With Barnett out, Belfort makes verbal commitment to face Emelianenko at "Trilogy"

by John Morgan on Jul 22, 2009 at 12:20 pm ET
LAS VEGAS – It's official: Josh Barnett (24-5) has been removed from his "Affliction: Trilogy" main-event bout with Fedor Emelianenko (30-1).

Affliction exec Tom Atencio confirmed the news this morning with AOL FanHouse, citing a positive test for a banned substance that will prevent Barnett from receiving a license to compete on the Aug.1 event in Anaheim, Calif.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has since learned from sources close to the negotiations that middleweight Vitor Belfort (18-8) has verbally agreed to the bout, and negotiations are currently in progress to finalize the financial terms of the deal.

Should Belfort's management and Affliction officials agree to terms, an official announcement is expected to be made sometime today.

Xtreme Couture striking coach Shawn Tompkins, who has been training Belfort at the Las Vegas-based camp in preparation for currently scheduled opponent Jorge Santiago (21-7), declined to comment on the status of Belfort's contract. However, Tompkins did tell MMAjunkie.com that both Belfort and the camp considered the potential bout with Emelianenko an intriguing option.

Tompkins also said Belfort is currently walking around at approximately 205 pounds and that he could easily make 210-215 pounds should he commit to a heavyweight contest.

While Bobby Lashley had been mentioned in previous reports as a potential replacements for Barnett, American Top Team exec Dan Lambert told MMAjunkie.com the heavyweight prospect would not be stepping in on short notice.

Lambert also said he was unsure what would happen with fellow American Top Team product Santiago with the potential loss of Belfort as an opponent.

To follow the latest developments with "Affliction: Trilogy," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15592/with-jo ... rilogy.mma

LOL, Vitor Belfort may weigh 185-200, but he can hit like a heavyweight.

I wouldn't count him out yet.

Maybe Fedor vs Kimbo Slice, lol

Brett Rogers, damn it!

Im sure that even if it was a given win for Fedor, they would sell more PPV if he fought Kimbo of the pure reason people would like to see him get beaten up by fedor. Weird world we live in.

But I do think that best matchup against Fedor is probably Overeem, Brock Lesnar or possibly Brett Rogers or Jeff Monson or whatever his name is, or if it would be possible, Shane Carwin.

Well, you can count Overeem, Carwin and Lesnar out. Overeem won't be fighting for awhile, because of the hand injury. Fedor won't fight Carwin and Lesnar unless he goes to the UFC, which is where he needs to be after Trilogy. No excuses, no more hiding behind the "exclusivity" excuse.

I'd even be cool with Jeff Monson replacing Barnett at Trilogy, and even better with Rogers. Just pay Rogers the $800k, damn it! If you can give that much to Tim Sylvia, then you can to Rogers!!

I agree that Rogers could get a shot even if he has few fights under his belt. he is defenitely not going to be an easy fight for Fedor...