Affliction has canceled its upcoming “Trilogy” event, which was planned for the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1.
The promotion today announced the bad news in an official statement.
It comes just days after Affliction suffered a major blow to its pay-per-view main event when headliner Josh Barnett tested positive for anabolic steroids in the first ever random drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission on June 25. As a result, Barnett was denied a license to compete, forcing company officials to scramble for a replacement opponent opposite Fedor Emelianenko. Speculation had revolved around who that replacement fighter would be.
At the top of a short list of candidates was current middleweight contender Vitor Belfort, who was scheduled to face Jorge Santiago that same night, but who also stated he was willing to move up in weight to fight “The Last Emperor.”
Dark horse Brett Rogers, fresh off a stunning first round knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski, as well as freelance fighter Jeff Monson were also under consideration.
Now it appears their services will no longer be needed, as Atencio didn’t want to commit to a replacement bout without sufficient time to promote it.
“Finding an opponent for the number one ranked MMA heavy weight champion in such a short period of time was a huge endeavor and I’m thrilled at the amount of fighters willing to take on this challenge,” said Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction Entertainment. “But in the end, we just didn’t have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards.”
Affliction is deeply disappointed that the under card is also cancelled through no fault of its own. Affliction stands behind the company’s brands and delivers premium products to the most passionate and loyal customers. Affliction’s first priority is to ensure that all future events live up to the company’s high standards.
Ticket holders for the canceled event should contact Ticketmaster or ticketmaster.com for a refund.
What impact this cancellation has on the future of Affliction MMA remains to be seen — but as of now it’s not looking very promising.
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