Fedor Emelianenko was not the only one to miss out on a huge bout due to Josh Barnett’s foolishness. To be exact, there were twenty-three other fighters who have been sidelined after the cancellation of “Affliction: Trilogy.”
Dream veteran Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1) had a scheduled match up with Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-8), and is none too happy about the inconvenience.
Mousasi gave a brief statement to M-1Global.com:
“The only thing important for me is what will be done for the fighters who all trained really hard for these fights,” he told us. “It’s very difficult for me and the other fighters who have put a lot of time and energy in their training and now are treated like this because a fighter is caught on steroids? It’s all politics and I can do nothing but wait (and see) what will come of out this.”
It has not yet been made clear exactly how the twenty-three fighters will be recompensed for the time, energy, and money they spent preparing for their Aug. 1 fights.
Clearly, many people are upset over the ordeal. This week should be a very interesting week in the world of MMA, and there is no telling yet what the landscape of the sport will look like once the dust settles.
It is quite possible the whole thing could be a blessing in disguise. Keep your fingers crossed and your browsers on quick-click with PRO MMA (promma.info) as this story unfolds.