Disclaimer:  This post will detail a legal complaint.  Please note that a complaint is just one side’s view of events.  I will describe some of the allegations below, but I am not saying any of them are true.  I am simply relaying M-1 and Fedor’s claims.

On October 28, 2009, M-1 and Fedor Emelianenko filed a lawsuit against Affliction Clothing, Affliction Entertainment, and 50 unnamed John Does in the Central District of California.  The complaint states claims for breach of contract, breach of the violation of good faith and fair dealing, and declaratory relief.  If they are able to join other parties, the complaint might be amended to include claims for tortuous interference with contract and related claims.

There are likely many targets among the unnamed John Does, but the UFC has to be considered the central target based on language of the complaint.  After reading the complaint, it seems possible that M-1 believes the UFC was somehow involved in the cancellation of Affliction’s third show.

The complaint alleges that Strikeforce, Affliction, and M-1 reached an agreement with M-1 to allow Brett Rogers to fight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy, but unbeknownst to Fedor and M-1, Affliction was simultaneously working on a renewed sponsorship deal with the UFC that would necessarily force Affliction out of the MMA promoting business.  In short, the complaint alleges that Affliction was putting up a false front about searching for a replacement for Josh Barnett, and was simply buying time while they were trying to make a deal with the UFC.

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Video from Sherdog.

M-1 Global press conference video from July 29.

Tomas Rios thinks so:

Short of having a team of international assassins snuff out anyone who keeps the MMA paradise from being realized, the best move fans can make is to vote with their dollars. If it becomes clear the buying public will not support promotions that are doomed to failure, premier fighters will be unwilling to lunge headfirst into a temple of financial doom and we will reach the end game that much quicker. We’ll see the world’s best fighters negotiating with the UFC and securing their financial futures while delivering the promise that the UFC made from its very inception -- the world’s best fighters fighting one another.

I'm not so sanguine about the idea, most notably because it's generally been the UFC's success in getting customers and fans to fork over dollars that's compelled competitors to get into the business (at least insofar as North America is concerned). If you've got the time, Jay Larkin has lots to tell you about the illusion that MMA exists in healthy doses beyond the confines of the UFC brand.

However, I do concede at this point it is highly unlikely there is a group of investors ready to piss into the wind. That's progress and part of the education process about how the MMA market and its fans operate. I'm not so sure we could've arrived at this position without this type of discovery process. So while I do not deny Affliction's implosion has left numerous fighters in a serious lurch, I also recognize the process of challenging a market leader for larger shares is all but an inevitability. It's regrettable that fighters are suffering and float in limbo, but MMA fans are now and have long been voting with their wallets. And yet, we're still in this position. On the other hand, it's also why Affliction, EliteXC, the IFL, BodogFight and the WFA are no longer in business.

Zach Arnold runs down the problems facing Josh Barnett in the aftermath of his positive steroid test and the collapse of Affliction:

1. He lost a lot of money for the Fedor fight and a chance to solidify himself as the top heavyweight fighter in MMA.
   This fight was probably one of, if not, the highest-paying fights Josh was ever going to get in his life. Whether you believe the figure is $300,000 or $500,000, that’s a lot of money to make for one fight. He’s not going to get that money anywhere else – not in Japan and not in UFC. ... What Barnett has to hope for is that there is still interest in Japan to book this fight on New Year’s Eve.
2. Casual fans will think that Barnett’s drug suspension brought down Affliction for good.
3. Barnett’s image in Japan is that of a steroid fighter and he will have to deal with a culture that still values shame.
   On August 9th in Tokyo at Ariake Colosseum, Barnett will be wrestling on Antonio Inoki’s show. There will be a lot of media writers .... Barnett can’t get away with issuing a ‘no comment’ because that will make it look like he’s hiding something or trying to run away from the heat. If he declares his innocence 100%, he’s still going to have to answer questions about how the Affliction fighters lost paychecks because of what happened. And if Barnett comes out and admits that he made a mistake and did in fact use steroids and apologizes to the Japanese fans, it might help his situation out but it would destroy his appeal in California.
4. Limited job opportunities and little leverage.
   This is the big long-term problem Josh Barnett is facing. If he ever decides to eat crow and go to UFC, he’s going to have to take a deal where he may get $75,000 to show and $75,000 to win. He will never get a deal like the one he got in PRIDE or with Affliction, never. Plus, he would have no leverage in working with Dana White. He would have to do whatever Dana told him to do. That’s not really in Josh’s DNA.

Certainly Barnett has no one but himself (and maybe his black-market steroid connections) to blame for what has become of his career. He has been punished already and he will continue to suffer for his mistakes. This is only right. He's the goat of MMA and that's only fitting.

At the same time, those heaping derision on Barnett for his serious failures as a human being should take a moment to remember what an accomplished mixed martial artist he is. When someone like Josh Barnett does their best to flush their career down the toilet and shame their legacy, it's not just Josh Barnett the individual who loses, the sport and its fans lose too.

Sergio Non makes the case that Josh Barnett mattered and breaks out his greatest MMA bouts:

vs Dan Severn: February 2000, Superbrawl 16.

vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira II:December 2006, Pride Shockwave 2006.

vs Aleksander Emelianenko: May 2006, Pride Total Elimination Absolute.

vs Gan McGee:November 2000, UFC 28.

vs Pedro Rizzo I:February 2001, UFC 30.

vs Randy Couture:March 2002, UFC 36.

vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira I:September 2006, Pride Final Conflict Absolute.
Other fights have more significance in MMA history, but for its drama within the ring itself and the technical artistry displayed, this semifinal bout of the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix 2006 is the greatest fight I've ever seen, without exception. There has never been a bout before or since from a major promotion that spanned the full range of mixed martial arts at such a high level from both participants.

His win in the eight man heavyweight tournament at Superbrawl 13 should also be mentioned. That tournament excited hardcore fans very much at the time as it established a sort of de facto American regional MMA heavyweight champion. Several of the small promotions that had arisen in the late 1990s sent their best heavyweights to contend in the tournament and the field was the cream of the crop of young American talent at the time. Some of the fighters went on to bigger and better things, some didn't but nonetheless, Barnett's victory over a field that included Heath Herring, Ricco Rodriguez, Bobby Hoffman, and Travis Fulton was a notable moment for Barnett and American MMA.

Barnett is also important because he is one of the rare heavyweights to be a true master of submission grappling. Only Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko and Frank Mir can be considered his peers in that among heavies.

It should also be pointed out that Barnett has been one of the few active American fighters to study and understand the tradition of catch wrestling that is arguably the well-spring of all MMA. His knowledge of arcane submission holds and the hook and shoot traditions of legends like Billy Robinson, Karl Gotch, Billy Riley, Ad Santel, Ed "the Strangler" Lewis, the Great Gama and Georg Hackenschmidt.

His understanding of and respect for Japanese fighting culture is also virtually unique among American fighters. This is only fitting since Japanese wrestlers such as Antonio Inoki, Satoru Sayama ( Tiger Mask) and Yoshiaki Fujiwara have done as much as any living human beings to keep the traditions of catch wrestling alive.

Barnett's seeming willingness to seek illegal advantage in the ring has again brought shame on his reputation and hurt the sport. I hope that this time, he can be man enough to admit wrong-doing and work hard from there to repair his tarnished legacy because its a proud one.

Best of luck Josh, I for one will be rooting for you to do the right thing, now and for the rest of your career.

Today on "MMA Nation" we'll be joined by UFC lightweight contender Kenny Florian as he prepares to take on UFC lightweight champion BJ Penn at UFC 101. We'll talk to Florian about his preparation for Penn, bringing in Hatsu Hioki and much more.

We'll also have plenty of talk about the day in MMA that was yesterday: Affliction's implosion, what could happen to the fighters, the potential signing of Tito Ortiz to the UFC and more.

"MMA Nation" airs every Saturday 7:00pm EST to 9:00pm EST on 106.7 The Fan. To listen live over the Internet, go to The Fan's website and click "Listen Live".

I'm also now on Twitter: @mmanation.

"MMA Nation" is also available by podcast on iTunes.

Number to call: 800-636-1067

Email here.

Talk to you then.

UFC 101: Declaration coverage

Affliction: Trilogy coverage

From Matt Bishop at MMA for Real whose interview with Kevin Iole broke the story:

Iole said said Affliction had approached the UFC about merging the week before UFC 100.

This came after Iole reported a potential merger of sorts between Affliction and Strikeforce, which was brewing early in the week, even prior to Barnett's drug test failure, Iole said.

"Somehow that fell apart," Iole said. "I think it was because Scott Coker, the CEO of Strikeforce, was out of the country and the paperwork wasn't signed," Iole said.

"Right now, I'm not exactly sure how that fell apart, but at the last minute it crumbled, so it opened the door for the UFC."

Iole adds more at his own column:

Later in the day, Affliction came to terms on a deal in which it would quit promoting fight cards. However, the status of the fighter contracts belonging to Affliction is unknown.

They could revert to the UFC or they could become free agents, able to sign with the promoter of their choice.

I said it before and I'll say it again: Scott Coker picked the wrong week to go on vacation.

With Affliction: Trilogy collapsing around Tom Atencio's ears like a house of cards, two big questions need to be asked:

1. Is this the end of Affliction as a ppv fight promoter?
2. If so, who is more to blame? Josh Barnett for failing a drug test or the entire model of building an entire promotion around one fighter -- let's call it the Kimbo Slice model.

I suspect that Showtime PPV was the decision maker who finally pulled the plug on Affliction. Check this:

However, none (of the potential replacement opponents) would have the drawing power of Barnett, and a source close to Showtime PPV, which is Affliction's pay-per-view partner, told MMAjunkie.com www.mmajunkie.com) it's a major reason the show was canceled.

Executives from the show's co-promoter, M-1 Global, are flying into Anaheim, Calif., today. An additional announcement from the Russian-based promotion could be made later today that could give information about Emelianenko's next fight. It's possible, of course, some of the "Trilogy" fighters could be shifted to M-1's Aug. 28 card, which takes place in Los Angeles as the first event of the company's newly launched "premium fight series."

The fact that Showtime PPV and M-1 Global -- Affliction's key partners -- are both talking to the press while Affliction is silent reminds me ominously of EliteXC. Like that doomed promotion, Affliction's fate ultimately lay in the hands of their business partners.

After Kimbo Slice was dropped by Seth Petruzelli at EliteXC's final CBS show, it was CBS/Showtime's decision not to continue investing in the doomed promotion that closed the books on EliteXC.

Ultimately, Affliction was vulnerable to this kind of disaster because they had one draw fighter: Fedor Emelianenko. Despite the money and effort they put into signing a who's who of MMA stars -- Vitor Belfort, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Matt Lindland, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Gegard Mousasi, Takanori Gomi, Chris Horodecki, etc etc -- all that did was inflate their expenses since what was selling the PPVs was the prospect of seeing Fedor face the top heavyweights in the world.

EliteXC at least had Gina Carano to complement Kimbo Slice, but the utterly anemic ratings they produced on their sole network card to feature neither of their stars testified to the weakness of their approach. Building a fight promotion around a star fighter creates a corollary problem -- you must find a credible opponent for that star to sell the event. And unless you want to kill the goose that laid the golden egg, the opponent shouldn't be too dangerous or you might lose your drawing power if your star takes a loss.

Ironically, that need to rely on opponents for the star proved to be the Achilles heel of both promotions. In EliteXC's case, aging star Ken Shamrock seemed like the perfect opponent to continue getting Kimbo over with fans. Shamrock was on an embarrassing losing streak and seemed to present no actual threat to beat Kimbo while being a name that would draw casual fan interest.

Unfortunately, Shamrock injured himself hours before the fight under very suspicious circumstances. (Next time Gary, pay the man what he wants) and Seth Petruzelli was pulled up from the undercard to face Kimbo. Shamrock had a long record of botching main events going back to UFC 3, and EliteXC fell prey to the same Sharmock karma. The rest is history and so is EliteXC.

In Affliction's case, they hoped to close out their trilogy by pitting Fedor Emeliananko, the consensus #1 heavyweight in the world against the one top heavyweights he'd never faced in PRIDE, #2 heavyweight Josh Barnett. Unfortunately for Affliction, Barnett's star-crossed history of failing steroid tests came back to bite them in the ass.

Once Barnett was gone, so was the credible opponent and despite a couple of days of aggressive floundering on Tom Atencio's part, it was too late to pick up the pieces. Sorry, Vitor Belfort, Jeff Monson, Don Frey, et al, there won't be a Seth Petruzelli of Affliction.

UPDATE: Kevin Iole has some big news, looks like Strikeforce will be the beneficiary of Affliction's collapse just as it benefited from EliteXC's end:

[NOTE from Kid Nate: The following tparagraphs were included in Iole's original post but have since been removed.  VERY Interesting.]

Affliction itself is fighting simply for survival. Several sources have said that Affliction and Strikeforce will have some type of merger with Strikeforce retaining its name. Affliction’s Tom Atencio denied any merger is imminent, and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is in Italy on vacation and couldn’t be reached for comment.

However, two independent sources told Yahoo! Sports a deal is either completed or on the verge of completion.

White said an Affliction attorney flew to Las Vegas only days after UFC 100 and offered to fold and turn its contracts over to the UFC if the UFC would remove its ban on its fighters wearing Affliction T-shirts.

“I told him, ‘I hope you idiots stay in business,’ ” White said. “We had a record year in 2007. We had a record year in 2008. And we’re going to have an even bigger record year in 2009. I said, ‘I hope you … stay around in 2010 and burn every dollar you have.’ What they do is of no concern to me.”

Graphic via MMAJunkie.com.

And the hits just keep on coming:

In a matter of days Affliction Entertainment's "Trilogy" event when from promising the top heavyweight fight in mixed martial arts to being cancelled outright, multiple sources confirmed to SI.com Friday morning.

Affliction Entertainment vice president began making calls with the news Friday morning to fighters scheduled to appear on the Aug. 1 card, SI.com has learned.

We don't yet know if this is a similiar situation to the "Day of Reckoning" event where the cancellation eventually helped out the endeavor by putting it on more helpful soil. So, stay tuned to find out if a) there is a re-scheduling and b) when and with which fighters.

Somewhere Dana White is playing "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" on his fiddle.

Affliction's woes since their beginning are a fresh reminder of how difficult it is to make large-scale, meaningful fights happen. It's not just that you have to have the competent, organizational machinery in place, you also have to get lucky. And when you don't get lucky, you have to have major resources to pick up the pieces. I admire Affliction's willingness to try to create some substantive, value-add MMA, but I do not envy the responsibiltiies of the task.

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"You know, I'm being really honest here. I am equally interested in a fight with either Belfort or Rogers. I've never fought with either one. I used to watch Belfort fight, even before I started competing. So there is a history there for me with him. It is very interesting to me; he was a fighter who faced and beat a lot of the greatest fighters in MMA at the time. Rogers is a fighter who is tearing through the heavyweight division with 10 fights and 10 wins. And, I have to add, he beat Arlovski.

"To be honest, in terms of his speed at that weight, I honestly don't know if being heavier is an advantage with a fighter who is as fast as him at his current weight. I have always found it harder to fight the lighter, faster guys, rather than the really big, plodding heavy and super heavyweights. And Belfort has always stood out in terms of his speed."

Fedor Emelianenko talking to Sherdog.

The poll is a Sherdog readers' poll, that shows the fans want to see Fedor vs Rogers.