FanHouse Josh Barnett

Josh Barnett is scheduled to present his appeal in front of the California state athletic commission on Dec. 8 to clear his name from a positive drug test earlier this summer.

Barnett, who was the first fighter subjected to a random testing in California, was scheduled to meet with the commission Monday, but the former UFC champ's attorney requested that his hearing be postponed to allow additional time for Barnett to receive unspecified documents related to his results from the World Anti-doping Agency test facility at UCLA in Los Angeles.

Strikeforce heavyweight and international MMA star Fedor Emelianenko is scheduled to fight Brett Rogers on Nov. 7, but during the midst of training, Emelianenko found the time to marry his longtime girlfriend Marina.

The traditional Russian Orthodox wedding took place this weekend in his hometown of Stary Oskol, according to Emelianenko's official Web site.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture are both old and past their primes. But even old and past their primes, Nogueira and Couture are plenty good.

After their epic battle on Saturday night, which Nogueira won by unanimous decision, I consider both Couture and Nogueira to be among the Top 5 heavyweights in mixed martial arts. But at the same time, I think there's a pretty big gap between the Top 2 heavyweights in MMA -- Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko -- and everyone else.

So as I go through my new list of the Top 10 heavyweights in MMA, I mean no disrespect to Couture and Nogueira even as I say they're not close to the best.

Fedor Emelianenko has an opponent in place for his next bout, and it's unbeaten Brett Rogers.

"The Grim" has been tapped to take on the man that most consider to be the best heavyweight in the world, it was announced during Emelianenko's Wednesday workout at New York City's Fighthouse gym.

No date or venue has yet to be decided for the matchup, but it is unlikely to be on the possible Oct. 10 card.

Josh Barnett was supposed to have the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career this weekend, a bout with Fedor Emelianenko that, had he won, would have made him the heavyweight champion of MMA. But Barnett isn't fighting this weekend, and in a brief phone interview with FanHouse Friday night, Barnett sounded upset and dejected while vowing to keep fighting the failed steroid test that led to his fight being called off.

Fedor Emelianenko said on Wednesday that he does not intend to sign a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship unless the UFC agrees to promote fights jointly with Emelianenko's promoter, M-1 Global. Since then, several Web sites have reported that Emelianenko had turned down a six-fight contract with the UFC worth $30 million.

FanHouse has learned from a source close to the negotiations, who wished to remain anonymous, that the UFC offered Emelianenko a three-fight contract with a guarantee of less than $2 million per fight.

Through his manager, Shannon Hooper, Josh Barnett released a statement late Wednesday night about his recent failed drug test, which led to the California State Athletic Commission denying him a license to fight Fedor Emelianenko at the now-canceled "Affliction: Trilogy" event. Barnett was never directly quoted in the release.

On behalf of Josh Barnett and in conjunction with all of his representatives, the following is an official statement regarding the allegations made by the CSAC:

The media has reported that Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett would not be eligible to fight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Trilogy as he was denied his California license due to an alleged positive test for 2α-methyl-5α-androstan-3α-ol-17-one, which is purportedly a metabolite of a banned substance. Mr. Barnett was shocked at these allegations and was extremely disappointed to learn that Affliction had made the hasty decision to cancel the August 1st event in its entirety. Mr. Barnett vehemently denies intentionally ingesting any banned substances in preparation for the August 1st fight and he is looking forward to presenting his case to the California State Athletic Commission.

In the meantime, Mr. Barnett has yet to learn of the results of the B sample testing and he has not received any of the documentation that provides further details of the alleged positive sample despite numerous requests. In fact, the documentation that Mr. Barnett has received raises serious questions about the integrity of the sample and the validity of the results themselves.

At this time Mr. Barnett would like to thank his fans and colleagues for their ongoing support and faith in him. He intends to vigorously defend himself against these allegations and hopes for a swift resolution to this matter so he can get back to what he does best -- fighting!

I would like to further add that Josh is as disappointed as all of his fans and supporters that he will not be fighting on August 1st. He also empathizes with all of the other fighters that were scheduled to appear on the card and shares their frustration and shock at the cancellation of the entire event.

There are still plenty of questions surrounding the demise of Affliction Entertainment and their sudden reconciliation with the UFC. One man who can answer most of them is Tom Atencio. The vice president of Affliction Entertainment was the face of the organization during its short existence.

FanHouse spoke to Atencio via e-mail Tuesday evening and asked as much as we could given the constraints of interviewing someone over the Internet. Atencio requested the interview be conducted in this fashion. This is the first time he has publicly discussed the events that transpired last Friday. The full interview is below.

Josh Barnett's MMA career may be on brief hold, but his pro wrestling one isn't. "The Baby-Faced Assassin," very much in the news these days after it was announced last week that he tested positive for an anabolic steroid, which led to Affliction Entertainment canceling its upcoming event, will wrestle on Aug. 9 for Inoki Genome Federation in Japan. Barnett's manager, Shannon Hooper, confirmed the news with FanHouse on Tuesday.

Barnett is one of the few athletes who has been able to enjoy success in MMA and pro wrestling.