Pay-Per View events for Mixed-Martial Arts have always tried to have catchy names, including Affliction: Trilogy, which was set to take place on Aug. 1. Well, after a whirlwind 48 hours, here is a better name for the promotion: Affliction: Out-of-Business.

Yahoo! Sports MMA writer Kevin Iole, who has been covering MMA for years, first reported that Affliction main-event fighter Josh Barnett tested positive for steroids just days ago. Then today, he reported that not only would the fight promotion cancel its third MMA event, but also that it will now cease to exist as a fight promotion.

That is quite a drastic turnaround in less than a week.

Just last weekend fans were clamoring for the main-event of Affliction, which was schedule to be Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is considered one of the best fighters in the world, and was really all Affliction had going for it in promoting Pay-Per View events.

Before discussing the importance of this closing and the impact it could have on MMA and mostly, the UFC, here is a quick timeline of Affliction’s demise:

– On Wednesday, the California State Athletic Commission announced that Barnett failed a pre-fight drug test and denied his application to fight Fedor on Aug. 1 for the Affliction: Trilogy event. Barnett tested positive for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, which is an anabolic steroid.

– Affliction Vice President Tom Attencio confirmed Barnett’s failed drug test and began scrambling to find a replacement for his main event. The fighters rumored to take Barrett’s place included Tito Ortiz, Brett Rogers, Vitor Belfort, and Bobby Lashley

– On Thursday, Fedor addressed his frustrations with Barnett’s failed drug test and pushes for a fight with Rogers.

– Barnett then speaks publicly and denies the failed drug test. CSAC issues full support of its findings and states that each test was done randomly and they didn’t know it was Barnett that failed until the results were discovered

– Attencio continued to say that Affliction was looking for a replacement, believed to be Belfort, who was originally scheduled to fight at 185-pounds on the card, but would then fight at Heavyweight against Fedor (a considerably larger opponent). The hold up on an official decision appeared to be money, as Belfort was requesting a sizeable pay increase, equal to that of other fighters that have taken on Fedor (upwards of $800,000).

– On Friday, Attencio announced that Affliction: Trilogy would not take place, but hints that the promotion will continue to put on future shows.

– Hours later, Affliction decides to quit the fight game entirely.
– Dana White let it slip that shortly after UFC 100, he was approached by an Affliction representative that offered him their fighter contracts and told him that the promotion would cease operation if Affliction could once again sponsor UFC fighters. White denied the request.

While White denied the first offer, it appears now that the UFC will again allow Affliction to sponsor UFC fighters and that the fighters would wear Affliction clothing once again. At this time, it is unknown how the fighter contracts will be handled.

No matter what, this is a big day for the UFC. It once again proved its supremacy in terms of having the top promotion in MMA, and now has a chance to sign Affliction’s top fighters to UFC deals, mainly Fedor, which could set up mega-fights in the future for big PPV numbers.

Fedor has eluded the UFC for years, and the big hold up in contract talks has been his desire to have a non-exclusive contract, which would allow him to take part in other fight events, including those that happen in Russia. The UFC is completely against that approach, but we’ll see if both sides feel an urgency to get a deal done since Fedor’s career is closer to being over with than it is to starting.

Another top fighter the UFC would likely look at is Vitor Belfort, whom White already envisions fighting Anderson Silva in the future. Belfort was a UFC mainstay years ago, and has really come on in the last year, giving White a reason to bring him into the UFC.

The only other question in this deal is what would the Japan-based organization DREAM have to say about all this. While Pride was big years ago in Japan, the UFC took most of its talent and the promotion went out of business. Does DREAM have the money to compete with the UFC and sign this talent? STRIKEFORCE may also play a part, but I don’t believe that it has the money to try and sign these high-priced fighters.