Arguably the best MMA heavyweight in the world is now without an opponent. The Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett fight has been canceled. It was announced today that Barnett failed a drug test and will not be given a license to fight.

This is a devastating blow to the Affliction promotion. Affliction has been struggling from day one to compete with UFC and promote big events. I hear or read something almost weekly about Affliction shutting down. Affliction canceling its main-event two weeks before the show may be the final death blow to the company.

For Barnett, this couldn’t have come at an absolutely worst time. This would be Barnett’s second drug suspension. I can’t see Barnett ever having an opportunity at such a money match in the United States again. Barnett’s history of drug suspensions could prevent him from ever being licensed again in the United States.

The news also comes at a time when a UFC return for Barnett was in sight. Barnett was stripped of his UFC heavyweight title in 2002 after failing a drug test for steroids. Dana White surprisingly dropped Barnett’s name recently and seemed open to Barnett returning. Consider that offer null and void as a result of this news.

The big question now is what to do with Fedor Emelianenko on August 1? Vitor Belfort and Bobby Lashley have been reportedly approached to take the fight. I can’t see Lashley taking it, and I sure hope he doesn’t do it. Vitor has taken big fights on short notice in the past, so keep an eye on him. However, I wouldn’t expect anything from anyone taking a fight with Fedor Emelianenko with less than two weeks notice.

The Affliction show does have a strong undercard, but it is nothing that casual MMA fans are going to buy in this economy. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the show moved from pay-per-view to a free Showtime event. I can’t think anyone in the Affliction organization thinks this one has a shot as a paid event. I don’t think the show will be canceled altogether.

The news comes at a very interesting time for Fedor. Due to Brock Lesnar’s success, Fedor’s name has been dropped more than ever before in regards to a UFC deal. Dana White has both praised and criticized Fedor in recent interviews. White recently said while you could argue Fedor is the best heavyweight in MMA, he is not the best pound-for-pound fighter in MMA. White concluded that as good as Fedor is, he hasn’t fought anyone of high quality in years.

He is right. I love Fedor and as a longtime Pride FC fan I have probably seen all of his fights. Five years ago the guy was a machine and the unquestioned best fighter in the world. He has only fought four times in the last three years. He hasn’t fought anyone that would be considered elite competition. I love the guy, but anybody that thinks it is a given he would destroy Brock Lesnar has no real idea. The guy hasn’t been tested in years.

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Check out this interview with WAMMA World Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko. Bas Rutten asks Emelianenko point blank about fighting in UFC. His response isn’t likely to make UFC fans happy.

The timing of the interview is interesting. UFC president Dana White said the following about Fedor after UFC 100. “I want Fedor. Eventually, Fedor will come to the UFC. We’ll get that deal.” White added, “We’ll get Brock vs. Fedor done,” White said. This was the most confident that Dana White has sounded about Fedor.

These statements were curious since Time magazine got a different reaction from Dana a few days before UFC 100. “Let me put it to you this way, I’ve done fight contracts with all the best fighters in the world,” “With big huge superstars, Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, the list goes on and on. Who the f— is Fedor? Are you serious? The guys who fight for me have a chance to make a lot more money fighting with me than with anybody else. If he signed with us, he’d find his place in history, find out if he really is the best heavyweight in the world. It’s all semantics. It’s all bulls—.”

The tug of war for Fedor has been a source of frustration for Dana White for quite some time now. White’s aired his frustrations in a January interview when discussing the former PRIDE FC star. “Who knows? Every time you think you’ve got some traction with these guys and you’re going to do something, they spin off and do something dumber than before. These guys keep making stupid moves. The problem is Fedor doesn’t control his destiny, his manager does. These guys are from Russia. It’s a whole nother world in Russia, man. Listen, in all the dealings we’ve had with Fedor, I’ve never even met Fedor. He doesn’t control his destiny, his manager does.” Notice how White is careful not to take any direct shots at Fedor.

UFC and MMA fans like myself have been beating the Fedor drum for years. First it was a potential Fedor vs. Randy Couture Dream Match in UFC. Unfortunately father time has caught up with Randy and the match is much less appealing today. Then came Brock Lesnar who took the Dream Match scenario to an all-new level. The only person not impressed with this match is Brock Lesnar himself.

“Who gives a s— about Fedor? I’m fighting Randy Couture. I don’t give a damn about Fedor. I’m sick and tired of hearing about f—ing Fedor,” said Brock back in September. Say what you will about Brock Lesnar, but the guy sure isn’t afraid to wear his emotions on his sleeve.

I think that the deal will get done at some point. However, Fedor is right on the brink of declining in skills after ten years of fighting at 32 years old. The only saving grace is that Fedor has barely fought since PRIDE FC was sold to UFC. I don’t think it is a matter of Fedor being scared to fight Brock Lesnar or Randy Couture. I think he is one of the few fighters that financially doesn’t need UFC and could benefit more as an owner/free agent.

I also have to question the sudden turnaround in Dana White’s attitude. White was interviewed on the last live UFC Spike TV telecast and talked about bringing Vitor Belfort back to UFC. I am almost starting to wonder if Dana is just screwing with Affliction at this point. Affliction VP Tom Atencio and Dana seem to have an ongoing war of words lately. Dana’s new found confidence in signing two Affliction fighters may simply be him having a little it of fun at Atenico’s expense.

The whole Fedor-UFC scenario reminds me a lot of a pro wrestling scenario from a few years back. In WCW, Bill Goldberg often criticized the WWE and Vince McMahon. Goldberg even once had a physical altercation with Triple H outside of the ring. Once WCW was sold, fans were dying to see Goldberg in the WWE. Goldberg who was once adamant about never working for Vince McMahon, wound up signing a one-year deal. The deal was and is still extremely rare for a WWE wrestler. It may take some kind of a creative and unique deal to get this done.

I think I speak for most fight fans when I say, just get it done!

Thanks to MMANews.com for the tip.
 
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett Affliction Promo

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Gary Goodrich from PRIDE Total Elimination

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UFC president Dana White dropped a bit of a bombshell during The Ultimate Fighter Finale. In a pre-taped interview, White said he wants to test Anderson Silva. White casually mentioned he is working on bringing back Vitor Belfot to test Silva. Unless this test is to see how quick he can demolish Belfort I am at a loss to White’s thinking.

“I’m working on some other 185 pounders. Vitor Belfort – he is a former heavyweight who moved down to 205. Now he’s at 185 pounds. He’s got great hands, he’s good on the ground, and if his head is right, he can be a very dangerous guy. I think that would be a great match up.”

I was pretty shocked when White made that announcement. Has he watched Vitor Belfort in the last several years? Vitor Belfort did have one big win against Matt Lindland. However, a look at Vitor’s overall career tells a different story.

Vitor is a lot like Mike Tyson to me. Vitor is a guy who has always has had the skills. The guy was a machine in his prime in UFC. Like Mike, Vitor’s been his own worst enemy. There are times that Vitor has fought where you can see that obviously something is not right with the guy. Like Tyson, you wait for the old Belfort to show up yet you never mnow what you are going to get.

Vitor is 6-5 in his last eleven fights which is not bad. However, it is hardly a record that I would call a “test” to Anderson Silva. Other than the win against Lindland, he hasn’t beaten anyone close to the skills of Silva. I also have no idea how anything that Belfort has done in the last few years qualifies him for an immediate title shot at Silva.

I understand that Silva needs to be seriously tested. Here is a crazy idea. How about Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre in a catch weight bout? White said during the same interview that the match is on the books. White then said that St. Pierre needs to get through Alves first. That is fine, but if Silva-Belfort is in the cards than a match with St. Pierre wouldn’t be possible until mid-2010!

In the middleweight division, there really aren’t many tests left for Silva. White talked about a Wanderlei Silva vs. Anderson Silva match leading up to UFC 99. Wanderlei’s loss would probably preclude that from happening. Michael Bisping would theoretically be next up if he gets by Dan Henderson. Should Bisping lose, Dan Henderson would be the rightful number one contender. I wouldn’t mind seeing those two again.

I tend to wonder if this is all a smoke and mirrors game with Affliction. Belfort is signed to fight on Affliction’s next big show in August. White went on a tirade after UFC 99 about Mirko Cro Cop playing UFC and DREAM against each other. It is a bit ironic that White has no problem when he is the beneficiary in a situation where Belfort is playing UFC and Affliction. Amazing isn’t it?

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Vince McMahon and the WWE pulled a move so desperate for ratings that even die-hard WWE fans groaned. Vince introduced the “new owner” of WWE RAW last night. The new of WWE RAW is Donald Trump. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

In one of the lowest moments in WWE RAW history, Donald Trump appeared on the monitor to announce his new investment. The interview was portrayed live, but was obviously pre-taped. The initial reaction of the live audience was silence. That wasn’t the reaction that Vince and Trump were likely looking for.

Once again the WWE just doesn’t get it. Reportedly, Vince has been scrambling trying to improve RAW. RAW has become an obvious second fiddle to WWE SmackDown. The ratings are stagnant and people just don’t care. While something needs to be done, this is hardly the answer.

I do have an idea that I’d like to offer. Push new stars! As I wrote yesterday, WWE blew an opportunity with the vacated WWE title. WWE matched a Fatal Four-Way with familiar names. WWE blew a great opportunity to elevate a new star or two and put them into the mix. Instead, it was the same retreaded names we have been forced to endure for the last several years.

Trump and Vince had a “debate” or should I say, Vince debated a pre-taped video (similar to a trademark Howard Stern Show prank). Trump announced that his first act as owner would be to air WWE RAW commercial-free next week. Trump then reminded Vince of the night he shaved his head at WrestleMania 23. Vince immediately cut him off and shut down the monitor. Hmm, if Trump is the owner of RAW how could Vince make that call?

Trump will also be in attendance live on WWE RAW next week. I don’t know how long this is going to play out. I can’t see Trump making weekly commitments to appear on RAW. Trump is an investor in the Affliction MMA company. Possibly, this could be part of a tradeoff where Trump gets to promote Affliction in exchange for appearing on RAW? Who knows, maybe we will get FedorEmelianenko at some point? I’d tune in for that.

Regardless, it was a rather pathetic segment. The fans hated it, and Vince looked like a moron arguing with an obvious pre-taped video. In the end, I don’t think Trump is going to attract one more viewer to WWE RAW. The only thing that will attract viewers is a fresh product and new matches, like WWE SmackDown.

Randy Orton won a great Fatal Four-Way match to win back the WWE championship defeating Big Show, John Cena, and Triple H. Orton pinned Big Show after Show took Cena and Triple H’s finishing moves and an RKO. One has to wonder what the point of putting the belt back on the guy they just took it off of one week ago?

Later in the show, a 10-Man Battle Royal was held to determine the new WWE RAW #1 contender. You know, for a brief second I thought that maybe they would use this opportunity to spark something new. Maybe Ted DiBiase Jr., MVP, or even Miz would win and challenge Randy Orton. What was I thinking? Would you believe it if I told you that Triple H won and will wrestle Randy Orton next week on RAW in the main-event?

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Check out this video of former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia getting knocked out by 48-year-old former boxing heavyweight champion Ray Mercer. The fight lasts under 10 seconds. This was part of the Adrenaline III: Bragging Rights show over the weekend in Alabama.

It should be noted that there were a lot of legal issues going into the fight. It was originally promoted as a boxing event. The event was forced to change the fight to an MMA match. Keep in mind that after changing this to an MMA match, one writer commented, “in a mixed martial arts bout, this could be the biggest mismatch since Hong-Man Choi vs. Jose Canseco.” – MMANews.com Ouch!

Former UFC champion Jens Pulver saw it a little differently. “I think they’re taking this as sparring, and they’re going to find Mercer probably isn’t taking this as a sparring bout.” – MMAnews.com

Tim Sylvia is a disgrace to the MMA world and a blemish in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Sylvia was a hated fighter by UFC fans for his style which most considered boring. Sylvia left the UFC last year after being choked out by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Since leaving Sylvia is winless losing to Fedor Emilianenko and now Ray Mercer. Sylvia is scheduled to face Paul Buenetello next for Affliction in August.

At this rate, Tim Sylvia should just hang it up. At 6’8 and over 300 pounds, there is no excuse to getting knocked out in less than 10 seconds by a 48-year old ex boxer. Keep in mind that Sylvia lost the UFC world title to a 43-year old Randy Couture, Sylvia’s last two fights since leaving UFC have lasted just under 0:50 seconds combined.

Ironically, even Jose Canseco put up more of a fight against Hong-Man Choi. Tim Sylvia is just downright pathetic!

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