Has the MMA world entered the Twilight Zone? It feels like it.

Following Josh Barnett’s removal from his fight against Fedor Emelianenko due to a positive steroids test and the the entire “Affliction: Trilogy” show being cancelled, Kevin Iole at Yahoo Sports is reporting Affliction Entertainment will no longer be promoting professional mixed martial arts events.

The report states that Affliction has reached an agreement with the UFC that if they cease their MMA promotion, they will be allowed to sponsor UFC fighters once again. The first Affliction show was entitled “Banned” because UFC fighters were no longer allowed to receive sponsorships from the clothing company, thus they started their own promotion.

The status of Affliction’s fighter contracts are unknown at this time. However, this definitely opens up a scenario where we could finally see Fedor Emelianenko become part of the UFC heavyweight roster. Keep your fingers crossed on that one.

The UFC and Affliction are expected to release a joint press release, possibly later today.

One person who almost certainly will not be going to the UFC is Josh Barnett.  This whole thing started after he tested positive for steroids. The domino effect one person’s actions can have is mind boggling.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of Barnett. He may not have only put the nail in the coffin of Affliction but he may have just ended his career as a professional fighter.

Stay tuned to PRO MMA (promma.info) for more on this developing story.

Leave a Reply