According to an M-1 Global report, Fedor Emelianenko did not receive word of Affliction canceling their ‘Trilogy’ event. Fedor was supposed to be headlining the main event against former UFC heavyweight Josh Barnett, but he Barnett was forced off of the fight card due to positive steroid results.
Here’s the article from m-1global.com:
M-1 Global would like to sincerely apologize to fight fans who had made plans to either attend next Saturday’s Affliction and M-1 “Trilogy” event at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. or watch the event at home on pay-per-view.
Early Friday afternoon, M-1 Global learned without warning or prior notice that Affliction had decided to cancel “Trilogy.”
As a partner of Affliction, M-1 Global was saddened to learn of these developments. The cancellation took our company completely by surprise, as Fedor Emelianenko, M-1 Challenge fighter Mikahil Zayats, and a traveling party of 35 people from Russia consisting of Fedor’s trainers, friends, family, as well as M-1 support personnel were all on a plane en route to Anaheim.
Additionally, Fedor did not learn of the cancellation until arriving at the airport and informed directly by M-1 legal counsel.
Following the California State Athletic Commission’s decision not to license Josh Barnett earlier in the week, M-1 Global was confident that a suitable replacement would be found. Fedor was ready, willing, and able to compete against whomever Affliction determined was the most qualified candidate amongst an extensive list of potential replacements.
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. However, we will work to ensure that Fedor returns to active competition as soon as possible.
With Affliction’s announcement that it will cease to promote MMA events, M-1 Global will look to help fill the void created by its departure with the launch of its new “Breakthrough” fight series. The first event is scheduled for Aug. 28 in Los Angeles and will feature “King” Mo Lawal and Don “The Predator” Frye in the main event and Karl Amoussou taking on Nick Thompson in the co-main event. It is our sincerest hope that all planning to attend “Trilogy” at the Honda Center will decide to help support M-1 Global on Aug. 28.
M-1 Global will also now focus its attention on the upcoming seventh edition of the M-1 Challenge, which is scheduled to be a “weekend offighting” from Aug. 15-16 in Hilversum, Holland and will feature a total of 30 fights over a two-day period.
M-1 Global has also been inundated with media requests to speak with Fedor and M-1 Global Owner and President Vadim Finkelchtein. We will be releasing statements from both Fedor and Vadim via www.M-1Global.com as soon as possible.
