Recently in Josh Barnett Category

from sherdog.com:
A week of misfortune turned to disaster for Affliction Entertainment on Friday, as the promotion canceled Affliction "Trilogy," which had been scheduled for Aug. 1 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

"Finding an opponent for the number one-ranked MMA heavyweight champion in such a short period of time was a huge endeavor, and I'm thrilled at the amount of fighters willing to take on this challenge," Affliction Entertainment Vice President Tom Atencio said in a news release. "But in the end, we just didn't have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards."

SI.com reported the news first Friday morning, and Sherdog.com confirmed shortly after. The cancellation -- which could spell the end of Affliction's year-long run as a mixed martial arts promotion -- comes on the heels of heavyweight Josh Barnett's failed drug test, which forced him out of the "Trilogy" main event against Fedor Emelianenko on Wednesday. Barnett, 32, tested positive for a banned anabolic steroid and was denied licensure by the California State Athletic Commission.

Promoters scrambled to find a replacement opponent for Emelianenko and reportedly considered middleweight Vitor Belfort, light heavyweight prospect Muhammed Lawal and heavyweights Brett Rogers, Paul Buentello, Jeff Monson and Bobby Lashley.

Atencio declined to comment further when reached by Sherdog.com.

Ted's Take: So, if this is Affliction's death knell as an MMA promotion, what does it mean for Fedor? Will he finally jump to the UFC? I say no. With Dana White and the Fertitta brothers on one side, and as White has called them, "Those crazy Russians" on the other side, I don't think they'll ever be able to compromise enough to ink a deal. Fedor could fight for Strikeforce, or other M-1 events in Russia, and definitely in Japan, but we'll most likely never see him inside the Octagon.

man, I'm getting' psyched for this one. Here's some ticket info.

And Kimber too, modeling some of Affliction's new threads. Don't forget Affliction Trilogy on Aug. 1.

from M-1global's Web site:
The M-1 film crew was in tow when Fedor Emelianenko made his way to New York for the press conference held earlier this week at the Trump Towers to kick off formal promotion for M-1 and Affliction's "Trilogy" event on Aug. 1 in Anaheim, Calif. at the Honda Center.

Hosted by M-1 Global USA Vice President Jerry Millen, the blog gives fight fans an all-access look at the start of Fedor's press tour. Watch as Fedor's oldest fan makes an encore appearance and shares her thoughts on Fedor's upcoming fight vs. Josh Barnett; Millen interviews Barnett and asks him what it will be like to fight a close friend; Renato Sobral's thoughts on sparring Barnett every day and what his feelings are about fighting M-1 Global fighter Gegard Mousasi at "Trilogy," and more.

from mmajunkie.com
Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) has confirmed what most of already knew: He's agreed to fight former UFC champion Josh Barnett (24-5) at Affliction's upcoming third show.

Affliction hasn't officially announced the fight, though Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio and representatives for Barnett have said agreements are in place.

Affliction III takes place Aug. 1. As Atencio recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio), it's expected to be held at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

The night's main card airs on pay-per-view, and the preliminary card is expected to air on HDNet.

Emelianenko today told M-1Global.com about the fight with Barnett.

"I am always 100 percent involved in the negotiations especially with regards to the Barnett fight," Emelianenko stated. "We discussed this fight with the whole team (trainers, coaches, management), so as a team we agreed to a fight with Barnett."

from M-1 Global:
Rumors have been rampant on the Internet the past 24 hours regarding a potential bout between former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko and former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett having been signed to take place during Affliction and M-1's yet-to-be announced third event.

While the bout has not been finalized, M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelchtein confirmed to M-1Global.com that formal talks are indeed taking place regarding a Fedor vs. Barnett matchup and that bout agreements could be signed within the next ten days, barring any setbacks.

Orlando, Florida -- Following Andrei Arlovski's first round knockout loss against WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko during last month's Affliction and M-1 "Day of Reckoning" event, the pollsters for the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts (WAMMA) have voted on a new number one heavyweight contender in its latest rankings release for the month of February.

The rankings, now available at GoWAMMA.com, feature Affliction-contracted heavyweight Josh Barnett (24-5) as the new top contender to the WAMMA heavyweight crown.

Published reports began to circulate soon after DOR that Affliction promoters were looking to sign a match this summer between Emelianenko and Barnett. A fight between the two has yet to be finalized but Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio stated in a video interview with the web site FiveOuncesOfPain.com that he was "hoping" to be able to make the match happen. If signed, it would go down as the first-ever head-to-head match between the two former PRIDE heavyweight stars.

Ted's Take: For those of you who saw Affliction's Day of Reckoning event, you saw Josh Barnett's utter dominance of Gilbert Yvel. Barnett didn't get a submission on the severely ground-handicapped Yvel, but he pounded the crap out fo him, making Yvel tap out to strikes, which you don't see too often. In MMA, a win is a win.

The thing you have to keep in mind about Josh Barnett is not only is he an MMA fighter, he is a student and fan of professional wrestling, which means he knows how to talk a good game and hype things up. Just by looking at this war of words, I can't tell if he' serious or if he's just taking advantage of a situation to generate heat for himself:

Josh's comments on Tapout radio after Florian's criticism on MMA Live 38:Kenny Florian is a punk-ass bitch. He thinks he can put on a suit, shave his stubble off, and get in front of a camera, and it makes him some sort of expert on MMA. I think it just makes him an expert on taking it up the ass, as far as I can tell...if he thinks his ability on the mat can match his mouth, and if he'd like to show me how to throw an armbar, then be my guest....I can fly out to "sit on a dong," grab him, and see what he's got to say now.

Florian's reponse on the Underground:
Anyone who watches MMA Live on ESPN.com knows that I am fair when talking about UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction etc . . . or any of the fighters. In the most recent episode, I spoke about Joe Lauzon's dominant win over Stephens. Joe has spoken negatively about me in several interviews lately but I call it like I see it. He did well against Stephens and dominated the ground action. I also spoke about Strikeforce being a great thing for mma fighters and fans. Criticizing fighters or even picking winners and losers is always tough but it is my job and what ESPN pays me to do. Most here understand that and many here supporting Barnett most likely never saw the episode.

I expected a dominant finish from Barnett because HE IS a top heavyweight going against a man in Yvel who doesn't have his ground skills. Barnett certainly dominated but for whatever the reason, he struggled to put him away. It was my job to tell people watching the show what I thought about the fight.

I have always had a lot of respect for Josh Barnett as a fighter and he has always came across well in the past. Hearing his comments about me shows that while he is a good fighter, he is like school on Sunday, he has no class. I am not sure if Barnett is overly sensitive, sexually frustrated or believes he had a perfect performance, whatever the case, I think the comments he made shows what kind of a background he comes from. He has made some unusual comments about the UFC and other fighters so I find it odd that he is so sensitive.
As a professional mma fighter myself, I have been subjected to a lot of criticism. I think all of my performances are terrible after a few weeks after my fights. I know I need improvement which is why I train so hard. To resort to insults and name calling because someone thought I should have fought better is immature and pointless. We can always do better. We fight on TV and people will criticize. No mysteries here.

It is fighters like Josh Barnett who help support the perception that MMA fighters are ignorant and low class individuals. This is unfortunate since the MMA world needs guys who act like professional athletes if we want people to take this sport seriously. Barnett isn't a kid anymore and has been around the sport for a long time now, he should act like a pro. If we show a lack of respect, how can we want people to respect us?

Either way, thanks for watching MMA Live on ESPN.com. All of our past episodes are available on the MMA page at ESPN.com.

KF

Josh responds to Kenny's post:

Now that I have your attention Kenny, and the rest of the internet it seems, I'll lay it out for you without the attention grabbing obnoxiousness. I have done media work in MMA for years and know the difference between acting as a professional on camera and taking shots at someone. You obviously do not and did not have respect for me as a fighter when you decided to not simply be critical of my performance but talk of it with derision and disdain. Your clearly condescending attitude is where I took offense and when I have fellow fighters sending me messages saying, "Hey, did you see Kenny Florian talking down about you on ESPN?" it's clear to me you're being disrespectful.

Yeah I know all the crass comments were a bit much and "Sit-on-a-dong" in retrospect was in very poor taste. I regret that one. But for grabbing attention and putting more listeners in front of the PC for Shoman and Co. it did the trick. The offer still stands however if you, K-Flo, think you can teach me a two about throwing an armlock or two. Your attitude suggested you sat on a pretty high perch for someone so much my junior in this sport and you must think yourself a better fighter. I'd simply like to see you stand up for that attitude. I have been submitted plenty of times by Matt Hume who is around your weight and you're a professional athlete so no need for anyone to whine about me picking on you Kenny.

Who are you to speak of class or more importantly my background? The only thing you need to know about my background is that no one ever let me act like an arrogant prick without smacking me one. My teachers are men who put up or shut up and take no shit from anybody. See when I started fighting I didn't have the luxury of gyms everywhere, promotions all over the US, sponsors, or even MMA gear. We fought whoever, whenever pretty much regardless of weights, time limits or rules. What you see on Sherdog isn't the extent of my fighting history. Ever fight bare knuckle, with headbutts or no time limit? No cutting and running in those matches buddy boy. No, I bet you didn't. You got all the benefits of a modern MMA created by people like myself and I can tell you what it really means to suffer for a sport when we didn't make dick. But we fought however we could and for free if we had to, just to fight.

You're a kid in this game. A mewling babe sucking from a teet. You haven't done the things I have or even have as many fights as I have wins. You need to realize that just because you fight in the UFC and are on an ESPN internet show, we are not peers. Not even close. Not as fighters, not in MMA knowledge, not in the business aspects, not in anything.

I must say that as a fighter your improvement has been impressive and I think you have come far from the finals of the first TUF. This however is not just about professionalism but about being a man. If you want to speak with contempt and flout be prepared to have own up to it -even if it means having to get physical. That's the way it is.

Don't talk shit if you don't want shit.
Josh

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
Fedor Emelianenko Successful During First-Ever Defense of the WAMMA Heavyweight Title

Defending the World Alliance Mixed Martial Arts' Undisputed World Heavyweight Title for the first-time ever, Fedor Emelianenko was successful in retaining his belt after knocking out former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski at 3:14 of round 1.

WAMMA would like to take this opportunity to publicly congratulate Fedor on his stunning victory, which took place in front of a packed house at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

"In what has grown to become tradition for Fedor fights, he maintained his composure throughout the bout and when he saw an opening to finish the fight, he capitalized," said WAMMA Chief Operating Officer Mike Lynch. "WAMMA could not ask for a more humble and gracious athlete to represent our association as a heavyweight champion."

Fedor vs. Arlovski was just one of 11 total bouts presented by Affliction and M-1 Global during their second-ever pay-per-view event. The crowd that was in attendance was treated to a night of great action and stunning finishes.

"As far as events go, I don't think 'Day of Reckoning' could have gone smoother," said Lynch. "Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio, M-1 owners Sergey Matvienko and Vadim Finkelchtein, Trump Organization COO Michael Cohen, and Golden Boy and their respective staffs were tremendous and we couldn't be more proud of how our partners performed tonight."

In addition to Fedor's victory, Josh Barnett, the number three ranked WAMMA heavyweight in the world, was victorious following a third round submission over former PRIDE star Gilbert Yvel. In the weeks leading up to the bout, Affliction officials had stated that the Barnett vs. Yvel winner would be matched up with the Fedor vs. Arlovski winner.
Barnett's victory sets the stage for a potential showdown against his friend and according to Lynch, it's a fight that WAMMA would have no reservation about sanctioning as a heavyweight title fight.

"As the promoters, Affliction and M-1 are in charge of deciding who will fight Fedor next," Lynch began. "However, if Fedor vs. Barnett is the matchup that ends up being made, I can say with all certainty that as the third ranked heavyweight in our rankings poll, WAMMA will have no reservations about sanctioning Barnett against Fedor as a five-round WAMMA heavyweight title fight."

Josh Barnett, Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski and Gilbert Yvel at Wednesday's Affliction - Day of Reckoning press conference. For the full fight card for Saturday's event, click here.

Josh Barnett

Former UFC heavyweight champion (and still current Pancrase champ, I think) Josh "The Baby-Faced Assassin" takes on Dutch fighter Gilbert Yvel at Affliction's Day of Reckoning on Jan. 24. Here's what Josh had to say about Yvel's reputation as a dirty fighter, especially the time when Yvel knocked out a referee:

"I'd like to hear his side of the story on that one," Barnett said on M-1 Global's Web site. "Because sometimes, there have been a few referees I could have knocked out, although it's not anything I'm ever going to do. We're human beings."

But when it comes to fighting dirty, if Yvel tries anything, Barnett won't tolerate it.

"When it comes to going crazy, like fouls or infractions or anything like that, I don't worry about that, because nobody will take it as far as I will...that much I know," he said. "If somebody wants to poke my eyes or bite me, that's my career, and if it's not an eye for an eye, it will be an eye for both your eyes, some of your teeth, your limbs, whatever I can get before somebody pulls me off of you."

source: mmaweekly.com

Yvel training and talking about his upcoming bout with Barnett.

Featuring Tito Ortiz - who has been hired as a color commentator - with Sisqo-like hair and a lavender suit.

Here's the line-up and photos, thanks to sherdog.com:

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski
Josh Barnett vs. Gilbert Yvel
Vitor Belfort vs. Matt Lindland
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou
Chris Horodecki vs. Dan Lauzon
Paul Buentello vs. Kirill Sidelnikov

HDNet Fights lineup:

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Vladimir Matyushenko
Jay Hieron vs. Jason High
Mark Hominick vs. L.C. Davis
Albert Rios vs. Antonio Duarte
Brett Cooper vs. Patrick Speight

Andrei Arlovski

I knew Chris Horodecki looked young, but man, he's the real baby-faced assassin.

Josh-u Barnett-o (that's how they say it over in Japan).

Vitor Belfort and Matt Lindland square off.

Skoudjou vs. Babalu

Vladimir "The Janitor" Matyushenko

Gilbert "Hurricane" Yvel

Josh "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Barnett

just got this from M-1 Global:
M-1 Global is pleased to announce that Gilbert Yvel, one of its top heavyweight competitors, has agreed to terms on a three-fight contract with Affliction Entertainment.

Yvel will make his Affliction debut against former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett on January 24 in Anaheim, California at the Honda Center during "Day of Reckoning," to be presented by Affliction, M-1 Global, and Golden Boy Promotions.

Despite being veterans of the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan, Yvel and Barnett have never fought before with "Day of Reckoning" serving as the first-ever meeting between the two.

Yvel, 33-12-1, who is known for the strong Muay Thai skills he developed while training in his home country of Holland, has been competing in mixed martial arts since 1997. Over the years, the veteran fighter has recorded notable victories over K-1 standout Semmy Schilt, current UFC heavyweight Cheick Kongo, and former PRIDE and UFC veteran Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.

Yvel's involvement serves to increase M-1's contributions to the event, as M-1 contracted fighters Fedor Emelianenko and Kirill Sidelnikov are already scheduled to compete.

Fedor will be featured during the show's main event when he defends his WAMMA heavyweight title against former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski.

Meanwhile, the 19-year old fighting prodigy Sidelnikov, nicknamed "Baby Fedor," will be making his United States debut against former UFC heavyweight title challenger Paul Buentello in an undercard bout to be televised on HDNet.

Additionally, the M-1 Challenge broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Sean Wheelock and color commentator Jimmy Smith will be calling the action during Affliction's pay-per-view telecast. Wheelock and Smith can be seen and heard in the U.S. every Friday at 8 p.m. ET during airings of the M-1 Challenge on HDNet.

Ted's Take: Although Barnett has honed his striking skills, with Yvel's kickboxing pedigree, I think this will turn into your classic striker vs. grappler. Yvel is not known for his ground game, but Barnett is a top-notch practitioner of catch wrestling (think freestyle wrestling and add submissions).

Barnett wins by submission, maybe a key lock or heel hook.

Gegard Mousasi with his new DREAM gold and silver

by John Joe O'Regan, Fighters Only:
DREAM middleweight champion Gegard Mousasi expects to face Vitor Belfort on Affliction's next MMA show in January.

Speaking to Fighters Only this week, he revealed that the US organisation wants him to fight the Brazilian, while Red Devil team mate Fedor Emelianenko may face Josh Barnett.

"I'm going to train with Fedor in preparation for Affliction in January," he said. "I think it is Fedor against Josh Barnett and they want me to fight Vitor Belfort."

Mousasi is part of the Red Devil International team and he shares a manager with Fedor in the shape of Vadim Finkelstein.

As well as training with Fedor, he will continue to train in his own gym in the Netherlands.

"[I have] some very good friends who each has a specialty - wrestling, judo, jiu jitsu and so on," he explains. "If I need extra training I sometimes to go to other gyms in Holland."

Josh Barnett seems to be a popular name in the Emelianenko household - earlier this week, Aleksander told Fighters Only that he wanted a rematch with the American catch wrestler.

Affliction has yet to reveal a line-up for its January event but Vitor Belfort has told Brazil's Tatame magazine that he has been contacted and offered a fight.

Jerod Phillips, owner of Tap or Sleep fightwear, has his third ad in the upcoming issue of FIGHT! magazine, featuring Tap or Sleep-sponsored fighters Binky Jones and Chris Liguori. Check it out:

Here's the cover, featuring Josh Barnett, who has a fight against Andrei Arlovski on the next Afflcition event. let's hope Barnett breaks what is being called the FIGHT! curse: just about everybody they've featured on their front cover has then lost the next fight they've been in - Roger Huerta, Chuck Liddell, Brock Lesnar, Dan Henderson and Quinton Jackson. Man, that's weird!

By Chris Howie, mmanews.com

Forced out of a WAMMA Heavyweight title fight with Andrei Arlovski that was set for Affliction: Day Of Reckoning on Octocter 11th due to a hand injury, Champion Fedor Emelianenko has had his sights set on a New Year's Eve fight in Japan against an unnamed opponent followed up by a date with the winner of the WAMMA heavyweight elimination bout on the October 11th card between Arlovski and Josh Barnett.

Tom Atencio, Vice President of Affliction, told MMANews.com this week that the company has just extended their current contract with Fedor and will look to have the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship fight in January or February when they intend on holding their 3rd show.

"We've just extended our deal with Fedor and we are very happy about that. We absolutely want to put that fight on our third show." Atencio stated of the title fight "We are looking at the Arlovski/Barnett elimination fight right now with the winner fighting Fedor for sure in January or February."

Affliction Entertainment and Michael Waltrip Racing on Friday unveiled Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" #00 Toyota. The race car will be operated by veteran driver Mike Skinner, as he competes in this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway.

Affliction Entertainment is the first mixed martial arts organization to sponsor a car in NASCAR. Fully wrapped in Affliction Entertainment's "Day of Reckoning" graphics promoting the upcoming Oct. 11 MMA Pay-Per-View event from Las Vegas, the car driven by Skinner will compete in Sunday's 250-lap event set to start at 5 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, Aug. 31 from Auto Club Speedway in San Bernardino County, Calif. and will be shown on ABC TV via ESPN-ABC Sports.

That is an absolute SICK flying knee Arvolski dealt Rothwell, and then the finishing combo was amazing too. I know I picked Barnett a while back, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts. It could be anyone's game, depending where it ends up: Standing up is Arlovski, the ground is Barnett's territory.