Sherdog’s Top 10: Canceled Fights

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1. Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko
Affliction “Trilogy” | Aug. 1, 2009

The criteria for this list focused on three things: The compelling nature of the matchup, the sheer weirdness of the reason the fight did not happen and the historical significance. The scheduled bout between Barnett and longtime top heavyweight Emelianenko fulfills all of these requirements, and it does so in spades.

Despite the fact that Emelianenko and Barnett were longtime veterans of Pride, they had not fought inside the venerable Japanese promotion, and a pair of victories for each man under the Affliction banner finally brought them together. The fight was intended to headline the upstart promotion’s third card, “Trilogy,” and Affliction desperately needed it to be a winner after the first two events had reportedly left the company far in the red.

It was a compelling matchup. Barnett is one of the best heavyweight grapplers in the history of MMA, with a unique mixture of folkstyle and catch wrestling blended with Brazilian jiu-jitsu; the contrast with Emelianenko’s judo- and sambo-based games made it an intriguing battle of styles.

Everything was seemingly set for Aug. 1, 2009. Ten days out from the bout, however, the California State Athletic Commission announced that Barnett had tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone. The fight was off, and Affliction was forced to cancel the card. The promotion went under shortly thereafter; Emelianenko signed with Strikeforce; and Barnett wandered in the desert for several years before he, too, ended up under contract to Scott Coker and eventually back in the UFC.

Affliction was the last competitor to mount a real challenge to the UFC’s stranglehold over the pay-per-view market, and its demise marked the beginning of its essentially unchallenged dominance over the market.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Kevin Ferguson vs. Ken Shamrock (EliteXC “Heat), Wanderlei Silva vs. Igor Vovchanchyn (Pride 34), Tito Ortiz vs. Rampage Jackson (Bellator 120)