Floyd Mayweather Jr. will lose on September 19

Regardless of what happens between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez in the ring, it looks like "Money May" will be on the losing end at the end of the day.

I'm talking about his battle with Dana White and the UFC.

The rivalry between Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts finally comes to a head- thanks (or no thanks) to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions, fight fans will have to choose between Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s comeback fight against Juan Manuel Marquez and UFC 103 which will feature Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort's return to the UFC on September 19.

Now, Golden Boy picked this date despite already knowing the UFC had it circled for their UFC 103 Pay-per-View. It is also of note that the now defunct Affliction MMA fight cards were also promoted in partnership with Golden Boy so competition between these players isn't really anything new.

As a follower of both sports, I can almost guarantee you that UFC 103's headlining act will definitely deliver more action and explosiveness as Franklin and Belfort are both willing and hard-hitting strikers. Belfort is a knockout artist and has one of the fastest and heaviest hands in MMA. Franklin on the other hand is a come-forward type of fighter as well despite being more technical than Belfort.

Mayweather vs. Marquez has the potential to be a really dragging and long fight. Both are counter punchers and prefer to wait for their opportunities as opposed to going for the kill. A fight between a puncher and a boxer similar to when Marquez fought Manny Pacquiao or a battle between two aggressive fighters like Hatton and Pacquiao last summer would be a more pleasing fight to watch.

Regardless, the pure fans of either sport will stick to their own of course, but the battle here is for the viewership of those in between- the casual fight fans who not necessarily knows all the fighters in either sport but loves to watch a beat-down every so often.

In terms of star power however, If Dana White and UFC truly wants to stick it to Mayweather, Franklin and Belfort simply aren't enough. Once upon a time Franklin was one of the biggest names in the sport but unfortunately, just like Forrest Griffin a couple of weeks ago, Franklin's star was shot down by a man named Anderson Silva.

I'm actually surprised White did not try and get Tito Ortiz to fight Franklin. It would also be Ortiz's comeback fight in the UFC despite never really fighting elsewhere, and Ortiz's popularity can definitely go toe-to-toe with Mayweather.

Last week, UFC also announced that it will be airing two hours of the preliminary fights commercial free on Spike TV as a lead-up to the Pay-per-View card.

In somewhat of a counter move Golden Boy promotions beefed up the undercards of the Mayweather-Marquez fight and added in Chris John, Rocky Juarez, Michael Katsidis and Zab Judah. Adding those big names definitely juiced up the card which wasn't really a hit in the box office ticket sales. Also, GBP is going old-school as it will also show the fight card in theaters across the country.

Very savvy and commendable moves indeed from both ends.

Now as to which entity benefits from the said moves remain to be seen. Surely one will be inclined to think that potential Mayweather vs Marquez viewers will be lost due to the free UFC fights on Spike but at the same time, there is also the factor that if a fan already saw 2 hours of fights on free TV, is a match-up between Franklin and Belfort really be worth shelfing $44.95 on?

UFC will also be airing the pilot episode of their new season of the highly watched The Ultimate Fighter show which will feature heavyweight fighters this season and one guy named Kimbo Slice. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Rashad Evans were also tapped as coaches. In terms of hype and publicity, the UFC will have an inside track to promoting their events because of free TV shows like TUF, UFC Fight Night, UFC Unleashed on top of reruns and the countdown they are doing for 103. They will also benefit from the hype it has generated from a successful summer from UFC 98,100 and 101 on top of the upcoming 102 card this weekend. And the fact that UFC works as one unified entity that promotes itself without the competition boxing and Mayweather together with Golden Boy Promotions have from other promoters really works to the UFC's advantage.

Mayweather may have HBO and its 24/7 series but not everyone has HBO. Mayweather is a creative hype machine however but the problem is lately, he has been making the wrong headlines with his alleged involvement in a recent shooting at a Las Vegas skating rink, his trainer and uncle strangling a female boxer on top of his controversial and often racially motivated comments. Golden Boy didn't help it's case either after the fallout from the controversial Diaz-Malignaggi card last Saturday in which boxing's credibility was further questioned.

It's really too close to tell who will outsell the other but my instincts tell me the UFC will get the better out of the already struggling Mayweather card. Contrary to what some people may think though, I don't necessarily feel that it will be an indication of MMA's popularity as opposed to boxing. If anything, it will only indicate Mayweather's true value as a Pay-per-View draw and UFC's progress in terms of how they've consistently given their fans good shows.

Mayweather may have carefully picked his battles inside the boxing ring up to this point in career but his biggest battle and perhaps his first and most significant loss will come from a player outside the sport he says he is the king of.

At the end of the day, this rivalry between MMA and boxing whether true or theoretic only works to fight fans' advantage. If not for the competition coming from Mayweather do you think UFC will really offer those undercard fights for free? And accordingly, do you think GBP will shelf out more money on an already struggling Pay-per-View card just to beef it up to attract more fans? And incidentally, since UFC has been on boxing's tails in the past couple of years, I have never seen so many big and quality fights from boxing. UFC on the other hand just keeps improving it's product every single time. As a fight fan how can you not love that?

What would really kill GBP and Mayweather though is for Dana White to invite Manny Pacquiao as a special guest on UFC 103. That is highly unlikely though and is intended to be a joke but it sure would be funny. After all the bashing GBP and Mayweather have done against Pacquiao, it's only a dose of their own medicine.

Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10947-Indianapolis-Fight-Sports-Examiner~y2009m8d25-Examining-Mayweather-vs-UFC-on-September-19