Affliction Is Over; What Happens Now?

I’ve been waiting for the dust to settle on this whole deal before I make any comments, but I have a strange feeling that I am beginning to get a beat on what is going to happen.

For those who don’t know, Josh Barnett’s positive drug test forced Affliction to cancel their upcoming card. Already hemorrhaging money, the clothing manufacturer deciding to simply call it quits. Now, they have secured a deal with Dana White and the UFC to once again become a sponsor and go back to making clothing as their sole profit center. First off, This is a surprising move from the UFC’s despot leader. He’s known as being brash and unforgiving, and the fact that he is allowing someone who challenged him for the throne back into his company is shocking. I bet Affliction had to pay a huge sum of money to get that deal done.

Well, with that hashed out, what happens to all the fighters? We’ll go one at a time:

• Josh Barnett - With his legacy permanently tarnished, I don’t see anyway that he is getting back in an American MMA ring anytime soon. He’ll probably go back to Japan and earn some of that crazy Yakuza money, but he’ll forever be remembered as a two-time steroid user and the man that killed Affliction.
• Fedor – Not even going to try to spell his last name. There have been rumors of him going to the UFC, but I think people are forgetting one important fact: The Russian Government is a huge part of the negotiations for Fedor. They want him to be treated like he’s Alex Rodriguez, and I just don’t think that it’s going to fly in the UFC. As recently as the other day, we posted an interview with Fedor where he talked about the “terms of the contract” with the UFC being “Unacceptable.” Sorry, Don’t expect Fedor and Brock anytime soon.
• Vitor Belfort – It’s done. He’s going back to the UFC. Dana has already said that he wanted him back in the fold, and now that he is a ture free agent, it’s going to happen. He’ll get a couple of tuneups and then he’ll get Anderson Silva.
• Gegard Mousasi and Jay Hieron – Call this a plea to Dana if you will. Sign these two guys. Of the two, Hieron is the more expendable, but please at least sign Mousasi. He’s a damn good fighter that no one knows about yet, and he deserves a shot in your light heavyweight division. Hieron is a Long Island guy who I would like to see succeed. He’s got good wrestling and decent enough stand up that he could make some noise with some improvement.

So, it’s down to just two American MMA promotions. I like both Strikeforce and the UFC, and I think that both of them have their merits. However, It’s a shame that we keep losing MMA companies. The more fights, the better, and now we are being robbed of a pretty good card, and maybe future pretty good cards from Affliction as well.

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3. UFC 100: Lesnar’s Anger Might Ruin Him…
4. Fedor Signs With Strikeforce…
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