch. Some will boo any fight that doesn't have action in the first 30 seconds and Ozzy does have a tough act to follow after Megadeth's mediocre reception at Affliction 'Banned'.

Overall I'm not opposed to Ozzy's appearance, maybe just a little surprised that someone in the target demographic isn't carrying the torch.

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I like it. Include some good music with the fights. Why not?

by Kimura by Fedor on Aug 21, 2008 5:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

and who would be “someone in the target demographic to carry the torch”?

by deuce 4 on Aug 21, 2008 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

im kool with that. all of these guys saying its bad for the sport, lighten up a bit, its ozzy. it could have been anybody and we would still be complaining. all major sports events have a halftime show event of some sorts…and if u dont like, it gives you time to use the damn bathroom, get beer, or whatever the hell u wanna do while its over. Just relax and continue to enjoy the fights after.

by blah on Aug 21, 2008 7:00 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Amen, blah.

by SkeletonKey on Aug 21, 2008 9:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rock’n Roll Affliction!!! Yeah!!

by TheNegation on Aug 21, 2008 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

the thing is you will never be able to satisfy every mma fan with any choice of musical guest. For that reason I think it is best to leave the concert part of the production out.

by Bojo on Aug 21, 2008 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

From a marketing standpoint, this can’t miss. He attracts both an older audience from his music and a younger audience from his days as a reality TV star. His tours always sell out, he’s been on TV…what’s the commotion? Most fans of MMA would prefer Ozzy to Linkin Park or some other crap.

I think it’s a great choice.

by Gid on Aug 21, 2008 5:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I prefer Linkin Park, Shinoda knows whats up!

by Cogito Ergo Sum on Aug 21, 2008 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is a joke, but a solid follow up to Megadeath…..

by riskreturngroup on Aug 21, 2008 5:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Makes the whole sport look worse.
Makes it looks like “Ozz Fest: NOW WITH FIGHTING!”

Eh, I guess Affliction is about using these events to further their T-Shirt sales more then anything, so maybe this makes sense for them.

I don’t see anyone being convinced to buy a ticket, who wasn’t already, because of this though.

by ShaiZ on Aug 21, 2008 5:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

How does it make the sport worse? Did Janet Jackson’s titty affect your tuning into football games? Ozzy is just part of the show, not part of the sport…

by c-war on Aug 21, 2008 6:45 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

as was that titty.

by c-war on Aug 21, 2008 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

…what part of the show are Ozzy’s titties?

by SkeletonKey on Aug 21, 2008 9:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

probably the whole thing, 60 year old man titty

by c-war on Aug 21, 2008 10:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

ROFL

by SkeletonKey on Aug 21, 2008 11:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Are you kidding me, now instead of seeing all the fights we get to see Ozzy mumble, CAN’T WAIT!!

by Haze on Aug 21, 2008 5:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

They should have the Diaz brothers go on with Ozzy. That would be one concert where you need the ticker at the bottom with the
words of the song. We could call their band the Mush Mouths.

by jay on Aug 21, 2008 7:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This must be what Dana White was talking about when he said he never wanted to go the “freakshow route”

by JV on Aug 21, 2008 5:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Looks like Ozzy is about to have a coronary in that picture…lol. That’s not funny.

by BigFatManiac on Aug 21, 2008 5:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You haters are all missing the good marketing methods by affliction. Tell me how this hurts Affliction or mma for that manner?

by Kimura by Fedor on Aug 21, 2008 5:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree Kimura. Although I respect Ozzy as a musical legend, I’m not really a fan. On July 19, didn’t Affliction televise their entire card? I don’t remember the last time the UFC did this. So what if Ozzy does a couple of songs in between fights. I have to piss and fill my drink at some point…this way I don’t have to miss out on any action while I do it.

This will ultimately only serve to draw more viewers and create more MMA fans. I would find it fascinating if anyone sees this and considers not being an MMA fan any longer or considers not buying the Affliction card (unless they had already decided not to).

by BigFatManiac on Aug 21, 2008 5:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Its the fact that this isn’t the UFC, this is Affliction and they want to draw some big numbers. Now I doubt they are going to overly advertise Ozzy as being on this show and I doubt Ozzy will do much advertising himself so I don’t get what the point of having him on here is doing. Its not drawing new fans because unless they look this stuff up they’ll never see it. I say they spend their money on advertising a great card instead of trying to draw a demographic that already heavily favors MMA. There is no wrong or right to Ozzy being in the show but it does stand to turn some hardcore fans away from the promotion which is ultimately who Affliction is really depending on.

by Cogito Ergo Sum on Aug 21, 2008 6:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Throwing a band/rapper into the mix is the oldest, easiest marketing technique that every promoter falls back on.

Whether you think it helps/hurts are stoked/pissed, you cannot claim this is innovative marketing for MMA, it’s bottom basement phoning-shit-in.

Not to sound like a fan boy, but good example of marketing is what UFC does with it’s “Count Down to: UFC Whatever”
Where you get educated about fighters and why certain fights are compelling, making their fighters 3 dimensional (in the character sense) so that you actually have a vested interested in watching them fight(win). This makes people care about the fights and the sport and be knowledgable fans, not assholes coming to a metal show who boo if anyone hits the matt.

by ShaiZ on Aug 21, 2008 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Dead on. This will put a few butts in some seats, that otherwise would’nt be there, and thats it.
However, I did’nt care for the Megedeth bit either, and am not excited about another $40 bucks for a PPV with 42 minutes worth of Ozzie.

by Jrandolph on Aug 21, 2008 9:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No, actually this hurts MMA…if you want to see MMA fighters paid what they are worth you’ve got to get it sanctioned as a legitimate sport in more states than it is now. It’s got to win over important states like New York. Events like these and the direction the Tapout brand take the sport aren’t helping that. They are just pushing the freakshow/human cock-fighting route that plagued the UFC for years before Dana got his hands on it.

I’m not saying Ozzie playing is bad for the sport, I’m saying that anything that turns the sport into a freakshow or cockfight is bad for the sport. If Ozzie played and that didn’t encourage a freakshow/cockfight atmosphere, i’m all for it. Ozzie is awesome!

by smac on Aug 21, 2008 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s “OZZY”, smac. Not trying to be a dick, I promise.

by SkeletonKey on Aug 21, 2008 9:40 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I like OZZY…But this is fighting not a concert!…

by Bill on Aug 21, 2008 5:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

3x 5 mins don’t = a f0king concert…. f0king hater$

by biblo on Aug 21, 2008 5:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

exactly. Old people just dont like any kind of change, lol.

by c-war on Aug 21, 2008 6:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you like metal its criminal not to like Ozzy and his output both in solo form and in Black Sabbath. This cannot fail unlike Megadeth who wrongly are seen as a poor mans Metallica.

Ozzy is a “big deal” still and will draw tons of media-coverage alone, metal and mma should be linked and I like what Affliction are doing.

Good work T-Shirt guy!

by MJC_123 on Aug 21, 2008 6:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ozzy sure beats the shit outa the gladiator. I think its way cool. Whats better than fights, booze and metal? Maybe u could throw in some free hookers and some coke?

by Harry Triangle on Aug 21, 2008 6:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Ozzy is the man or am i just getting old …

by bo on Aug 21, 2008 6:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hopefully Ozzy doesnt die on stage, but atleast Affliction is doing their own thing and not just being a carbon copy of UFC like Cage Rage, King of the Cage, etc.

I think its a good idea overall, but for the MMA purist it is merely a time to urinate.

by DirtyML on Aug 21, 2008 6:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t mind watching some Music in between fights, even if it is Ozzy. Why not? They should just play during the fights that would be cool. The only thing I find hard to like it the boxing ring. It sucks when they are getting tied up in the ropes and have to stop.

by InsaneRide on Aug 21, 2008 7:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

What the hell for? I hate the fluff Affliction and EliteXC have had between fights. No smoke, no concerts- just fights, fight highlights and a few half naked girls. Anything else is a bathroom break and time to get another beer.

by DSmith on Aug 21, 2008 7:56 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You prefer Goldie kissing Rogan’s ass for 15 minutes instead?

by introvert on Aug 21, 2008 11:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

No clue where all the hater-ade comes from but i wish i had known it was gonna be a hit i wouldve invested!!! Seriously doh this can only help the promotion and thats what counts at the end of the day because unlike the ufc Affliction is trying to bring the best in the world to fight each other so we can have undisputed Champions and have these people get paid more or less what they should be making(except tim&matt no clue why they got so much).

by Khaos_Warrior on Aug 21, 2008 9:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I like the idea of some music, when I watch UFC events I get tired of them pimping their shows between fights and o yeah the UFC on demand crap, I alreay paid for the event we should be able watch the undercards for free dammit.

by bigmcmac on Aug 21, 2008 9:07 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

The inclusion of Ozzy makes no difference as to whether or not Affliction survives or not. Personally, it makes it seem like MMA can’t stand on its own.

by Muscle Dolphin on Aug 21, 2008 9:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Why is it hating to think this is a bad idea? It’s not like we are claiming Ozzy (instead of “Ozzie” as corrected by Skeleton Key) is the devil…er…well, never mind.
Seriously though, It’s not the end of the world either way. I’m one of those guys that gets up and leaves at halftime anyway, regardless of what band they throw up there. I HAAAATE the Super Bowl halftime shows (that actually would make me a hater), but that’s just me.

by Jrandolph on Aug 21, 2008 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gaurantees a sellout at the event…if nothing else.

by introvert on Aug 21, 2008 11:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

He looks like a freaking idiot in that picture.

by UFCAddict on Aug 22, 2008 12:54 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Instead of including musical talent in your show, why don’t you just concentrate on improving your sh#$ty production and you won’t need to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to book musical talent. For a company trying to make sound financial decisions they keep missing the ball. If I want to hear Ozzy I’ll buy a ticket to his concert. I want to see MMA fights not some WWE production crap.