Josh Barnett Out, Monson, Rogers, Belfort, Werdum, Lashley possible replacements.

Josh Barnett failed a random drug test and is officially out of Affliction Trilogy on August 1st. This is the second drug test he has failed for steroids. He was stripped of the UFC heavyweight title and consequentially dropped by the UFC in 2002 for a similar incident.

Now the question is, who will replace Barnett to headline the PPV? Most polls demand that a suitable Heavyweight such as Brett Rogers, Bobby Lashley, Jeff Monson or Fabricio Werdum be the official replacement. Rumors are indicating though that Vitor Belfort, a 185 lbs Middleweight may get the call. Dana White and critics of Fedor Emelianenko have complained that Emelianenko has not faced top-tier Heavyweight talent since his 2004 fight against Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic. Many were especially critical against his bout versus Matt Lindland, who like Belfort, was a Middleweight moving up to fight Fedor.

Most polls suggest that Jeff Monson is the best available opponent to face Fedor. Strikeforce apparently is unwilling to lend Rogers or Werdum, while Bobby Lashley who has prowrestling commitments doesn't seem to be interested in the fight at the time.

Affliction Trilogy

Affliction Trilogy, Fedor vs. Barnett, is scheduled for August 1st. The fight that has been talked about since their days at PrideFC is finally a reality. Josh Barnett (20-5) vs. defending WAMMA champion Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) will headline the Showtime PPV event.

• Champ Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett (for WAMMA heavyweight title)
• Gegard Mousasi vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
• Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago
• Paul Buentello vs. Gilbert Yvel
  
• Takanori Gomi vs. Rafaello Oliveira
  

PRELIMINARY CARD

• Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
• Paul Daley vs. Jay Hieron
• Ben Rothwell vs. Chase Gormley
• Deividas Taurosevicius vs. Mark Hominick
  
• Lucio Linhares vs. Mikhail Zayats (will not be aired)
• Rob Broughton vs. Jessie Gibbs (will not be aired)

Originally Tim Sylvia was scheduled to face Buentello before Sylvia was brutally knocked out by boxing legend Ray Mercer in an MMA contest on June 13th.

In other news if Vitor Belfort can beat Jorge Santiago at Affliction Trilogy, he will then be picked up by the UFC to face Anderson Silva for the UFC Middleweight title, as announced by UFC promoter Dana White.

Also a possibility for the Affliction card, pending any injuries is Bobby Lashley if he can defeat Bob Sapp at Ultimate Choas on June 27th. Japanese icon and welterweight fighter Takanori Gomi has also been negotiating a possible bout on the card, although a suitable opponent has not yet been found.


Affliction has been advertising all over the place. They had huge presence during the Showtime Strikeforce Lawler vs. Shields fight. They've also held a press conference in New York with Donald Trump and Mark Cuban present, advertising with billboards located in Times Square and making a strong presence at a weaker PPV with Ultimate Choas, all of which set up Affliction pretty well.

Prize Fight Promotions MMA

The event entitled, "Ultimate Chaos" will be co-promoted by Prize Fight MMA and Fight Force International. It will take place at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum on June 27. Prize Fight Promotions is the boxing promotion that once promoted mega boxing bouts such as Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis. The event garnered a $17 million dollar live gate and $108 million in PPV buys. They have also promoted fights with Vitali Klitschko, Roy Jones Jr., Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson, Jermaine Taylor, Winky Wright and others.

In their first MMA endeavor, they've elected to feature Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Lashley as their main event. Lashley (2-0) was last seen defeating Jason Guida by unanimous decision at March Badness. The PPV was also promoted by a boxing promoter, namely Roy Jones Jr's Square Ring Promotions. Both Lashley and Sapp have fights scheduled prior to the June 27th event. Lashley squares off against Mike Cook (7-3) at an MFC event on May 15th while Bob Sapp will head to Japan to fight veteren Ikuhisa Minowa (41-30) at DREAM 9 on May 26th. In an interesting note about Dream 9, they've announced that the Sapp vs. Minowa fight is a part of a Superman Championship tournament that will also feature MLB star Jose Conseco vs. Hong Man Choi. Conseco recently has had amateur boxing experience and claims to have trained in various martial arts including Muay Thai.

Getting back to the June 27th event, Affliction seems to be making a presence at this event as well. The co-main event will feature Affliction fighters Gilbert Yvel vs. Pedro Rizzo, both who were last seen losing to top ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett at Affliction 1 and 2. Also on the card will be Affliction VP and on camera personality Tom Atencio (1-0) who at the age of 42 will be fighting his second pro MMA fight in nearly 4 years. Affliction fighters Brett Cooper, Din Thomas and Chris Hordecki are all also featured on this card.

CO-MAIN EVENTS
Bob Sapp VS Bobby Lashley
Pedro Rizzo VS Gilbert Yvel
FEATURE BOUTS
Din Thomas VS Javier Vazquez
Chris Horodecki VS William Sriyapai
Brett Cooper VS Waachiim Spiritwolf
Tom Atencio VS Randy Hedderick
Danny Abbadi VS Lance Thompson
Colby McMahan VS James Orso
Eric Bradley VS Colin Mckee

Affliction on CBS July 11th vs. UFC 100 PPV?

Let's say Affliction got a Primetime deal on CBS, ABC, or NBC, so beyond Showtime, HBO and SpikeTV, Affliction MMA live on CBS featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and Tito Ortiz vs Renato Sobral going against UFC 100 on PPV? The familiar faces in Oscar De La Hoya and Donald Trump on scene and on CBS. Does it do any damage?

I am getting this storyline somewhat from a rumor that LINK: Fiveouncesofpain.com started.

UPDATE: While Affliction MMA COO Michael Cohen had indicated July 11 as a possibility and Tom Atencio was quoted by FIVEOUNCESOFPAIN saying "it could work", the latest is that Affliction has moved against the idea and will probably shoot for an event in August. No fights have been confirmed.

Additionally, rumors have been flying that Affliction may promote their 3rd event alongside the Japanese promotion DREAM, who would be launching their 10th MMA event. The rumor comes from a Mirko Cro Cop interview by jutarnji.hr and insists that Fedor Emelianenko vs. Jeff Monson, Cro Cop vs. Alistair Overeem 2 and Josh Barnett vs. Andrei Arlovski as bouts that are being negotiated.

March Badness

Roy Jones Jr. vs. Omar Sheika
Jeff Monson vs. Roy Nelson
Bobby Lashley vs. Jason Guida

March Badness happens this weekend in Pensacola, Florida featuring a single boxing main event and a 2 fight MMA undercard. Originally scheduled fight Seth Petruzelli vs. Doug Marshall was canceled after Seth called out with an injury. Likewise the original opponent for Lashley who was Ken Shamrock was suspended for one year after testing positive for three different steroids. Hasim Rahman and Don Frye negotiated with Square Ring Promotions as possible replacements but to no avail. Jason Guida (17-19), brother of Clay Guida will instead replace Shamrock to face Lashley.

UPDATE/RESULTS:

MMA Results:
Dennis Hallman beat Danny Ruiz by first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
Din Thomas beat GabeLemley by first round KO (knee)
Bobby Lashley beat Jason Guida by unanimous decision
Jeff Monson beat Roy Nelson by unanimous deicision


Boxing Results:
B.J. Flores beat Jose Luis Herrera by unanimous decision
Kieyon Bussey beat Robert DaLuz by majority decision
Roy Jones Jr. beat Omar Sheika by fifth round TKO

What Affliction should do.

UFC has Brock Lesnar, EliteXC had Kimbo Slice, Japan has Bob Sapp; the idea here isn't necessarily freakshow; all three are great athletes who have dedicated serious time to training and have succeeded to a decent extent, despite whether they faced top tier talent or not. Most importantly they've been faces who get a ton of attention and a ton of attention means viewers and buyers. Even if you don't put them on your next card - casual fans will probably tune in to your next show simply because it was the stage that they saw the popular fighter on. One seriously needs to think business here for a moment and put their conservative, hardcore passion for the discipline of the sport aside for a moment - though never compromising it of course.

Hasim Rahman will be the most accomplished boxer at his age to make the transition to MMA. Rumors have it that Dave Haye and Enzo Maccarinelli have both flirted with the idea as well. On the other end of the spectrum, Freddie Roach's Andrei Arlovski, Anderson Silva, KJ Noons, Vitor Belfort, Kimbo Slice, Frank Shamrock and Tim Sylvia have or are going to switch the 5 five oz gloves for some boxing gloves. I really think the cross over has been initiated; but this is not so much about the cross over rather an opportunity to get some attention. It would be smart business for Affliction to get a big name on their card like UFC and EliteXC had done to put more people in the seats, get more viewers, more PPV buys. For example, let us use Hasim Rahman as potentially being that guy. I think Affliction can put him on the undercard somewhere and can def guide his career better then anyone else.

The other two opportunities Affliction can take advantage of from this situation is cross promoting Rahman - an Affliction fighter, with Strikeforce and eventually put him against the guy he wants to face and probably will beat in Kimbo Slice. Affliction walks away with the winner and a guy who is more legit then the street brawler. If Rahman becomes successful enough, one can flirt with having him face Fedor, if not, you got a lot of attention building Rahman anyways. Its a win win situation.

Affliction seems to be in good terms with Monte Cox and Adrenaline, and Cox's boy Sylvia is going to face Ray Mercer in a boxing match in their main event. If Sylvia wins, Sylvia can box Rahman, and if Mercer wins the boxing match, Mercer could be a fair MMA opponent for Rahman's debut.

Here is a pitch at an imaginary card:


PPV

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett
Fabricio Werdum vs. Jeff Monson - Number 1 Contender.
Vitor Belfort vs. Gegard Mousasi
Renato Sobral vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
Chris Hordecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paulo Filho vs. Matt Lindland

HDNET

Tim Sylvia vs. Paul Buentello
Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel
LC Davis vs. Din Thomas
Bao Quach vs. Mark Hominick
Hasim Rahman vs. Ray Mercer (MMA fight)
Bobby Lashley vs. Roy Nelson

Paulo Filho, Fabricio Werdum and Bobby Lashley would be great pickups for Affliction. I think the number one contender to Fedor Emelianenko after Barnett would be Werdum who has defeated his brother Aleksander Emelianenko, he's beaten Alistair Overeem twice, he's beaten Gabe Gonzaga ... he would be a solid pickup for Affliction.

Paulo Filho who is 16-1 was a vicious fighter that reminded people of Ricardo Arona. I think Filho would be an awesome addition and perfect opponent for Vitor Belfort or Matt Lindland.

Lashley is very popular and a good attraction. He has a fight on the March 21st Roy Jones Jr. card. He is a HW who Affliction could def use. I think he is a top prospect who can get PPV buys because of his popularity from the WWE - like Brock Lesnar was.

Din Thomas signs with Affliction; More

Strikeforce recently bought out the assets from ProElite hence getting a number of fighter contracts and the TV deals with Showtime and CBS. The deal looks promising however it is obvious that their level of talent does not reach anywhere close to that of the UFC or Affliction. Realistically Frank Shamrock vs. Nick Diaz would easily be on the undercard for any show that the UFC or Affliction would put on. There hasn't been any talk on Strikeforce doing a cross-promote with Affliction however Strikeforce President Scott Coker has indicated that they are interested in Affliction fighter Jay Hieron and that he will probably end up on one of their cards. Strikeforce has lent Paul Buentello and offered to lend Travis Prangley to Affliction.

In other news Affliction has signed former UFC standout Din Thomas (23-8). The American Top Team fighter has notable victories over Clay Guida, Jens Pulver and Matt Serra. Possible fights with LC Davis, Bao Quach and Mark Hominick look promising. Din Thomas was rumored to have been negotiating with Square Ring Promotions to fight on their March 21st card but nothing was ever signed.

Adrenaline MMA has announced that Tim Sylvia will be making his boxing debut against aged veteren Ray Mercer. Mercer (36-7), an Olympic Gold Medalist from the 88 games and former WBO champion is also known for his famous MMA loss to Kimbo Slice.

Hasim "The Rock" Rahman (45-7 boxing) the former undisputed boxing heavyweight champion best known for knocking out Lennox Lewis will be making his MMA debut this year. According to an interview with SHERDOG, Rahman has called out street brawler Kimbo Slice but is open to bouts with James Thompson, Tank Abbot, Butterbean among others. He is currently in negotiations with numerous MMA promotions.

WAMMA has named Josh Barnett the number 1 contender to Fedor Emelianenko's title. According to sources the fight is under consideration as we speak.

Alistair Overeem (3-2 kickboxing) who recently knocked out K-1 standout Badr Hari has officially signed on to fight K-1 champion and veteran Remy Bonjasky on their 3/28 card.