Isn't it a bit ironic that Affliction, who probably already spent all their marketing and advertising money for this event, is getting a ton of publicity and coverage at the expense of Josh Barnett's failed re-licensing PED test.  The plethora of story lines that this has created have been gold for MMA media outlets and possibly Affliction?  Jake Rossen at Sherdog expresses his take on the latest incidents surrounding the Afflicted Trilogy event.

Thursday, July 23 12:00 am PT: Just a brief passage on the no-explanation-needed Affliction meltdown of the week: With Josh Barnett benched for having some suspect urine and a main event bout with Fedor Emelianenko suddenly vaporware, the promotion is currently earmarked as having some serious trouble. It’s being perceived as a death rattle. 

That would be true -- if Emelianenko were fighting Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture or another UFC-polished athlete. Barnett is a terrific fighter, but his ability to draw in the states has never been explored. Dialed-in fans were excited, but your average "Ultimate Fighter"-chugging casuals know him best as the guy who struggled to put away Gilbert Yvel in January. 

The old "no such thing as bad publicity" coat hanger has never been more warranted. Affliction has stirred up more media attention for their Aug. 1 event than would have otherwise been expected; people indifferent to the show (and possibly Barnett) are now suddenly intrigued by how Emelianenko will handle the challenge of a late replacement. Call it viral marketing at its accidental best. 

SportsCenter commented on the Affliction event last night and pondered who the best MMA HW In the world was going to face for the upcoming Trilogy event.  Not to mention that every single MMA related website is trying to find out who will win the Fighting Fedor sweepstakes.  

Oh yeah, and more story lines are springing up by the minute!

MMA FanHouse says that Dana was very upset at Lesnar after his remarks.

Just to make sure Lesnar got the point, UFC president Dana White walked back into the champion's locker room shortly after his match, pulled him aside into the bathroom and let him know his conduct wasn't acceptable.

Someone from the UG is reporting that his friend overheard what Dana said to Lesnar.

He laid into Brock in front of a handful or people, calling him a "dumb motherfucker," asked him, "do you even know where the fuck you are right now?" Threatened his career and said, "that shit doesn't fly in the UFC, you never disrespect our sponsors. Now you're going to go out and apologize to the fans and to Bud and drink a fucking Bud Lite on camera. And I don't ever want to hear you bring up your skank wife again."

Dana On ESPN Radio.

ESPN: What did Bud Light say to you? Like, did someone call you right away?

Dana: They were like, "What the hell" . . . you wanna hear the CRAZIER part of this whole thing? His people have never talked to or approached Bud Light ever. That’s the crazier part. I could see if Bud Light has disrespected him in some way and he went nuts and flipped out. He just. Blah. I don’t know."

CNBC’s Darren Rovell took note of the fallout coming out of UFC 100.

In terms of official sponsors getting blindsided, this one takes the all time cake. When Anheuser-Busch took the risk of associating with the UFC, who ever thought that risk included having its competitor get the nod after one of the biggest fights in the organization’s history?

The idea of pumping up Coors Light when they presumably didn’t pay him wasn’t a good idea. But the question as to what Lesnar owes UFC’s official sponsors is a good one. Lesnar did what he did because he felt that, as the biggest star in UFC, he deserved his cut of what the UFC was making. This comes at a time when the UFC is now asking those who sponsor fighters to give the organization a cut so it’s harder to ambush official sponsors who don’t chose to sponsor the fighters. From the UFC’s standpoint, the brands that sponsor the fighters are getting a cheap deal aligning with the brand without having to pay up. From the fighter’s standpoint, any cut the UFC gets could take away from their pay and could restrict the amount of companies willing to still pay the fighters.

Lesnar’s move was outrageous, but it wasn’t an “in the heat of the moment” reaction as he might have you believe. There’s a reason he did what he did. And it brings to a head the question of when companies buy rights to be an official sponsor, what do they get? And what do the athletes deserve? No matter what the answer is to that question, I know this. Bud Light didn’t deserve Lesnar’s “Silver Bullet” surprise.

You would think bringing this much publicity to the UFC and to Bud Light was a good thing, but I am not sure what to make of this situation. Anyone have an idea as to what is going on between them?