The Weekly Wrap: May 2 – May 8

Fedor-Barnett Possible for August

The M-1 Global promotion, headed by the Russian team that manages Fedor Emelianenko, announced on its Web site that the heavyweight king will face Josh Barnett at a show in early August. It’s thought this will be the third -- and possibly final -- show promoted by Affliction. The fight was not finalized by week’s end, according to several reports.

The Wrestling Observer reported that there’s a growing belief among managers that Affliction has one show left. The apparel company signed most of its roster to three-fight deals and is said to be looking at a final show to satisfy existing contracts, the Observer reported. However, Affliction fighter Antonio Rogerio Nogueira told Fighters Only that Affliction was far from dying and may be on the verge of leveraging its relationship with Golden Boy Promotions to land on HBO. Affliction front man Tom Atencio said in an interview with ThatChannel.com’s “No Sh-- MMA” show that he’s going to announce something this year that will “solidify” the organization’s place in the industry.

Affliction has loaned out several of its fighters for a pay-per-view event called “Ultimate Chaos” being put together by Prize Fight MMA and Fight Force International on June 27 in Biloxi, Miss. The show will be headlined by Bob Sapp vs. Bobby Lashley but will also feature Din Thomas vs. Javier Vasquez and Gilbert Yvel vs. Pedro Rizzo. Atencio himself will face Colby McMahan in his second professional fight. Atencio grabbed some headlines, too, framing himself as more authentic than UFC President Dana White because he actually competes; Atencio told “No Sh-- MMA” he would fight White “in a heartbeat.”