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Some notes regarding where things stand at the moment with the Affliction main event.
Josh Barnett has confirmed that he has talked to the commission and his license to fight was not approved. Contrary to original reports, his June 25th drug test that came up positive was not part of California's new random out of competition testing. It was a test on a day Barnett himself chose as part of his licensing procedure in the state as his license had expired. He didn't want to give specifics because he is going to appeal, but made it clear there was no conspriacy against him, he knows what happened, and is looking to clear his name, but the timing of it is such that the fight with Fedor Emelianenko scheduled for 8/1 at the Honda Center is off.
At this moment, the leading candidate for the fight is Brett Rogers. The main hold-up is that Rogers is under contract to Strikeforce. Both Scott Coker and Showtime both have to approve of the fight. Coker is on vacation right now in Italy but is aware of what is going on. As of this moment, Showtime has not made a decision.
It appears the second choice is Vitor Belfort. Belfort has agreed to jump up two weight classes and take the fight. A name that has surfaced as a possible opponent for Jorge Santiago, who was to face Belfort, provided Belfort gets the spot, is David Loiseau. But there would likely be other names in the running for such a fight.
Accoding to American Top Team sources, Bobby Lashley has turned down the fight. Lashley was offered $500,000 for the fight, but their feeling is Lashley will be getting paydays like this in the future when he's ready, and at this stage of the game, Lashley, as a rookie in the sport, with no training camp and in ten days is not ready for Fedor. It's said that Affliction still believes it's not dead and that he would consider it with a stronger money offer.
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