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Obviously this was in the works for awhile and its likely, IMO, that the event was never going to happen in the first place regardless of Josh.
Wow...didn't take long after cancelling the event...
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_yl...yhoo&type=lgns
Affliction folds MMA promotion, will sponsor UFC
After promoting two critically acclaimed but financially disastrous mixed martial arts cards, Affliction on Friday first canceled its pay-per-view card scheduled for Aug. 1 and then opted to get out of the promotional business, Yahoo! Sports has learned.
The company and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are expected to release a statement sometime on Friday in which it is announced that Affliction will cease operations as a promoter and that its clothing division will become a UFC sponsor.
Affliction had a card slated for Aug. 1 with a main event of Fedor Emelianenko, the No. 2 fighter in the Yahoo! Sports mixed martial arts rankings, against former UFC champion Josh Barnett at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
But Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid and on Tuesday was denied a license to fight by the California State Athletic Commission.
That left Affliction scrambling to fight a replacement for Emelianenko. With no viable alternatives – the best was former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort, who was already down to 195 pounds for a scheduled middleweight fight – Affliction early Friday opted to scrap the show.
Later in the day, Affliction came to terms on a deal in which it would quit promoting fight cards. However, the status of the fighter contracts belonging to Affliction is unknown.
They could revert to the UFC or they could become free agents, able to sign with the promoter of their choice.
Multiple sources had indicated to Yahoo! Sports that Affliction was on the verge of a deal with Strikeforce for some sort of merger, but that fell apart in the last 24-48 hours. That’s when talks began anew between White and Affliction. They had spoken earlier in July about such a scenario, but were unable to come to a deal.
Last edited by LEONARD; 07-24-2009 at 06:09 PM.
Obviously this was in the works for awhile and its likely, IMO, that the event was never going to happen in the first place regardless of Josh.
awesome stuff to hear. now we just need fedor to get a deal done
i wouldn't mind seeing buentello back in the ufc as a gatekeeper or even seeing arlovski see if he can get his career back together.
I kinda feel sorry for Tapout for some reason....been a rough year for those guys....
Yep...here is what Iole removed from his article...
EDIT
[NOTE from Kid Nate: The following tparagraphs were included in Iole's original post but have since been removed. VERY Interesting.]
Affliction itself is fighting simply for survival. Several sources have said that Affliction and Strikeforce will have some type of merger with Strikeforce retaining its name. Affliction’s Tom Atencio denied any merger is imminent, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is in Italy on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.
However, two independent sources told Yahoo! Sports a deal is either completed or on the verge of completion.
White said an Affliction attorney flew to Las Vegas only days after UFC 100 and offered to fold and turn its contracts over to the UFC if the UFC would remove its ban on its fighters wearing Affliction T-shirts.
“I told him, ‘I hope you idiots stay in business,’ ” White said. “We had a record year in 2007. We had a record year in 2008. And we’re going to have an even bigger record year in 2009. I said, ‘I hope you … stay around in 2010 and burn every dollar you have.’ What they do is of no concern to me.”
Dream and Sengoku will probably be dead soon enough too. UFC will be all of MMA by next year.
Sneaky bas s....
My my my how fast the MMA world turns on its axis. This was faster than when the WFA and WEC got sold. Remember that? That was just like...POW!
If they both folded tomorrow I wouldn't be surprised.
People can complain all they want about the UFC and Dana but obviously...clearly...without a shred of legitimate argument left they are the only ones that know what they are doing.
I dont even really mind. Its just nice to sometimes watch a decent card other than the UFC.
Strikeforce is very stable and a quality product at least.
I can hear Jeff Sherwood crying right now..
lol!!!!!!!
I'm sure they will try and act like it never happened and give us analysis of the next Shooto fight, like any of us give a damn...
pretty much.
OMG LOL
wtf evan.
I didn't make it but I wish I had...the best part is Dana at the end...
Wow.. so what of Fedor??
I didn't think of it that way until you mentioned it but that is so true. No way this all happens so fast.
way way way too fast.
As for Fedor...I suspect we have 6 months of insane back & forth rumors ahead of us.
what if barnett wasn't dirty and just needed a fall guy
Tin foil hat -- HURRY!
I was the one that said Affliction will be their last show. I was too optimistic I guess.
Also I said month or so after Arlovski - Fedor fight that Fedor will probably fight in December. Nobody was taking it seriously. Hopefully I will be wrong and we will see Fedor sooner.
UFC taking over, Dana said they will burn money and they did. On it's last event they had so many sponsors it was insaine. I knew it would not stand.
And it was laughable when all the golden boys were jumping up and down when Fedor knocked Andrei out ...
Ehh ... I'm still shocked and pissed about that cancelled event
So does this mean....Vitor, Fedor,Gegard Mousasi, Jorge Santiago and everyone else can fight in the UFC now?
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