It has been one crazy week in the world of MMA..

In a matter of days, Affliction’s MMA promotion folded, the company somehow patched up a very public feud with the UFC to, once again, become a clothing sponsor for the world’s elite MMA organization and the Fedor Emelianenko to the UFC rumors are rampant.

It all began with a fatal business mistake made by Affliction Vice President Tom Atenico. When I spoke to Atencio back in May he seemed like a genuine guy.

He seemed honestly concerned about fighters, promoting MMA and providing a quality company that could rival the UFC. Atencio admitted he made mistakes in the company’s first two MMA shows, and was committed to not repeating his errors. Atencio said that contrary to reports, Affliction’s fight brand was not in trouble.

At the time of our conversation, Atencio was in his office, following a training session for a fight against Randy Hedderick that he would eventually win, tying up loose ends and finalizing the Affliction Trilogy card. He was also publicly challenging UFC President Dana White to a fight, and White was insisting that Atencio might want to focus more on his company than any fight.

That very day, Atencio had all but finalized the main event for the show, top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) versus former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett (24-5).

“It just makes sense,” Atencio said. “Barnett is the next in line. They are considered number one and number two heavyweights. So, I think Barnett is the one guy that is going to give Fedor a run for his money. I think that anybody that watched the (Andrei) Arlovski fight. Arlovski was doing a good job. Whether you want to say he made a mistake or Fedor got lucky or whatever it is, Fedor beat him in Fedor fashion. It was a great fight, and I think this is the next one that is going to be a huge fight.”

Atencio was correct. Barnett-Emelianenko would have been a huge fight, but Barnett was working toward letting the company down and Atencio was not working on a backup plan for such a happening. Officially, Barnett was removed from the Aug. 1 Affliction Trilogy lineup Wednesday after testing positive for a metabolite of the anabolic steroid Drostanolone, the second time he has tested positive for steroids in his career. Barnett claims he is innocent and is seeking to clear his name.

That likely won’t happen, and it seems fairly clear that Barnett’s days as a fighter on American soil may very likely be through. It was obvious that so much was on the line for Affliction heading into the Trilogy show, and Barnett was not disciplined enough to make sure what he was putting in his body would not prevent the event from taking place. By Friday, Affliction had folded its promotion altogether and agreed to sponsor the UFC.

It is a loss for MMA fans. Affliction put on good shows. Atencio seems to have a great love for the sport, and this was one tough final lesson as a promoter for him. If there is a bright spot for MMA fans, it is that it may hasten the arrival of Emelianenko into the UFC. Reportedly, Emelianenko and his reps at M-1 Global are ready to negotiate with the UFC and Dana White discussed his desire to have the Russian fight in his organization when he appeared on ESPN Radio 1100 Friday.

“My job is to put on the best fighters and to give you, the fans, the fights you want to see,” White said. “I’ve been trying to get Fedor in the UFC. I want it because you want it. Believe me, I’m trying to make it happen. He’ll fight for the title first. What does he need, a tune-up fight or something?”

The UFC is now reportedly planning a July 31 press conference which White said would include several major announcements. Reports are White could shed light on the company’s collaboration with Affliction and that there is a possibility that the UFC would absorb all the contracts of Affliction fighters except Emelianenko. It’s also believed that the UFC will be working to reach a deal with Emelianenko prior to the press conference. Also, it is rumored that a deal to air UFC events on ABC or ESPN could be announced at the press conference .

n Injuries deal blow to strong Strikeforce card

Strikeforce’s Aug. 15 card still figures to be an interesting one with Gina Carano and Cris “Cyborg” Santos fighting in the most anticipated women’s bout ever, but the card has lost two of its top fights in the past week.

Allistair Overeem will not defend his heavyweight title at Strikeforce’s card on Showtime; bringing about the question, just when will Overeem defend his title?

Overeem won the belt with a Nov. 2007 win over Paul Buentello, but has yet to defend it. He was scheduled to face Fabricio Werdum on the card, but pulled out after, reportedly, re-injuring his right hand. Overeem injured the hand in a May nightclub scuffle in Amsterdam. Werdum is still scheduled to fight on the card. It now seems the logical thing to do would be to have Werdum take on Brett Rogers, fresh off a stunning knockout of Andrei Arlovski, for the interim heavyweight title. Of course, that’s provided Rogers is prepared to take the fight on short notice.

Also, GracieMag.com reported this week that Joe Riggs has withdrawn from his fight with Nick Diaz after suffering a “bad reaction to an as of yet undisclosed drug.” The fight between Diaz and Riggs was scheduled to be for the company’s new 170-pound title. Diaz reportedly remains on the card to face an unnamed opponent as of press time.

n Franklin signs six-fight deal with UFC

Rich Franklin was in Las Vegas this week to negotiate a new contract with the UFC and reports are that Franklin has inked a new six-fight contract with the company. Franklin will main event UFC 103 against Dan Henderson. Henderson won a unanimous decision over Franklin at UFC 93.

n T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553. His column, MMA Monday, appears in the Monday print edition of The Times and Democrat and can be viewed online along with his column, MMA Takedown, at www.thetandd.com.

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