Aleksander Emelianenko denies Hepatitis B rumor

Aleksander Emelianenko says the rumor that he tested positive for Hepatitis B is false.

Emelianenko, the younger brother of former PRIDE champion Fedor, shot down the rumor in an interview with Russian news portal Life.ru, explaining that he was barred from competing at the July 19 "Affliction: Banned" because he was late for his medicals.

A victim of VISA issues, Emelianenko didn't arrive in the US until July 15, two days after the scheduled date for his medicals with the California State Athletic Commission.

Failing to meet licensing requirements, Emelianenko was pulled from his heavyweight fight against Paul Buentello, which was scheduled to air live on Fox Sports Net. Veteran Gary Goodridge stepped in for Emelianenko.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio has said that he would like Emelianenko to fight at the second Affliction event on Oct. 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Other options for Emelinaneko's next fight are with M-1 Challenge and DREAM.