Affliction Clowns

“I was disappointed, yes,” he told MMAWeekly.com. “That was supposed to be my fight. We talked about it at some point prior to going to Japan, and I found out that I didn’t get the fight while in Japan. I continued to work on some business there, especially after I found out I wasn’t getting the fight.”

- Josh Barnett on losing the Arlovski fight to a fat guy, article here

It is good for Affliction that they partnered with Golden Boy/Trump from a financial perspective, but as far as the ultimate product for fans, I am not convinced it will be the best outcome. Basically the t-shirt salesman used the excuse of Barnett being out of the country to explain his absence from the show this Saturday. Truth of the matter is communication around the world is seamless at this point, in fact, I Blackberry message with people in other countries on a daily basis so to say they couldn't get in touch is ludicrous. Secondly, I agree with Barnett not taking the Fedor fight in January, because you need a set fight camp and training regime for that fight. Everything for Affliction is so last minute and unorganized right now that you can't just say "Be ready to fight in January.......maybe" to a fighter of Barnett's caliber. So it will probably be Arlovski/Fedor in January, which is not a bad match up, but it is far from the fight the masses are demanding. Remember how well Fedor did against Tim Sylvia, another fighter dropped by the UFC.