Saturday MMA Review: 8/1

Here’s a weekly rundown of MMA content from Ben Goldstein of CagePotato.com:

– In a press conference held Friday, UFC boss Dana White announced the returns of Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort, and promised to be close on another deal that will “change the UFC forever.”

– Unfortunately, getting Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko into the UFC remains a pipe-dream — and it will remain that way as long as Fedor has morons like Jerry Millen in his camp.

– Josh Barnett insists that he’s innocent of his latest steroid charge. His urine, however, is telling a different story.

– Speaking of ‘roids, we ran down every single steroid bust in MMA history, from Tim Sylvia’s ill-fated attempt to lose his gut to Kevin Randleman’s infamous “dead human or live animal” incident.

– Strikeforce’s August 15th show continues to undergo major changes, with Renato Sobral vs. Gegard Mousasi brought over from Affliction’s canceled “Trilogy” card, Jay Hieron coming in to replace Joe Riggs, and Mitsuhiro Ishida replacing injured lightweight champ Josh Thomson. Luckily, Gina Carano is still looking quite healthy.

– Also in the wake of Affliction’s collapse, the UFC swooped in to rescue Ben Rothwell, Paul Daley, and Joe Lauzon’s little brother.

– Kenny Florian talked to us about his gameplan for BJ Penn, and set the record straight on that text message he may or may not have sent Penn that may or may not have accused Georges St. Pierre of greasing.

Follow the Scores Report editors on Twitter @clevelandteams and @bullzeyedotcom.

Affliction: Trilogy? Try Affliction: Out-of-Business

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:

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