Tom Atencio, the head of the Affliction MMA promotion, confirmed to FanHouse on Wednesday morning that Josh Barnett has been pulled out of his scheduled August 1 heavyweight title fight with Fedor Emelianenko. But Atencio said he still expects the Affliction Trilogy card to take place as scheduled.
Atencio said Barnett failed a drug test and therefore the California State Athletic Commission will not permit him to fight.
"He tested positive for a banned substance," Atencio said of Barnett. "The athletic commission will not reinstate his license."
When asked if the August 1 MMA card was off, Atencio said only, "Him and Fedor is off."Asked whether the Affliction: Trilogy card at the Honda Center in Anaheim was still going on as planned on August 1, Atencio answered, "At this point, yes."
Atencio gave a terse "no comment" when asked about a Sherdog report that Vitor Belfort and Bobby Lashley were the two potential opponents for Fedor on August 1. He also declined to speculate on whether a deal could be worked out to have Fabricio Werdum, whose August 15 fight with Alistair Overeem was canceled yesterday, might be Fedor's opponent.
When asked what he'd like to say to MMA fans, Atencio answered, "Just look for updates. ... I'm working on getting the best replacement possible."
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Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Just like that its bye bye affliction. Fedor is their Kimbo. I think Trilogy will be it . On the bright side, maybe the UFC will get Fedor sooner rather than later.
I think we will see Affliction and Strikeforce sort of merge and those brands will co-exist with each other under one banner. If those two organizations combined and you had the live events on CBS and Showtime as well as the PPV events that are headliners it would be just as viable as the UFC. In a lot of ways it might even reach a larger audience than the UFC. Thats the ideal situation for both organizations especially in these economic times. Better brand recognition and less risk from Coker and Atencio.
As far as Fedor and the UFC - this has little effect on that situation. The UFC could have already signed Fedor but they weren't willing to come to an agreement. I think Fedor would be more than happy to just go over to Japan and fight like he has been anyway. He isn't going to fight in the UFc just because Affliction folds shop. I think he would be more likely to fight in Strikeforce than the UFC at this point. Dana has essentially burnt that bridge down with gasoline.
I will also disagree with the Kimbo comparison. Even if it were true it's not relevant because Fedor isn't the guy pulling out of the event. Affliction has put on great shows from top to bottom (even airing the undercard for free on TV which the UFC should do on Spike during PPVs) and everyone knows that. It's just not an apt comparison because Fedor isn't going to get knocked out in 20 seconds by a last minute replacement ... they weren't building Fedor up like EXC did Kimbo, either. Fedor was already the best fighter in the world before he fought for Affliction. People want to see Fedor fight the best guys and he has done that in Affliction. It would be great to see the UFC send over Randy Couture for this fight and do a co-promotion.
Id love to see Fedor kick Lesnar's cocky ass
This whole MMA/UFC thing is turning out to be the joke of the century. What a pile of crap. Gotta hand it to them, they are extracting money out of fools like you. Must be a P.T. Barnum thing, a sucker born every minute.
i would laugh my ass off if the drug was marijuana lol.... performance enhancing drug... why not just legalize all those things to sports and we can watch some great games!! lol then those peple who got way overpaid will die from the use and then their money will get dissipated into the economy lol im high
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yep, no doubt about it. josh is a loser, he knew what he had coming up and still took whatever it was that he took, and then bam. and i do agree with numero uno, ufc will be getting fedor sooner rather than later.
WOW! I how could someone actually blow an opertunity like this?
Do I think Rogers is ready for a Fedor? Hell no. But to be the best you have to face the best--and if both Fedor and Rogers are potential threats to Lesnar it'd be a perfect match: in the outside chance of a Rogers win he'd definitely have proven himself, and by facing a guy Rogers' size (w/ skills) a Fedor victory would more than show he's ready for anything the Brock-head throws at him. Atencio, you listening?
The question is not, if Fedor is ready for Lestner, the real question is 'would Lestner be ever ready for Fedor?' Because I bet you Fedor will crush this Lestner-Clown, and I am looking forward seeng well-manered modest Fedor kicking a** of this hotheaded caveman
Yeah that logic is backwards. Fedor is the guy you need to be ready for not Lesnar.
Why did you ask and answer you're own question?
They must not do a very good job testing cause i'm pretty sure all these ass puppets would test positive for "banned" substances!!!!
hell, i'll fight him. i am a more than able opponant, and he doesn't even know it.
Who cares...........they are all a bunch of roid junkies anyway............
THEY SHOULD LET UNCLE DICK SUBSTITUTE FOR THE FIGHTER. YOU WOULD REALLY SEE A QUICK KNOCKOUT THEN.
THE MASKED MAN.
Is this test mandated by the state or by Affliction?I didn't even know they tested MMA fighters.
Read the article..
"Atencio said Barnett failed a drug test and therefore the California State Athletic Commission will not permit him to fight."
The State Athletic commission issues the liscenses to the fighters, promoters, and the event for it to occur legally and sanctioned.
The Refs, the judges, are all employed by the various state Athletic commissions to rule out bias.
It's by the state. Boxing and MMA are the only two sports that are regulated by the government. They have to undergo a drug test before and after and they also have to have several medical tests i.e. catskans and MRI's to get cleared so the state will sanction the fight.
No "Roid Romp"