There are a few puzzling stories in the news lately. The first is the rumor that Affliction may try to go head to head with UFC 100. I don’t know how I feel about this. Check that -- it’s clearly a stupid decision.

While Affliction can compete with UFC pay-per-view replays and free, dumbed-down cards on Spike, Affliction cannot compete with UFC 100. I understand the UFC’s move to counter-program against Affliction, but it makes absolutely no sense the other way around.

If they can still put together a good card, for a fledgling promotion, they would be smarter to do it on a weekend where they can be the focus of the MMA world. In tough economic times, how many people will buy both? And when you come down to it, the UFC hype-machine is much stronger than Affliction’s, which would spell doom for them. You never like to see another MMA outfit stop promoting fights (unless it’s EliteXC).

On the other hand, maybe this will be the final stand for Affliction and they will fall apart after that show. That would free up a lot of fighters to either come to the UFC (and bolster the heavyweight division, especially if a deal is worked out with Fedor) or head to Strikeforce. Competition is good for the sport and more MMA is always a good thing for fans. Strikeforce capitalized when EliteXC fell apart and it could bolster its roster even more by cherry picking some of the top guys that fought for Affliction.

Another thing I don’t get is B.J. Penn’s prolonged attempts to overturn the decision in his fight with Georges St. Pierre. An interesting story in The Canadian Press makes it look like this is going to be long and drawn out. If you’re B.J. Penn, why fight this? Are there still Penn apologists that think this completely turned the fight? Penn is still a great fighter, just not at welterweight. Why not move on and focus on what’s next?