FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Staff Columnists ENNIS: Let's Recap the Week in Affliction: A Summary of What's Going On and What It Means

Jul 25, 2009 - 12:02:04 AM
by Shawn Ennis, MMATorch Senior Columnist
While I'd planned on finishing up the Heavyweight Lay of the Land column today, I'd be remiss if I didn't comment on one of the biggest news days (and unexpectedly so) that we've seen in a while. The news is crazy that way – I come back from a busy day at work and a date with the wife, and suddenly my RSS client is ablaze with news. A lot has happened over the last 24 hours and beyond, and I find things easier to digest when they're in list form. Take a minute here and walk with me through the big stories of the last couple days and what it all means.

Josh Barnett Tests Positive for Steroids

The Story: The headline says it all. Barnett claims that the test was part of his acquiring a license to fight in California. Bill Douglas of the CSAC claims that the test was random. Whether the test was random or not, whether it's a false positive or not (let's remember that this is the CSAC after all, although Barnett mentioned that he has "an idea" where the positive result came from) doesn't matter. The fact is that Barnett tested positive for the second time surrounding a title fight. That's it.

The Fallout: Barnett may or may not be done as a fighter in the US, but the safe money is that you won't see "The Babyfaced Assassin" fight stateside again. And should that be the case, it renders any denial of PED usage moot. Now obviously this is not the only fallout from Barnett's positive test, as it was the first domino in what would be a fascinating, not to mention very quick, unfolding of events.

The Scramble for Fedor's Opponent

The Story: With Barnett out, Affliction was left with 11 days to find a suitable opponent for the best heavyweight in the world. The leading candidate was a horrible option in Vitor Belfort, who would not be taken seriously as a heavyweight, but could certainly pose a threat with his speed and undeniable knockout power. Other names floated as potential opponents (including those who were and were not pursued by the promotion) were Jeff Monson, Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum, Tito Ortiz, Tank Abbott, Don Frye, and Mohammed Lawal.

The Fallout: The simple fact that a middleweight was the foremost name to fight Fedor was the writing on the wall. With no recourse and no time to promote a new main event to the masses, Affliction was left with little choice. There was no real viable option to replace Barnett at this point, and no other fight had been promoted to the paying masses, though hardcore fans looked forward to a very deep and intriguing fight card. The test result for Barnett was announced on Wednesday, and the scramble for an opponent kept the MMA community on the edge of their seats all day Thursday. That led to the news that hit this afternoon that the event itself would be cancelled. It's still not completely clear what will happen with the fighters scheduled to appear on the card, though there are rumblings that Affliction will hope to compensate somewhat with sponsorship deals for those left hanging. That's small potatoes compared to some of the fighters' purses, not to mention it's hardly compensatory for all the training time they've already put in for these fights. While it's possible that some of the nixed Affliction fights could bolster the upcoming Strikeforce and M-1 cards, it's also possible that these fighters miss out on a check that they were relying on. That, without a doubt, is the worst part of an event's cancellation.

Affliction Bows Out of the Promoting Business, Almost Joins with Strikeforce, Reconciles with the UFC

The Story: It was decided either at the same time or shortly after the "Trilogy" event was cancelled that Affliction would no longer promote. The question at that point was where to turn. There were strong rumors that a merger with Strikeforce was imminent, but CEO Scott Coker, who is on vacation in Italy, was not around to sign the papers to make it so. None of this has been confirmed yet (Kevin Iole reported the deal, then removed any mention of it from his story but mentioned it again to Matt Bishop during an interview,) but we may expect to hear more about this once Coker returns to the States. (Source) Less than five hours after it was initially reported, any impending deal with Strikeforce became a non-story when Affliction and the UFC announced they were back together again.

The Fallout In announcing their reconciliation with the UFC, Affliction stopped short of declaring they were no longer promoting fight cards, but if they're back with Zuffa, you'd better believe you won't see another Affliction event. So where a door closes for non-Zuffa fighters, a window opens for those in the fold, as they will once again be allowed a major sponsor in Affliction. As for those who will remain outside the Zuffa umbrella, they've lost a promoter with deep pockets, and we just don't know enough now to say for certain what will happen with those who were under contract with what is again exclusively a clothing company.

Dana White Is At It Again

The Story: Remember when Dana said during one of his pre-UFC 100 video blogs that he's working on something that will change MMA forever (or something to that effect)? Well, he said today in an interview with ESPN Radio that the UFC will hold a press conference on July 31 that will go over a "laundry list" of "crazy things." That's not to mention that he welcomed Tito Ortiz back to the UFC via his Twitter account, only to back off during the ESPN Radio interview. But seriously, we're supposed to believe that Tito and Dana have put aside their differences, and yet one of the biggest PPV draws of all time is not coming back to the UFC? Please. Another thing to consider about this press conference is that ESPN executive John Skipper attended UFC 100 as a special guest of White.

The Fallout: Who knows? At this point, it's one of those times like the fall of Pride and EliteXC, where you don't know what's going to be announced from day to day, and it's unclear where all the fighters are headed. Also, the press conference. Whereas Dana White's last "big announcement" was a bit of a letdown after a lot of buildup (when it was announced that Lorenzo Fertitta would move from his post at Station Casinos to work exclusively with the UFC), this promises to hold a lot more intrigue on the non-executive level. What's next, fight fans? Fighter signings? A deal to air on ESPN/ABC? The fact is that no one knows for sure right now. It could be big stuff or more of the waiting game, but such is life when you follow a growing sport. It's frustrating and fascinating all at the same time, but it's never boring.

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