“Trilogy” was to take place on August 1 in Anaheim, California, but was put in doubt when headliner Josh Barnett, who was to fight Emelianenko in the pay-per-view’s main event, tested positive for steroids and was forced off the card in late-July. The event was ultimately canceled citing the promotion’s inability to secure a suitable replacement, though the lawsuit alleges that Brett Rogers was “ready, willing, and able” to fight Fedor at the event and that Affliction “elected to serve its own financial interests at the expense of its partners”.

Emelianenko and Rogers are now slated to headline Saturday’s Strikeforce event on CBS, which is co-promoted by M-1.

The lawsuit outlines a number of allegations regarding the relationship between M-1 and Affliction, most of which concern the deal between Affliction and the UFC which resulted in the cancellation of the event and closure of Affliction Entertainment, an independent branch of the company which promoted MMA events, even though a viable replacement opponent had been secured and the show could have taken place as scheduled.

Bloody Elbow and MMA Payout have further details on the lawsuit, including that wording of the complaint makes it appear likely that the UFC will soon be added as a defendant alongside Affliction.

The UFC could use the press conference to offer additional details on its recently-announced “collaboration” with Affliction, with the latest reports suggesting that the UFC is “likely to absorb the contracts of all Affliction fighters except [Fedor] Emelianenko”.

A deal to air UFC events on ESPN or ABC is also not out of the question to be announced at the presser, with White saying during his radio appearance that ESPN executive John Skipper attended UFC 100 earlier this month, leading to speculation that deal could be in the works to bring MMA to the networks.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest MMA news and MMA rumors, including coverage of the July 31 press conference.

[Pictured: UFC President Dana White]

Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top-ranked heavyweight who was set to headline the event prior to its cancellation, along with 34 others were en route from Russia to Anaheim, California when they learned of the sudden cancellation of the event after arriving at the airport.

Emelianenko was said to be “ready, willing, and able” to compete against anyone Affliction secured for the main event, after original opponent Josh Barnett failed to be licensed for the bout after testing positive for steroids.

“M-1 Global understands and shares the disappointment being expressed by many fans that Fedor will not be able to compete on Aug. 1 as scheduled,” read the statement. “However, we will work to ensure that Fedor returns to active competition as soon as possible.”

M-1 Global will launch its new “Breakthrough” fight series on August 28 in Los Angeles with an event co-headlined by “King” Mo Lawal vs. Don Frye and Karl Amoussou vs. Nick Thompson, and asked fans planning to attend “Trilogy” to instead support its upcoming card.

Statements from Fedor and M-1 Global Owner and President Vadim Finkelchtein will be released soon.

[Pictured: Fedor Emelianenko]

“We are excited about the return of Affliction to the UFC and look forward to seeing our fighters once again walk into the Octagon wearing the Affliction brands. Affliction is an innovator of mixing fashion with this sport and we are looking forward to working together to promote the sport.” said UFC President Dana White in the release.

“Our brand is synonymous with the ‘Live Fast’ approach to life and UFC is the perfect venue for us to market our brand. We have come to an agreement with the UFC which we feel will be the best for the sport and will help the UFC continue delivering the highest caliber of fights,” said Affliction co-founder Eric Foss.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest MMA news and MMA rumors.

[Pictured: UFC President Dana White]

Later on Friday, Affliction opted to get out of the promoting business and, in a joint statement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, announced it would become a sponsor of the UFC. The fate of the fighters under contract with Affliction is not known yet.

A formal announcement by Affliction and the UFC is expected to be issued shortly and should include additional details, but according to the earlier report, the UFC recently declined a deal to acquire the contracts of Affliction’s fighters in exchange for allowing the clothing company to return as a UFC sponsor. It appears that the UFC has since changed its mind, and will allow Affliction to return as a UFC sponsor, though it is not yet clear whether the promotions may have reached a broader agreement that could include select fighter contracts.

Stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com for the latest MMA news and MMA rumors.

Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole has broken news that a merger between Strikeforce and Affliction is in the works or may already be completed, though perhaps more interesting is the deal that didn’t happen with the UFC:

Affliction itself is fighting simply for survival. Several sources have said that Affliction and Strikeforce will have some type of merger with Strikeforce retaining its name. Affliction’s Tom Atencio denied any merger is imminent, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is in Italy on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.

However, two independent sources told Yahoo! Sports a deal is either completed or on the verge of completion.

White said an Affliction attorney flew to Las Vegas only days after UFC 100 and offered to fold and turn its contracts over to the UFC if the UFC would remove its ban on its fighters wearing Affliction T-shirts.

“I told him, ‘I hope you idiots stay in business,’ ” White said. “We had a record year in 2007. We had a record year in 2008. And we’re going to have an even bigger record year in 2009. I said, ‘I hope you … stay around in 2010 and burn every dollar you have.’ What they do is of no concern to me.”

Emelianenko’s original opponent, Josh Barnett, failed to be licensed for the fight earlier this week after testing positive for steroids.

Numerous possible opponents were mentioned in recent days, including Vitor Belfort, Bobby Lashley, Brett Rogers, and Jeff Monson, but ultimately the promotion decided it was better to scrap the card, while vowing to promote future shows.

The press release announcing the cancellation is below:

Seal Beach, California (July 24, 2009) – The highly anticipated fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett at the Affliction Trilogy MMA show has been cancelled. The mega fight was scheduled to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim on August 1st. The unforeseen license denial of Josh Barnett gave Affliction limited time to find a replacement and adequately promote the new main event.

“Finding an opponent for the number one ranked MMA heavy weight champion in such a short period of time was a huge endeavor and I’m thrilled at the amount of fighters willing to take on this challenge,” said Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction Entertainment. “But in the end, we just didn’t have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards.”

Affliction is deeply disappointed that the under card is also cancelled through no fault of its own. Affliction stands behind the company’s brands and delivers premium products to the most passionate and loyal customers. Affliction’s first priority is to ensure that all future events live up to the company’s high standards.

Ticket holders for the canceled event should contact Ticketmaster or ticketmaster.com for a refund.

Emelianenko’s original opponent, Josh Barnett, was forced out of the fight yesterday after testing positive for steroids during a random pre-fight screening.

Belfort, a middleweight who was scheduled to fight Jorge Santiago on the card, has agreed in principle to fight Fedor, but other options continue to be explored.

Emelianenko’s management, maintaining that their client is open to fighting anyone, made it clear at a press conference earlier Thursday that they’d prefer a fight with undefeated Strikeforce heavyweight contender Brett Rogers, who is coming off a knockout of Arlovski. Strikeforce maintains that Rogers, and fellow Strikeforce heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum, won’t be fighting on August 1.

The latest possible opponent to appear in rumors is veteran heavyweight Jeff Monson, a Division I wrestler and Jiu Jitsu black belt, who should be in fighting shape with fights already scheduled for August 29 and September 15. Monson said earlier today that his name is “in the mix” in the pay-per-view headliner.

Affliction’s Tom Atencio stressed during a conference call with the media yesterday that rumors are just rumors until he announces a matchup, though an opponent is still expected to be officially named shortly.

[Pictured: Jeff Monson]

“I feel disappointed about this situation. But I will fight anyone who Affliction puts in front of me. I know a lot of fans waited for this fight to happen and I am sorry for them. I can’t do much about it now but I am in good shape, my training has been good and continues to go well.”

Though he’s open to fighting anyone, M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelchtein made it clear that they’d prefer a fight with heavyweight Brett Rogers, who is coming off a knockout of Andrei Arlovski, but would also accept a matchup with middleweight Vitor Belfort.

A replacement opponent is expected to be announced by the end of the day.

“Many of you are wondering what’s happening. What I can say is that when applying for my license, the CSAC asked for me to submit a urine sample for testing prior to granting my license as they do with everyone, I believe.

It was not a random test. I had no reason to believe there would be any issues and went in to submit my sample at the earliest possible opportunity on June 25. I never once thought there would be a problem.

My representatives and I are working to gather as much info as possible and handle this situation as best we can. I am embarrassed and want for nothing more than to resolve this issue and receive a license from the State of California as I have done many times already and for other states as well.

I am very thankful for all the great family, friends and fans that still support me.”

A replacement has still not been named to replace Barnett and fight Fedor in the August 1 main event.