The result of the bout has been changed to a no contest and White has been fined $2,000.

White was to fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Affliction “Banned” this Saturday, July 19th, but was removed from the bout and replaced by Edwin Dewees after failing the drug test.

• EliteXC Live Events President Gary Shaw may be on his way out of ProElite, though reports from his son, Jared Shaw, contest otherwise.
• UFC veteran Ken Shamrock has called for a rematch against Royce Gracie, who may or may not serve as Shamrock’s final opponent.
• The UFC has made the undercard bout between Dustin Hazelett and Josh Burkman available for free viewing on UFC.com. Hazelett earned submission of the night for his super slick armbar.
• “Big” John McCarthy and Mauro Ranallo have been announced as the broadcast team for Affliction “Banned.” This could help explain McCarthy’s previous public statements regarding the UFC’s competition with the Affliction show.
• UFC veteran Jeff Monson has called out Kimbo Slice via an almost-comical YouTube video.
• Brock Lesnar has been rigorously training with seven time BJJ world champion Rodrigo “Comprido” Leite Medeiros for his upcoming bout with Heath Herring at UFC 87.
• Current Strikeforce middleweight champion Cung Le is leaning more towards an acting career and less towards fighting, according to a recent interview.
• CB Dollaway has stated that he did not “fully commit to the tap” regarding his stinging TUF 7 finale loss to Amir Sandollah.
• Last week UFC veteran Matt Hughes settled out of court on “battery and assault” charges, which stem from an incident that transpired nearly two years ago at UFC 64.
• Dana White said that he feels republican John McCain is the “best presidential candidate for MMA.”
• MMA journeyman Shonie Carter said in a recent interview that his stint on “The Iron Ring” has helped to get “people knowing the minorities in MMA.”
• Affliction has revealed that they are planning events for October and February.
• Paul “Semtex” Daley will return to competition following a six-month retirement to take on Bojan “Zelva” Kosednar at Cage Warriors “Enter the Rough House 7″
• Despite losing her professional debut and suffering a broken jaw that will require surgery, the AFL remains interested in signing Kim Couture to bolster its Women’s division.
• Ken Shamrock’s nephew, lightweight Jeff Shamrock, has signed with Strikeforce.

The superstar-studded card is so stacked with talent that it had to be separated into two live shows produced for broadcast. The night’s activities will kick off with a one-hour, free live telecast on FSN (Fox Sports Net) starting at 5 PM Pacific (8 PM/ET), dubbed “Affliction Live.” Following that is “Affliction Banned”—five incredible fights on pay-per-view starting at 6 PM/PT (9 PM/ET) via iN DEMAND, TVN, Shaw Communications, Viewers Choice Canada, DirecTV, DISH Network, Bell ExpressVue and Star Choice in the United States and Canada for a suggested retail price of $39.95.

Kicking off the night with “Affliction Live” on FSN is the highly anticipated US debut of Russian heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3), brother of Fedor Emelianenko, against tough Texan brawler Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello (23-10), of Amarillo, and Brazilian strongman, Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Nogueira (13-3) against veteran Vernon “Tiger” White (26-32-2), fighting out of Palo Alto, California.

Then, live on pay-per-view, “Affliction Banned” features the much-anticipated return of the former undisputed PRIDE heavyweight champion and Russian M-1 legend Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (27-1), who takes on former 2-time UFC heavyweight title-holder Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia (24-4), fighting out of Iowa by way of his native Maine, in the main event.

The co-feature of the night will match Former UFC heavyweight title-holder Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski (12-5), fighting out of Chicago by way of Belarus, facing IFL titlist “Big” Ben Rothwell (29-5) of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The PPV action continues with three more super showdowns as Josh “The Baby Faced Assassin” Barnett (21-5) of Seattle, faces off stateside for the first time in two years in a grudge match against the only opponent to ever knock him out—Brazilian strongman Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (16-7); three-time All-American wrestler Mike Whitehead (20-5) of Salt Lake City battles Brazilian sensation Renato “Babalu” Sobral (29-7) of Costa Mesa, California; and 2000 Olympic Wrestling Silver Medalist and Oregon House of Representative candidate, Matt “The Law” Lindland (20-5) meets Brazilian favorite Fabio “Negao” Nascimento (8-3).

Finally, for the thousands in attendance at the Honda Center, the off television swing bouts will fill out an exciting night of action as light-heavyweights Terry Martin (16-4) of Chicago vs. Victor “The Phenom” Belfort (16-8) from Brazil, and Justin Levens (9-8) of Laguna Niguel (CA) vs. unbeaten San Diego prospect Patrick Speight (6-0); welterweight JJ Ambrose (9-1) of Lakewood (CA) vs. Mike “Quicksand” Pyle (15-5-1) of Las Vegas; and lightweight Savant Young (8-7) of Lakewood (CA) vs. Mark “The Machine” Hominick (15-8), representing Ontario, Canada.

Tickets for “Affliction Banned” range between $50.00 and $1,000.00, and are on sale at the Honda Center Box Office and also online at Ticketmaster.com.

• Rob Yundt will take on Alessio Sakara at The Ultimate Fighter 7 Finale.
• At UFC 87 Heath Herring will fill in for an injured Mark Coleman and take on Brock Lesnar, Clay Guida will face Mac Danzig, Jason MacDonald takes on Demian Maia, and Manny Gamburyan will be in action against an opponent to be announced.
• Adrenaline MMA has inked a deal with HDNet to air the promotion’s first three events on the network.
• Jeremy Lang has replaced Eric Schambari against Tim McKenzie and Danny Castillo has replaced Richard Crunkilton against Donald Cerrone on the WEC 34 fight card, which is takes place on June 1st.
• Ryan Ford will take on UFC veteran Drew Fickett at MFC 17 for the promotion’s vacant welterweight championship.
• DREAM has announced the official pairings for the second round of the promtion’s middleweight tournament. The matchups are Kazushi Sakuraba versus Melvin Manhoef, Jason “Mayhem” Miller versus Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Gegard Mousasi versus Dong Sik Yoon, and Zelg Galesic versus Taiei Kin.
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueria will fight Vernon White at Affliction’s debut event, “Banned”, on July 19th.
• ESPN The Magazine featuring Kimbo Slice on the cover is on newstands now.
• EliteXC President Gary Shaw revealed this week that the promotion is likely going to introduce a heavyweight title in 2008.
• MMA veteran Matt Lindland won the Republican primary for the Oregon House of Representatives by a 14-point margin and will not take on Democratic nominee Suzanne VanOrman in the November 4th general election.
• EliteXC will stage a ShoXC event in San Diego, California on June 27th. Hector Lombard will make his debut with the promotion at the event, Cyrille Diabate will face Jamie Fletcher in a main card bout, and King of the Cage middleweight champion Keith Berry will look to defend his title against Reggie Orr.
• UFC 88 will take place on September 6th at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia.

For the main event, the May 31 card pits veteran MMA fighter Vernon White (UFC) against veteran Muay Thai fighter and Las Vegas local Anthony “The Hitman” Brown. White has built an impressive career taking on major names such as Chuck Liddell and K-1 fighter Remy Bonjasky. Brown holds the MTIA World Title and is also a champion of bare knuckle fighting in Thailand.

“The action of our fights rivals the excitement of most mixed-martial arts and ultimate fighting events, hands-down, ” said Christopher Reis President of the XFA. “This upcoming show will be no different.”

The fighting style of XFA resembles K-1 minus the tournament format. Fighters will use hand, foot, leg and knee strikes – essentially the stand-up portion of mixed martial arts (MMA).

In women’s fight action, crafty fighter Amy Davis will take on Jodie Esquibel who trains in Albuquerque, NM. The show will also feature two other female fights including Miriam Nakamoto vs. Sally Krumdiak as well as Muay Thai fighter Catia Vitoria vs. MMA fighter Jaime Lynn Welsh.

“Our event will once again speak for itself. We have some really talented people and they’re going to put on a great show,” said Reis. “I expect to see a number of these fights end in a knockout.”

Also on the card:

• Joshua Hancock vs. Shawn Yarborough
• Mark Beecher vs. Mark Holst
• Travis Garlits vs. Kevin Ross
• David Michael Smith vs. Marcelino Menchaca
• Doug Edwards vs. Jack Thames

Apart from the non-stop action in the ring, the XFA brings to the table an impressive broadcast team including ring announcer Sonny Franco, lead commentator Lisa “The Black Widow” King, color commentator Gary Alexander, and celebrity interviewer Dave Farra.

In total this event will have 9 exciting toe-to-toe bouts, including 3 female fights. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m. the action begins at 6:00 p.m. sharp. Tickets are on sale now, and are only $40 – $75 – $110 and $150 for ringside. To order online go to www.xfalive.com or www.unlvtickets.com.

“[It’s] not true. No other comment is needed.”

Liddell’s preparation (and health) have come into question since he lost so quickly on May 26th at UFC 71. Most reports surrounded accounts of “The Iceman� hanging out in clubs prior to the fight with Liddell responding that it was not out of the ordinary although a recent video of Liddell receiving a lap dance from two women may raise concerns over the UFC star yet again.

This story seems to just be getting started and although the above quote completely denies the report I think we will be hearing more about this very soon.

Here is the quote from former UFC fighter Vernon White that sparked the resurgence of questions over Liddell’s health and mental focus leading into UFC 71:

“I can’t bad mouth Chuck. He just came off a hard loss. Chuck just got out of rehab, but I do have to say it was stupid for him to come out of rehab and fight Quinton the way he fought him. He should have fought a smarter fight. Quinton’s my boy, I love you, and hold that belt forever.”

Lots of fans and media have questioned Liddell’s preparation for the fight which had no win bonus on the line. Most reports surrounded accounts of “The Iceman” hanging out in clubs prior to the fight. Liddell responded by saying it was not out of the ordinary although a recent video of Liddell receiving a lap dance from two women may raise concerns over the UFC star yet again.

This is really all there is to go on at the point but if the account gains steam (which it already appears to be doing) a response from the UFC or Liddell is to be expected. I will continue to monitor the situation and will report any news I come across as soon as possible.