Affliction Entertainment officially released a statement today confirming the cancellation of the Affliction: Trilogy event on August 1st. Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio began making calls Friday morning to inform fighters on the card about the news, which was first reported earlier today by SI.com.

The cancellation comes only days after it was revealed that Josh Barnett had tested positive for anabolic steroids in a pre-fight drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission on June 25.

The CSAC denied Barnett a license to compete, which caused him to be removed from his main event match against Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy.

Several fighters volunteered to step in as replacement opponents for Emelianenko, including Vitor Belfort, King Mo Lawal, and Jeff Monson. However, no official announcement was made by Affliction in regards to a replacement.

The reason for the cancellation is due to the loss of the highly anticipated main event match.

“Finding an opponent for the No. 1 ranked MMA heavy weight 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,” Tom Atencio said in a statement. “But in the end, we just didn’t have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards.”

Related posts:

1. Josh Barnett Removed From Fight With Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Trilogy
2. Affliction: Trilogy Preview
3. Vitor Belfort vs. Jorge Santiago Officially Added to Affliction: Trilogy Main Card
4. Affliction: Trilogy Video Promo for Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett
5. Affliction: Trilogy Officially Taking Place on August 1st