You say in your article that M-1 Global is the only one in the UFC's way. I think you're forgetting about a little orginaization called Strikeforce. I think they are more of a threat than M-1 Global. When's the last time you saw an M-1 Global show? Oh ya, never, cause they've never had one. They co-promoted the Affliction shows, and had some cheese country vs. country garbage that I can't bare to watch, but Strikeforce is a legitimate company with a good roster, and well put together shows. Strikeforce is the only contender for UFC IMO. And personally, I can't wait till August 15th for the Gina/Cyborg fight.

I love StrikeForce, but they are not a threat; the only thing they offer that the UFC doesn't is a Women's division. Otherwise, most of their roster consists of guys who used to fight in the UFC and guys (when we watch them) we all think "man, I hope they go to the UFC someday."

They put on very solid shows. In fact, the August show is the only event this year I've anticipated as much as I have UFC 100. But, StrikeForce is not a threat, and they'll never be a competitor. I don't think the owner even intends to compete, and there is no need to. StrikeForce runs a great operation, and are stable. Perhaps if EliteXC and Affliction modeled their business operations after StrikeForce, they'd both still be in business.

You're right. They are not a "threat". What I actually meant by threat, is that they are the only other "viable" company. Especially considering all the flops in the past recent year or two, Strikeforce is a great promotion and has been holding some exciting cards recently. I also forgot to mention Dream and Sengoku for that matter. I prefer Dream over Sengoku but I enjoy both of them. It's just nice to see something other than UFC once in a while, even though they definitely are the big dogs.

If Dana paid anyone, he would have paid CSAC to sit on the test results for THREE WEEKS and reveal them right before the event when it was almost too late to do anything about it.

I've read a lot of news about this, yet nobody seems to mention CSAC's role in all of this.

Someone please summons the FAIL WHALE.

PS -
Affliction didn't need Dana's help tanking. It was going to be their last event, regardless. Why pay when the result is the same whether you fork over the cash or not?

It's not the CSAC's fault that Barnett likes his steroids. He has failed a piss test 4 times.

While we're making stuff up, why not just say he failed 1000 times? I swear the number gets bigger every time it comes up. Facts, people!

Yeah, Barnett screwed up (again), but placing the blame solely on him for Afflictions failure is just...moronic.

a.) You're 100% right. It is not totally his fault. But he shares a disproportionately large percentage of the blame.

b.) Relax fellas. Some of you are taking my post a little personally. Its just a theory, and frankly not a very likely one. Unfortunately Barnett probably is really that boneheaded, and simply popped because he was, in fact, careless and not very bright. As you have pointed out, it is not his first time doing so.

c.) Is there anyone here who thinks that my "theory" is impossible? If so, then why? Do you think Dana is too straight-laced to do something like this? Personally, I doubt it. But, then again, just like the opening post, it is just my opinion.

d.) There's any number of possibilities, so if you don't agree with mine, let me hear yours.

He failed both times for this fiasco, failed after the Couture fight and apparently failed before the Couture fight.

I just don't see why Dana would pay for something that was already going to happen. That's the part I don't get. Affliction had no illusions of putting on a fourth show. It would be physically impossible with their outrageous burn rate. Then again, I've never claimed to understand the nuances of the one known as BLAF. Anything is possible (except Fedor)...

I hope time will tell what really happened...