Tom Atencio Does Not Announce Opponent for Fedor Emelianenko on Affliction: Trilogy Conference Call

On today's Affliction: Trilogy conference call, Tom Atencio said "this has been a complete surprise to us. If the results (of Barnett's test) stand, we are deeply disappointed."
Beau Dure asked if Josh Barnett's test could be overturned. It was Atencio's understanding that the CSAC had taken two samples and are now testing the second sample provided at the initial testing.
Franklin McNeil asked if Vitor Belfort would be fighting Fedor. Atencio answered that until he had signed contracts in hand he would not be making any announcements.
Michael David Smith asked if it was difficult or easy to get an opponent to sign to fight Fedor and if Fedor and his management were going to exercise a veto on potential opponents. Atencio said Fedor is ready to fight anyone and that it is not a problem to find an opponent, but they are looking for the BEST possible opponent.
Mike Straka asked if they were talking to other organizations about bringing in outside fighters. Atencio said that he had been talking to Strikeforce but that there had been no discussions with the UFC.
Adam Wagner asked if Josh Barnett's second sample comes back positive, how will that affect your relationship with him? Atencio said it won't impact the relationship but it will be "something that will be on Josh" and that the real meaning will be that "he won't be able to fight in my organization anymore."
Denny Burkholder asked if Josh Barnett is cleared by the second test if he would still fight. Atencio said that is up to the CSAC and that his understanding that if Barnett is cleared that it is a very real possibility that the Fedor vs Barnett fight could go on.
Ariel Helwani asked what banned substance Barnett tested positive for. Atencio does not know.
Todd Martin asked if there had been any advance warning that there might be a problem with Josh's test results. Atencio said no, that yesterday was the first indication he had gotten that there might be a problem.
Michael David Smith asked how Atencio balances between the best PPV draw (Bobby Lashley) and the better sporting opponent (Fabricio Werdum). Atencio says he takes everything into account but that his emphasis is on putting on quality fights. "Look at the card. Affliction puts on quality cards and our priority is putting on the best event for the fans."
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If that’s true, then they can’t cancel a solid Belfort-Santiago semi main event to make a crappy main event fight with Fedor.
There's no way
That card wouldn’t do half of the buys they need to stay in business.
Look, y’all know I’m not an Affliction fan, but this is fucking sad.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 5:47 PM EDT up reply actions
It's obvious what Tom's waiting to announce:
Fedor’s next opponent will be: TOM ATTENCIO.
Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones
In short...
Tom wants Brett Rogers, but if that falls through.. Belfort is more than likely the guy.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
He will be working the corner, cuz everyone’s got a price and everyones gonna pay…
Be a man, not a child-Phil Anselmo
by ANance on Jul 22, 2009 4:08 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Uh... NO!

Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 22, 2009 4:09 PM EDT up reply actions
isn’t that rick martel the old awa hw champ. i can’t remeber what he was called in the wwf. damn i’m old.
Hell yeah...
Rick “The Model” Martel.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 22, 2009 4:33 PM EDT up reply actions
Give me Ravishing Rick Rude or give me death.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions
Affliction would have to put up some more stuff, because that belt is much more prestigious than the one Fedor currently has.
is WAMMA still in existence? i asked this late last night, or early morning. they haven’t updated their rankings since april/may and now there is this new IWMMA COMMITTE that consits of current writers that are also listed on WAMMA’S list of ranking comitte, like johnathan snowden, jesse holland and jordan breen. what gives? does anyone know?
I assume we’ll find out when we see who exactly is holding the belt upside down in the ring after the main event on november 1.
by Phildo on Jul 22, 2009 4:56 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I’ve said this elsewhere, but if Brett Rogers gets to fight Fedor, and knocks him out, then that’s Upset of the Year, Knockout of the Year, Fighter of the Year, and Story of the Year all in one swoop.
Plus, he gets to unify the Iron Ring Heavyweight championship with the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship…
From the UG:
Barnett hasn’t gotten in touch with Atencio. Real classy guy. You f*ck up, you owe your Boss a phone call
He’s probably getting high. He does love hash, after all.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions
hahahahahaha
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 23, 2009 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions
I bet Barnett is already on a plane back to Japan to a meeting with Sengoku or Dream.
by DirtyML on Jul 22, 2009 4:24 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Sherdog radio makes sense…. they said they don’t like the Belfort fight, because it messes up two fights instead of one.
Exactly what I have been saying this whole time. Replace Barnett with another worthy-esque HW and I am good to go. Rogers would make for a very compelling story, and losing to Fedor, if that happens, is not something you look down upon. If that was the case, Mirko, Nog, Herring, Coleman, etc should have been out of MMA years ago. =)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jul 22, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions
Worthy-esque. Pretty funny. (I assume we’re not talking about Michael Jordan’s former teammate, in which case it would be funny in a different way.)
by An Old Friend on Jul 22, 2009 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions
the only problem with rogers is the fact he may not be in fighting shape. if he loses he may lose his shot at the best in the world. thas a pretty big regret to have, knowing you fought the best in the world and wasent even in shape to do so. It will always be “if i only had been in shape i might be able to beat him”.
Best case is Werdum, the guy is in shape and just had his fight axed so why not, the fight is a lil before he peaks but its better then throwing in a guy with a 3 week training camp then someone with a 10 day camp
You’d be good to go if Fedor was literally fighting a tomato can.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 5:48 PM EDT up reply actions
From the UG:
The call is over.
To those wondering why they did a call and didn’t release any info, Affliction had a series of calls already scheduled. This Barnett thing came up and obviously changed the whole purpose of the call.
Ironically enough Belfort was supposed to be on this call along with Tompkins, Hieron, Horodecki, Hominick. Obviously that didn’t happen.
I had the same thought, although Rogers is much more intriguing.
The huge problem is that ALL of these guys are going to ask for Sylvia money.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
by Leland Roling on Jul 22, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions
I doubt Affliction can come out of this with a quality bout at a decent price. Hell, they might not even be able to come up with a bad bout at a reasonable price.
Fedor aside, heavyweight is the worst division to have to find a decent replacement in. There just aren’t that many good heavyweights available. Hence the talk about Belfort I suppose.
true
but them paying brett rogers 800k instead of them paying josh 1 to 1.5 might might work out ok. the grim has a big ko victory on showtime as of recent, so it might turn out better to the casual fans, except for the advertising. oh well they were not very good at that anyway.
If I was at the press conference for Affliction I would have asked Tom;
“How does this rank amongst the worst days of your life as a promoter and as a person?”
I’m with you. Monson or Werdum.
I mean, we know Monson would take the fight. Dude fights 14 times a month.
by a tommy point on Jul 22, 2009 5:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Monson was contacted by Affliction, unfortunately he already had 3 fights scheduled that night and one the following morning.
Some people might say that winning a fight makes you a better fighter but I don’t agree with that.- BlueberryMuffin
by ufc4 on Jul 22, 2009 6:37 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
The fact that they can’t sign a replacement already is a bad sign.
by AlwaysRelaxing on Jul 22, 2009 5:12 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Poor guy. Tom is too nice of a guy to deserve to deal with this shit.
Keep firing Assholes!
Thanks to Bisping's reenactment of the Battle of Cowpens, walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
I love
how all the talk is about a new opponent for Fedor. If it was true that all the great HW aren’t in the UFC then whats the problem?
I like how Barnett isn’t getting wrecked by everyone because he is not in the UFC. Let Mir or Lesnar test positive and watch the internet blow up.
Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) his organization’s heavyweight fighters Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers will not be facing Fedor Emelianenko in the main event of “Affliction: Trilogy” on Aug. 1.
Affliction is currently searching for a replacement for Josh Barnett, who was originally scheduled to face Emelianenko but was pulled from the bout after reportedly failing a California State Athletic Commission-administered drug test.
“It’s safe to say neither Fabricio or Brett will be fighting on Aug. 1,” Afromowitz said. "The plan is still for Fabricio to fight on Aug. 15, and we hope to have an opponent named soon.
“As for Brett, nothing is finalized, but he won’t be fighting on Aug. 1.”
Monson! Monson!
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
by capital L on Jul 22, 2009 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
If he actually gets the bout, it'd be freaking awesome
I don’t think he’d win, but I have no doubt the man would fight like hell. He was just talking days ago about how it was his destiny or some such madness to beat Fedor.
It ends in an armbar or a strangle regardless.
Destiny Is Calling...
To step up to the plate.
=)
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jul 22, 2009 7:09 PM EDT up reply actions
But I thought they was partners!
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Like I said before, Werdum is fighting on August 15tn and Rogers the winner in October.
Strikeforce doesn’t want to screw that up, apparently.
by MMASuPreMaCy on Jul 22, 2009 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions
The whole “they are working together” bit only goes as far as if it’s in Strikeforce’s best interest (which only makes sense).
Who is Werdum fighting?
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Jul 22, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
From Josh's Twitter
About to do pilates…you heard right. Helps with flexibility. Then hyperbarics to round off my therapy.
12:56 PM Jul 15th from txt
Apparently what happened is he got hyperbarics confused with anabolics. It could happen to anyone.
Some people might say that winning a fight makes you a better fighter but I don’t agree with that.- BlueberryMuffin
by ufc4 on Jul 22, 2009 6:40 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Tank Abbot
Doesn’t need any prep time since he doesn’t train anyways.
Big Name for the average Joe
Works cheap…probably for beer.
Shane Carwin On Fighting Fedor in 10 Days
Fedor is too dangerous to face on short notice. Too bad its so short notice. Brett Rogers would likely be their contender.

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