Fedor/Barnett in doubt.

Pride Fighter

Rumours are circulating that Josh Barnett has failed another drugs test and will not fight Fedor at affliction. Bobby Lashley and Vitor Belfort are rumoured replacements for the former UFC HW champ. http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/update-fedor-barnett-bout-in-jeopardy-18663

Kazooie

Ah Man.... :mad::mad:

This cannot be true. Was really looking forward to this one. God Dammit!

rovert

Im sure he'll deny being on what ever he tests for like last time. :rolleyes:

Jason Mc

FFS....:mad:


Get brock. He must have got off his wife by now

Nothingcompares

Just have the fight in japan. broadcast it live on the big screen to anaheim.

pablohoney87

Vitor Belfort?

Dont see him doin that. Hes pretty happy all the way down in middleweight.

Fozzy

I just read the story on F4WOnline.com. I don't know if this was Meltzer quoting Loretta Hunt, who broke the story, or if it's his own information, but the article says that Fedor will choose between Lashley and Belfort

Belfort has agreed to the fight and Lashley has been hesitant to step forward because he hasn't been training much since his last fight and he's been trying to take his MMA career slowly because he's still a beginner

The athletic commission have said nothing yet, only that they'll be making an announcement today (or maybe tomorrow, I'm not sure what time that was said at in America). Barnett said that he has heard no results from his drug test

I remember reading about that test. He was given notice of it and he had 48 hours to go to a lab to give a sample. He gave the sample within 24 hours. If he has tested positive he's probably wishing that he took more time. Although California's drug failure levels are lower than any other state's, they don't give as much leeway or benefit of the doubt

Lashley would be the more interesting fight for most people I think. Belfort has been training for a middleweight fight so he probably wouldn't weigh much more than 205lbs if he took the fight. I wouldn't fancy either of their chances, but I think Lashley would fare better, the weight and wrestling ability being the main reasons

I'm still hoping that Barnett will fight, but it doesn't look likely with what the commission said

Hephaestus

Tom Atencio, the head of the Affliction MMA promotion, confirmed to FanHouse on Wednesday morning that Josh Barnett has been pulled out of his scheduled August 1 heavyweight title fight with Fedor Emelianenko. But Atencio said he still expects the Affliction Trilogy card to take place as scheduled.

Atencio said Barnett failed a drug test and therefore the California State Athletic Commission will not permit him to fight.

"He tested positive for a banned substance," Atencio said of Barnett. "The athletic commission will not reinstate his license."

http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/07/22/tom-atencio-josh-barnett-out-vs-fedor-emelianenko-card-still/

Fozzy

Hephaestus wrote: »

http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/07/22/tom-atencio-josh-barnett-out-vs-fedor-emelianenko-card-still/

He still expects the card to take place. How's that for optimism?!

Nothingcompares

Can they get someone like Werdum in? He was due to fight Overeem on Aug 15.

if only Belfort and Lashley are available Fedor should fight both of them one after another.

Hephaestus

Fozzy wrote: »

He still expects the card to take place. How's that for optimism?!

Why are you so skeptical about it going ahead?

It's disappointing but Fedor's the big draw & surely fighters like Lashley, Werdum etc would jump at the chance to fight Fedor as they'd have nothing to lose really!

Fozzy

Nothingcompares wrote: »

Can they get someone like Werdum in? He was due to fight Overeem on Aug 15.

He's under contract to Strikeforce and they probably intend to use him on that show still

Fozzy

Hephaestus wrote: »

Why are you so skeptical about it going ahead?

It's disappointing but Fedor's the big draw & surely fighters like Lashley, Werdum etc would jump at the chance to fight Fedor as they'd have nothing to lose really!

I'm sure the show will take place, it's just that Atencio's phrasing doesn't inspire a lot of confidence! Saying that he expects it to take place rather than it WILL take place, as if he's got no control over the situation

dunkamania

Belfort has nothing to lose. As a middle weight losing to Fedor wont be seen as a big deal, and of course there is a small chance he could win. Lashley is new to the game, and probably needs 2 more years training, plus a handful of big name wins before he should consider this fight.

Werdum is an interesting choice, given Overeem is injured too.

Nothingcompares

I think Belfort is very image conscious and wouldn't want to get his ass kicked. He could also suffer a big KO to Fedor. A loss to fedor could hurt him physically and in terms of confidence. I think Vitor will only take this fight if the $ is right. He had no interest in fighting Mousassi at 205 (because he wasn't a name). Fedor IS the name in MMA to beat but I wouldn't put a 10er on Vitor to win this even if the odds were 1000/1.

rovert

Fox says he failed for steriods:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8ninUN8VoY

Fozzy

There's an update from Meltzer where he says that Barnett's drug test wasn't one of the random tests, it was on a day chosen by Josh as part of applying for a licence from the commission

Barnett will appeal and he says that he knows what the problem is and that he'll clear his name and that there's no conspiracy against him

Brett Rogers is now the number one choice for Fedor's opponent. He's under contract to Strikeforce though, so both Scott Coker (the promoter) and Showtime (the tv station) have to approve him before Affliction can move forward in that direction. Coker's on holiday in Italy but knows of the situation. Showtime haven't said anything yet

Belfort is now number two. If he takes the fight then David Loiseau is being lined up to face Jorge Santiago

American Top Team believe that Lashley's turned down the fight. He was offered half a million dollars for it, but his approach has always been to take his career slowly as he has a lot to learn and taking a fight like this goes against those plans

The California State Athletic Commission will be releasing a statement on this later tonight

Affliction have a press conference scheduled for less than two hours away

callaway92

Lol saw this on a thread on sherdog, very good

callaway92

Nothingcompares wrote: »

Can they get someone like Werdum in? He was due to fight Overeem on Aug 15.

if only Belfort and Lashley are available Fedor should fight both of them one after another in a 2 on 1 handicap match .

fyp

Some posts in the UG seem to imply he tested positive for weed, in which he isnt so much a cheat as he is dumb.

MrStuffins

This whole situation just shows how weak this whole Affliction thing is.

They have ONE big draw, when his opponent pulls out the best they can do is bring in a bloody Middleweight?

I couldn't be bothered watching him fight Werdum, Rogers OR Belfort. In fact, i'd much rather Belfort keep up his run at MW, he's been looking good.

Tom Atencio should give up the Ghost. He needs to stop trying to compete with UFC and maybe not give up promoting entirely, but change his business plan. Dream showed us on Monday and 9 times before that you don't need to throw money around, build your brand around one man and cause a hullaballoo to put on a great MMA show. They've been making their own stars such as Alvarez and Mousassi, even the likes of Jacare can attribute their (MMA) notoriety to Dream.

Fozzy

MrStuffins wrote: »

This whole situation just shows how weak this whole Affliction thing is.

They have ONE big draw, when his opponent pulls out the best they can do is bring in a bloody Middleweight?

I couldn't be bothered watching him fight Werdum, Rogers OR Belfort. In fact, i'd much rather Belfort keep up his run at MW, he's been looking good.

Tom Atencio should give up the Ghost. He needs to stop trying to compete with UFC and maybe not give up promoting entirely, but change his business plan. Dream showed us on Monday and 9 times before that you don't need to throw money around, build your brand around one man and cause a hullaballoo to put on a great MMA show. They've been making their own stars such as Alvarez and Mousassi, even the likes of Jacare can attribute their (MMA) notoriety to Dream.

Affliction run an average of two shows a year, they're hardly going to have this deep heavyweight division that they can pluck a new opponent for Fedor from

DREAM's not a great example to use, their tv ratings have been so low that they've been moved to an edited show late at night. They put on great shows, sure, but so have Affliction so far I think. But you can't hold DREAM up as an example of how to do it right because without K-1 there to make the big money for SEG, DREAM would be dead

MrStuffins

Fozzy wrote: »

Affliction run an average of two shows a year, they're hardly going to have this deep heavyweight division that they can pluck a new opponent for Fedor from

DREAM's not a great example to use, their tv ratings have been so low that they've been moved to an edited show late at night. They put on great shows, sure, but so have Affliction so far I think. But you can't hold DREAM up as an example of how to do it right because without K-1 there to make the big money for SEG, DREAM would be dead

I just used Dream as an example of how a promotion don't need to throw mney around to put on a good show and maybe Affliction could do the same.

I didn't suggest Affliction give up alltogether.

And the fact that they put 2 shows on a year and have no deep HW division shouldn't be used as an excuse. Shouldn't they address this? They really can't compete with UFC with JUST Fedor.

You should really be allowed a certain level of roid intake when fighting Fedor, just to make it somewhat competitive! :pac::D

In all seriousness though I've just lost all respect for Barnett seeing as this is his second run in with the roids. Terrible to see.This could be Afflictions Kimbo vs Ken, ie their undoing.


Hope not. MMA needs more orgs.

calex71

I would think Bobby v Fedor would be a MUCH bigger draw for PPV and get the few extra $ badly needed for affliction at this stage I'd say. Even bigger than Fedor Vs Anyone not in UFC at this stage ?

chopperbyrne

Deleted User wrote: »

Terrible to see.This could be Afflictions Kimbo vs Ken, ie their undoing.


Hope not. MMA needs more orgs.

I don't think MMA needs Affliction. They only put on shows every five months or so and have very little promotion.

Strikeforce would be a much bigger loss.

calex71

chopperbyrne wrote: »

I don't think MMA needs Affliction. They only put on shows every five months or so and have very little promotion.

Strikeforce would be a much bigger loss.

If the Affliction shows were in Japan with the Pride rules ....... I wonder what could be

chopperbyrne

If they even put on shows every ten weeks it would be good. They could have five shows a year. They need to promote their shows better.

Anyone know if Bravo is actually showing this event?

dunkamania

Its pretty much certain to be Belfort v Fedor now.

From the CSAC "Barnett’s June 25 drug test came back positive for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, an anabolic steroid. CSAC learned of the results July 21 and immediately denied a license for Barnett. …Barnett’s test was observed in the presence of a CSAC representative and the sample was sent to the World Anti-doping Agency test facility at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on June 25 for processing. CSAC was notified of the results yesterday."

My understatnding is that its a weak form of steroid, that avoids the risk of manboobs devloping, as well as other side effects.

Really disappointed with Affliction. I know Barnett is not their fault, but I feel like they have messed up too fights now. Was really looking forward to belfort vs Santiago, and would prefer to see Fedor fight Brett Rogers than a MW

Dragan

2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one

It should be noted this above substance is legal, and is a prohormone, not a steroid. Obviously it's on the band list but it still may have been prescribed to Barnett, as oppossed to down right cheating.


I would suggest waiting until all the facts come out.

The substance itself is an anti-estrogenic, with very weak properties with regard to strength or size gains. As far as i am away, the most common application of this medicine is in males who have been affected by testicular cancer.

All this is just from my own reading and could be way off.

calex71

Worst thing about all this is there is only a week to go for who ever it is and Fedor to prepare for a new opponent, :mad:

Most places are pretty certain it's going to be Belfort.

I know in Japan there would be no issue ( as usual ) but wont the weight difference be a factor in the US with the CSAC or who ever?
I guess Belfort would walk around over 200lb befor cutting so maybe not an issue at all.