At the brink of the Affliction Trilogy downfall, Kevin Iole reported:

Multiple sources had indicated to Yahoo! Sports that Affliction was on the verge of a deal with Strikeforce for some sort of merger, but that fell apart in the last 24-48 hours. That’s when talks began anew between White and Affliction. They had spoken earlier in July about such a scenario, but were unable to come to a deal.

Now we get some more information on what some of these negotiations were about.  It would be odd for Strikeforce to talk merger with Affliction when Affliction is composed of fighters tied to other promotions, not to mention that they have a number of partners that include Golden Boy, Trump, GoDaddy, and Showtime. Another strange bit of news is that Fedor's team had agreed to either Rogers or Vitor.  We also heard that Rogers and Vitor agreed to the fight as well, so why didn't it take place?  Most have mentioned that Showtime was the reason why the PPV event was scrapped, and it can be supported since they were one of the first websites to take the Trilogy event down from their schedule and immediately started advertising for Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg.

The question no one has yet been able to answer is why Showtime scraped the entire event. Well, I believe this supports the idea that Showtime may have had other plans in mind and Affliction may not have been in them.  The Barnett positive steroid test was not the first problem to strike Trilogy, since the Paul Daley vs Jay Hieron fight was not going to happen due to some paper work visa problems.What we know is that Affliction pretty much felt no other option but to sign with the UFC and give in to all of their demands that they had previously refused, all in the span of  48 hours.  It was Affliction's duty to secure their own future, and they accomplished it by striking a last minute deal with the UFC.  As a byproduct of this last minute decision, Fedor and M-1 was on a plane heading to Anaheim when the deal was struck, and the fighters were left without the option of making their own decisions.

So the question remains, was Affliction the odd man out during the Trilogy debacle?

FiveKnuckles reports:

Sources close to the fighter have informed FiveKnuckles.com that Strikeforce were in talks with Affliction, M-1 Global and Golden Boy promotions on a long term deal with Emelianenko with in the last couple of days. The promotion reportedly offered the former Pride champion between 500,000 and 700,000 per fight, a non-exclusive contract, guaranteed exposure on CBS shows and a cut of any PPV event he was a part of. Emelianenko would certainly be able to get maximum mainstream U.S. exposure via CBS and Showtime which could lead possible big money endorsement deals and he'd also get to enjoy the freedoms associated with Strikeforce's non-exclusive contracts. This scenario is considered a strong possibility if Emelianenko is indeed a free agent according to inside sources.

Rumors are flying right now, so it's difficult to know exactly how all of this will play out. Sources have stated that Emelianenko's management contract allows him to brake his management contract if he's not put into a certain number of fights each year, and that may also be a possibility how unlikely it seems given his strong relationship to Vadim Finklestein and the rest of his management team at M-1.

Emelianenko is currently en route to California, according to M-1 officials, and will be making a statement regarding the situation by soon after his arrival, which should shed more light on the situation.

We'll have that for you as soon as it becomes available.

It wouldn't be the first time Showtime became frustrated with one of their MMA partners (EliteXC) and were trying to negotiate a deal that would shift their MMA content purely to Strikeforce.  What Strikeforce said no to, is still very vague since Scott Coker was vacationing in Italy and no reports have come out yet in detail.  Now, with Affliction bailing on the MMA promotion side, it leaves everyone wondering whether Strikeforce, M-1 (Fedor), and Golden Boy will continue their talks.  It is definitely a question whether Golden Boy and Trump will continue with their MMA endeavors.  M-1's other possibility s to stay solo, though not a profitable way to feature Fedor on their cards.  M-1 is planning an event on August 28th in Los Angeles, and some of the Affliction fighters will now be moved to that event.  They are also trying to find Fedor a fight ASAP.

Here is more on the M-1 release:

M-1 Global understands and shares the disappointment being expressed by many fans that Fedor will not be able to compete on Aug. 1 as scheduled. However, we will work to ensure that Fedor returns to active competition as soon as possible.

With Affliction’s announcement that it will cease to promote MMA events, M-1 Global will look to help fill the void created by its departure with the launch of its new "Breakthrough" fight series. The first event is scheduled for Aug. 28 in Los Angeles and will feature "King" Mo Lawal and Don "The Predator" Frye in the main event and Karl Amoussou taking on Nick Thompson in the co-main event. It is our sincerest hope that all planning to attend "Trilogy" at the Honda Center will decide to help support M-1 Global on Aug. 28.

Personally, I will be glad wherever Fedor goes as long as he fights top competition.  All scenarios have pros and cons, and it will be interesting to see how this EliteXC-like fiasco turns out for all parties.  All in all, you have to feel for the fighters who have put in months of training and accumulated expenses, only to be left high and dry.