Affliction in Talks With 3 Fighters To Face Fedor at Trilogy, Barnett To Appeal Positive Test
Affliction held a conference call on Wednesday afternoon with the media to discuss Josh Barnett’s positive test for a banned substance, which has resulted in his removal from the promotion’s August 1 “Trilogy” main event against Fedor Emelianenko, and their hunt for a replacement to face Emelianenko at the pay-per-view event.
On the call, Affliction’s Tom Atencio said the promotion was in talks with 3 fighters (reported to be Brett Rogers, Vitor Belfort, and Ricardo Arona) to replace Barnett and square off with Fedor, but said nothing was official and that talks were ongoing. He dismissed reports that a contract was in place with Belfort, saying nothing’s official until he announces the matchup.
Asked what substance Barnett tested positive for, Atencio, who called the news a “complete surprise” and a “disappointment”, directed questions to the California State Athletic Commission, saying he only learned of the positive test yesterday and was not told of the specific drug, other than it’s a banned substance.
Atencio said that a “B sample” from Barnett, taken at the same time as the first test, was being tested to confirm the positive result, but that the promotion is proceeding as though it will be upheld. Barnett is expected to appeal the failed drug test if it is upheld.
Since news of Barnett’s withdrawal from the card broke this morning, some questioned whether Fedor and his management, who have the ability to approve and decline any new opponent, would turn down some of the possible opponents who were under consideration to replace Barnett. Atencio says that Fedor is open to fighting anyone and wouldn’t back down from a fight, clearing the way for Affliction to announce a matchup as soon as a contract is reached.
Atencio made it clear that Affliction is looking to put on the best fight possible, and is negotiating with multiple fighters in hopes of putting on a fight that fans want to watch.
Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest Affliction news and Affliction rumors.
[Pictured: Tom Atencio]
Tags: Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, Tom Atencio
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Out of the 3 i would like to see vitor vs fedor… Rogers is a big guy with 1 punch ko power but we isn’t well rounded enough to hang with fedor.. Arona hasn’t fought in a while, i know he is been training for an up coming fight but fighting fedor after more than a year long layoff isn’t such a good idea..
Vitor has been looking good lately, he may be the man to defeat fedor.. lol well probably not but i think it’s still a good fight.
Since Fedor has the right to refuse, he should do so. He has more to lose from this situation than he has to gain. Barnett was his only legit challenger at Heavyweight, if he fights Belfort and loses, then he just lost to a guy who should be at 185 and is kinda on his last run. If he fights someone else who’s not well known liek Brett Rogers, like i said, Fedor has more to lose and not much to gain. Even if Fedor fights whoever and wins, people will most likely say he beat somene whos not a legit challenge, so therefor he should finally consider a move to the UFC.
I’m tellin ya’. They neeeed to bring on Brett Rogers. Arona does bring intrest because alot of people think he beat fedor in their first match, but all he’s been doing is f’ing the dog. I would be like fedor challenging him to a surfing competition, we know the result. Brett Rogers brings something the others do not. He’s an up and comer with heavy hands and is a beast of a man at 6′5 265. This is really the only fight at this point i would pay to watch.
It would be in Afflictions best interest to put on another fight instead of having Fedor fight a pointless match at this point.
If he loses to any of these guys GOOD BYE AFFLICTION!! Well it’s good bye affliction anyway soo hey put me in there I’ll fight him for what Timmmeh fought him for half even and I beat I last longer than 12-14 seconds. Why cause I would attempt to do Machida Karate soo I’d run the 1st rd until I got tired and then get choked or KO’d but I’d have lasted longer than any UFC champ did.
Call me Tom Atencio I’d give you your moneys worth.
“I WANT FEDOR’S BELT!!”
Arona would be awesome. And yes he did win the first fight w/ Fedor and got screwed.
Even if Arona did in fact get screwed in the first fight (in your opinion), he has been 1-3 in last 4 fights including losing to a UFC cast off…
What’s Fedor record been in his last 4?
two weeks to train for Fedor? RIP Affliction.
Goodbye Affliction! thank god
I think Brett Rogers is the only threat out of the three. To be honest, I’m a big Fedor fan, but sooner or later he is going to lose. I would rather watch him lose to a guy like Rogers who deserves more respect, than any UFC fighter who has all the attention just because they are with the (by far) superior promotion.
This was a big mistake for the rest of Barnett’s career. Stripped of his title 8 years ago and now this. Tsk tsk.
they should just cancel the fedor fight all together and put on sylvia/arlovski 72
lol, nice.
That would ALMOST be as bad as Franklin Henderson 2.
Fedor should walk away now while he still has some dignity in this whole thing.
No one’s going to be impressed if he ragdolls some MW, or submits someone that hasn’t had a proper camp, or KTFOs someone who hasn’t fought in over a year.
Fedor’s pi$$-ant management, who seems to have all sorts of attitude when it comes to negotiating with Dana White, should get the Afflicted promoter on the phone and tell him that Fedor’s walking away from this trainwreck, and to not bother calling him back until they have a legitimate HW opponent for him and a proper timeframe for them both to train under…
rogers is a big beast but a long shot, punchers chance.
still i don’t think arona has much chance in full contact mma against fedor.
slim pickins,
but i’d actually like to see rogers power in there,
but belfort has KO power quite recently as well as an over all game and experiance.
ah heck:
grand prix with all 4, or tag team.
what about werdum, AA again as that would be different the 2nd x
i agree with scrapping the fight, and fedor taking this as a sign he needs to be with a more professional company. i like strikeforce they dont seem to be trying to compete with dana like others so i dont want to see them ruin any fights for august 15th to help affliction out. and on belfort, i think he would be kind of foolish to take, but maybe foolish not to who knows, hes on his last run and thats because hes now a monster at middleweight, why ruin the last good thing going for ya by fighting heavier on short notice against fedor.dumb. get shawn tompkins to fight mark delagrotte
Fedor should in fact have his people take a long hard look at Strikeforce. They’re pulling together some quality talent, seem to have their stuff together on a promotional level, and are unfortunately saddled with a HW champion that seems somewhat, let us say, reluctant, to defend his title.
Also, they run operations in a cage, which would only help Fedor’s game and skillset.
Maybe Strikeforce can’t offer the insane contract that Affliction is offering, but for Fedor it would be a chance to prove himself against some of the best non-UFC HW talent once again. For a man who repeatedly claims to fight for honor and such, as opposed to the folding green, this seems like a good fit and a natural move…
Strikeforce can’t pay.