Affliction Main Event May Pass To Belfort After Barnett's Failed Pre-fight Test

While not officially confirmed by Josh Barnett himself, numerous reports are suggesting that the California State Athletic Commission has suspended Barnett due to a failed pre-fight test.

According to Loretta Hunt:

Multiple sources have told Sherdog.com that the California State Athletic Commission will not license Josh Barnett after a positive test result. Calls to Affliction Entertainment were not immediately returned. The CSAC said a comprehensive statement would be issued Wednesday.

As a result, the main event of the upcoming Affliction: Trilogy fight card between Barnett and Fedor Emelianenko is not going to happen.

Reports are that Affliction has offered the chance to replace Barnett to both Bobby Lashley and Vitor Belfort. According to Hunt, Lashley had not been contacted and didn’t seem to interested in taking the fight on short notice.

Vitor Belfort, on the other hand, is reportedly considering the offer. “The Phenom” is currently scheduled to fight Jorge Santiago at middleweight on the Trilogy fight card, so he presumably is already been training for a match. Fighting the world’s best fighter at heavyweight on a week’s notice is a whole other prospect however.

The California State Athletic Commission said they will release a comprehensive statement about the situation later today, so stay tuned to MMA HQ for further details as they emerge.