Just a few hours after news broke of the event's cancellation, Affliction Entertainment executives have officially confirmed Affliction: Trilogy has been scrapped.

According to Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio, the show was scrapped because of the loss of headliner Josh Barnett, who failed a drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission and was denied a license to fight Fedor Emelianenko on Aug. 1.

Atencio said that, despite the number of fighters willing to fill in for Barnett, the one-year-old promotion couldn't promote a main event "to our standards," but the company is committed to promoting future shows.

"Finding an opponent for the No. 1 ranked MMA heavyweight 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," Atencio stated. "But in the end, we just didn't have enough time to promote a new fight to our standards."

Brett Rogers, Jeff Monson, Vitor Belfort, Don Frye, "King Mo" Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Paul Buentello were among the fighters who openly campaigned for the slot on the pay-per-view card. However, none would have the drawing power of Barnett, and a source close to Showtime PPV, which is Affliction's pay-per-view partner, told MMA Junkie it's a major reason the show was canceled.

Executives from the show's co-promoter, M-1 Global, are flying into Anaheim, Calif., today. An additional announcement from the Russian-based promotion could be made later today that could give information about Emelianenko's next fight. It's possible, of course, some of the Affliction: Trilogy fighters could be shifted to M-1's Aug. 28 card, which takes place in Los Angeles as the first event of the company's newly launched "premium fight series."

Meanwhile, fans who purchased tickets for Affliction: Trilogy, which was set to take place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, are told to contact Ticketmaster for refunds.

For those thinking (and even hoping) that the cancellation would signal the demise of Affliction, today's announcement seems to hint otherwise.

"Affliction is deeply disappointed that the undercard is also canceled through no fault of its own," the release stated. "Affliction stands behind the company's brands and delivers premium products to the most passionate and loyal customers. Affliction's first priority is to ensure that all future events live up to the company's high standards."

Source: mmajunkie.com