Affliction Trilogy - the disappointment

It was with great anticipation that the MMA world waited for the fight of the year between the ex-UFC champion Josh Barnett ranked by some publications as the #2 heavyweight in the world and the greatest MMA fighter of all time Fedor Emelianenko. The event was to be held in the Honda Center in Anaheim, California and was the third installment of Affliction promotion organized events.



With this in mind, the entire MMA community has been very disappointed to first find out that Josh Barnett has been refused the license to fight by the California State Athletic Commission and later, after several days of rumors for last minute replacements, to find out that the entire show was cancelled. The fans and the fighters lost out enormously. You can blame Affliction and you can blame Barnett for this, or both. What is clear is that we have another wait ahead of us to see our favourite fighters.

Personally I blame Affliction. If you want to be an MMA organization, you must organize the process better and have a financially sound going concern before you sign fighters. You can't just have one fighter falling out at the most inconvenient time and later cancel the entire show. They should really test fighters for steroids in advance, so they have enough time to make any replacements. You can't run an organization like this. This is pure mismanagement on the part of Affliction.

What drives me absolutely insane however ia the fact that days after Affliction Trilogy collapses, we learn that Affliction signs with the UFC and set to participate in UFC 101. What are they kidding us? If they were so in trouble, than why can't they be just decent people and not hold an event at all? Tom Atencio is an idiot, I agree with Data White, who I really hate by the way.

Fedor, Finkelstein and M1-Global

I am Fedor Emelianenko's great fan. He is a great guy, incredible mixed martial artists and fighter. He fights for my own country, Russia.

What infuriates me however is why it has to be truly the case that Fedor has to negotiate not only as a fighter but on behalf of M1-Global. He leverages his success to give M1-Global success and this is where his own career suffers as a result and I only hope he realizes this soon.

By trying to negotiate deals for M1 Global - like this co-promotional rights that everyone keeps talking about, I think he is crazy and inappropriate to do so. You really can't expect UFC to create a competitor and let Fedor, it's new champ just walk-out and fight for them. Its insane what he is doing. Fedor should stick to being a fighter, and a great one he is. He is not a great business man and M1 Global should not jeopardize Fedor's career in this way. As for Vadim, you are conflicted. Who's interests you represent I am really not sure.

What Fedor needs to do right now is fight Brock Lesnar. This is the win that Fedor needs on his record right now if he wants to be remembered the greatest MMA fighter that ever lived. If he wins this fight, he can just retire and be remembered as the greatest ever.

I really appreciate his stand for Russia but he really should do so as a fighter not as a business man and I blame Vadim Finkelstein, "the MMA Villain", for this. Fedor could do more for Russia by being the best fighter and facing tough competition. Just imagine what a victory over Brock Lesnar would do for his fame.

Fedor should get good terms from UFC and the UFC needs to budge. I hate that corporate machine focused on profits, but this organization is solid. It offers a real stable career for good fighters who train hard and have the talent. He should get the rights to participate in other events, image rights etc, money, anything, all the things that a fighter could ask for.

I only wish Fedor could listen....

Josh Barnett shocks the MMA world by testing positive for steroids

Just as the anticipation was mounting with less than two weeks to go before what possibly would have been one of the greatest fights in recent MMA history, Josh Barnett, the contender for the WAMMA belt has tested positive for anabolic steroids.
The California State Athletic Commission will not license Josh for the fight and he is likely to be banned for a year with his career to be close to over.

Josh Barnett at 24-5 has recently been considered the number two ranked heavyweight fighter in the world and perhaps the best opponent for Fedor Emelianenko at this time. The match was set for August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim for the third installment of Affliction, known as the Trilogy. This was clearly one of the most anticipated bouts this summer for MMA fans and the fight that gave Affliction, the troubled promotion, a chance to survive for another event. (yet perhaps the last)

This is enormously disappointing. Not only has Barnett been caught for using steroids in the past (after the fight with Randy Couture), he has also denied any wrong-doing. It is sad that Josh has effectively lost the chance to prove himself in the most important fight of his life, and in the worst possible way. No matter what Josh says and promises, the steroid story will always be part of his legacy. I feel most sorry for Josh Barnett fans who must be very angry with him.

Right now it is a question who can replace Josh Barnett at such short notice and make the fight, the headline event that so many people have paid to come in see or watch live. So far a number of candidates have been proposed. Lets take a look at the list:

1. Vitor Belfort - initially one of the names, really a middleweight fighter who would have a significant weight disadvantage at185lb (93kg). The Brazilian mixed martial artist is at 18-8, known as "the Phenom" has been preparing for his bout with Jorge Santiago in Affliction.

2. Bobby Lashley - this WWE champion would have been the bout that could potentially generate the dollars. However with only four fights under his belt, Lashley has declined to fight at this time.

3. Brett Rogers - having recently joined many of the MMA heavyweight rankings following his sensational KO of Andrei Arlovski, the former UFC heavyweight champion, this fighter is another possible candidate and perhaps the best fitting.

Rogers, at 10-0 has already got some recognition and having had his last bout a month ago, he may be in decent shape. If so than this could be the best choice.

4. Ricardo Arona - perhaps the only disputed win that Fedor had back in Rings. Arona, the well-known MMA fighter and ADCC champion has not fought since 2007 back in Pride. This raises serious questions and coupled with the fact that he has little recognition in the USA, this could not be the best choice.

Others include Fabricio Werdum (who won't submit Fedor and is coming of a loss), Tito Ortiz and I am sure there will be others like Jeff Monson. Tito Ortiz would be the guy that could surely make the money for Affliction but again we need to find out more about what his conditioning is like. For sure this could be any one of these guys' best chance to fight the MMA king.

More news to come! Keep reading.

Fedor Emelianenko vs Josh Barnett set to fight on August 1 2009

Ok, this is a little of the subject off grappling but I have to post this just for the sake of saying a few words for Fedor and Josh, two incredible grapplers in MMA today.

Affliction: Trilogy is the third installment of MMA events promoted by Affliction Entertainment. Affliction: Trilogy is to take place on the 1st of August 2009 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center. (same location where the other events took place)

As in the past, the event will feature some of the biggest names in MMA today and the highlight will be between certainly the top heavyweights in the world today, Josh Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko.


Josh Barnett

This guys is a 114kg monster that is 1.91m tall. A catch-wrestler by background with strong submission skills he has defeated a long-list of MMA legends including Randy Couture and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Holding a record of 24-5-0, 3 of his loses came from Mirko Filipovic Cro Cop. The guy is at his peak right now and is ranked by MMAWeekly.com and MMANews.com as the No. 2 Heavyweight fighter in the world.

Josh Barnett is a very experienced fighter. Having fought in both Japan and in the UFC, he has fought fighters of every style. Having defeated Randy Couture for the UFC Championship belt and been Open Weight King of Pancrase Champion, Josh is a veteran of the sport. We can also see from youtube a video of him wrestling in the ADCC, which just shows how good his grappling really is.





--------

Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor is the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world today and considered by Inside MMA, the greatest of all time. The Russian is a very well-rounded fighter with a strong judo and sambo background. With a record of 30 wins and one loss (by a cut), Fedor is a phenomenon in the MMA world. His most notable fights include wins against Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Filipovic.

-------

There is a lot being said about this great match-up that either way will make history. Both are MMA legends and whatever happens, every remote fan will be glued to the screen on august 1. Both guys I hope will put immense training efforts for this bout and will go down in history as two of the greatest fighters in the sport.

Just one thing I wanted to say about the fighters out there. I think Josh is the best match for Fedor today. Frank Mir is another guy that would be worth seeing in the next fight. The other guys like Lesnar first need to prove themselves. Lets see Lesnar beat Josh Barnett. Josh would dominate Brock and would likely will win by submission in the first or second round.

Fedor vs Arlovski

The fight that made the Affliction card great. The greatest MMA fighter of all time was able to knockout a great striker and made me watch the replay again and again. In fact it is extremely difficult to see how he managed that "Superman punch" that he did. Luckily, on the internet I found available a replay (which seems no longer available) which provides the shot made by Fedor at different angles. Indeed this was a good punch by a great fighter.

The one thing that has me worried is about Fedor's dedication to his training for this fight. I watched the video again and again and I would side with Fedor that indeed he was not really hurt there at all. I also think that Arlovski's dominance initially is a bit exageratted. I would still agree that Arlovski looked well (and maybe a little better than Fedor) prior to the flying knee.

I am concerned about Fedor's training for one because he did not look like the confident striker I saw in him when he faced Cro Cop. The other reason which I think also raises my concern considerably is of course Voronovs statement - the fact that his own coach admits that Fedor has not been training enough for the fight. Fedor trained in between his films in Thailand up until only a month before the fight. Fedor is now way too much involved in movies, advertising etc and he really needs to manage his time effectively if he wants to come to the ring adequately prepared, especially with monsters such as AA, Barnett and others.

From what I have read about him, he is a workaholic and I hope nothing will change this in the future because with his potential, he can achieve perhaps more than anyone will ever achieve in the sport.

Just have a look at this UFC Champ Killer Video