Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio confirmed the news earlier today, stating that the Affliction ‘Trilogy’ main event fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett has been cancelled. Unfortunately, Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids which immediately forced the California State Athletic Commission to scratch him off of the fight card.
The former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort is slated to take on Jorge Santiago as part of the Affliction ‘Trilogy’ main fight card. However, he has stated that he would be willing to step in to replace Josh Barnett if Affliction needed him to. There were also rumors of possibly calling in the former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley to fill in Barnett’s spot. Although there are many fighters out there willing to fight Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA heavyweight title on August 1st, nothing is official.
We’ll keep you guys posted on what’s decided by Affliction…
Here’s the snip from Tom Atencio via MMA Fanhouse:
“(Barnett) tested positive for a banned substance. The athletic commission will not reinstate his license. Him and Fedor is off…As you obviously can imagine, this has been a complete surprise to us…when we spoke to the California Athletic Commission, this was not something we were prepared for. But it’s our understanding that Josh is taking further measures to validate the results of the test. And if the results stand, then we are deeply disappointed. Having said that, we are very confident in getting a worthy (replacement) opponent (for Fedor).“
