Middleweight Vitor Belfort has agreed in principle to replace Josh Barnett, who tested positive for steroids in an out-of-competition drug test, and fight heavyweight Emelianenko in the main event of “Trilogy” at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, according to MMAjunkie.

Financial negotiations are ongoing between Belfort and Affliction, with the promotion expected to formally announce a replacement later today.

Affliction’s Tom Atencio has confirmed to Fanhouse that, as previously reported, Josh Barnett is out of his Affliction: Trilogy headliner against Fedor Emelianenko after a pre-fight drug screening was positive for a banned substance

Atencio declined to reveal what substance Barnett tested positive for and went on to say that, although the main event is no longer intact, “at this point” the event is still expected to take place.

Josh Barnett will likely be unable to fight Fedor Emelianenko on August 1 in the main event of Affliction: Trilogy after the California State Athletic Commission reportedly failed to license Barnett for the fight for what is being called a “positive test result

According to a report from Sherdog, middleweight Vitor Belfort has agreed in principle to fight Fedor in place of Barnett, with heavyweight prospect Bobby Lashley also under consideration as a possible replacement.

According to the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s official calendar, UFC 105 is likely to take place on November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Fanhouse’s Mike Chiappetta speculates that the pay-per-view event could be headlined by the winner of one of UFC 100’s two title bouts between heavyweights Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and welterweights Georges St-Pierre or Vitor Belfort’s UFC return against middleweight title-holder Anderson Silva.

During Saturday’s broadcast of The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale, UFC President Dana White announced that former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort could soon return to the UFC and challenge UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

As a guest on “Inside the Octagon” hosted by TUF 7 winner Amir Sadollah, White also confirmed that light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida will defend his title on October 24 in Los Angeles against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and maintained that he’d prefer Chuck Liddell retire, though the most surprising news was the announcement that Belfort may again be competing inside the Octagon.

On Thursday, Affliction officially announced the majority of the lineup for its August 1 Affliction: Trilogy event, which will take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and air live on pay-per-view and HDNet.

Trilogy is headlined by a heavyweight matchup between top-ranked Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett.

Also confirmed for the pay-per-view main card are Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato Sobral, Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago, and Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron, as well as Paul Buentello, who is expected to take on the winner of a June 27 bout between Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel.

Originally set to fight Vitor Belfort at Affliction: Trilogy, Gegard Mousasi will instead meet Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral at the August 1st event, according to M-1 Global, which cited sources close to Mousasi.

On the heels of Vitor Belfort's refusal to fight former DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi at any weight higher than 185-pounds, Mousasi has challenged Belfort to a catchweight bout.

Vitor Belfort speaks to Tatame on his rumored matchup with Gegard Mousasi at Affliction 3. "Now I have to see if he’ll get down to middleweight. Who defines this isn’t him. I fight at 185lbs. If they want to do this fight at 185lbs, it’s done, otherwise I see no option to go up."

Gegard Mousasi, who was victorious over Mark Hunt on Tuesday at DREAM 9, will take on Vitor Belfort at Affliction's third event on August 1st in Anaheim, California. Mousasi revealed the matchup in a post-fight interview at M-1Global.com.

DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi (27-2-1), who last week claimed the title with an upkick knockout of Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza at DREAM 6, has signed with Affliction and will debut at the promotion’s next event, tentatively slated for January 17th in Anaheim, California, against Vitor Belfort (17-8).
Mousasi confirmed the matchup to Fighters Only.
Belfort, a former [...]

Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort has been forced to withdraw from his scheduled bout against Matt Lindland at Affliction “Day of Reckoning” due to a hand injury, according to MMA Weekly:
“Vitor is out, I spoke with him I think yesterday and he told me,” said [Affliction vice president Tom] Atencio. “Actually, it was on Tuesday we [...]

Middleweights Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland will square off on the main card of Affliction “Day of Reckoning”, which takes place on October 11th in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view.
Belfort (17-8) defeated Terry Martin at Affliction’s first-ever event in July, but is currently serving a 180-day medical suspension and will need to be cleared [...]

Matt Lindland and Vitor Belfort will clash for the first-ever Affliciton middleweight championship at Affliction 2 on October 11th in Las Vegas, according to Tatame.com.
“It’ll be a great fight, we’ll see who is the best of the world there”, Belfort told Tatame. “I saw his fight with Negão and he’s a warrior. He comes be [...]

Affliction “Banned” headliners Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia are among nine fighters who have been issued medical suspensions by the California State Athletic Commission following the July 19th event in Anaheim, California.
Fedor, who defeated Sylvia via submission just 36-seconds into the opening round, has been suspended for 180 days due to a right hand injury [...]