Rumours and speculation

Things are still up in the air over at Affliction. Vitor Belfort has agreed in principle to step up to fight Fedor Emelianenko at the August 1 Affliction: Trilogy event following heavyweight Josh Barnett’s positive test for steroids. But nothing’s been signed, and there’s still a very remote possibility that Brett Rogers could step in if Strikeforce gives him the okay (and if he actually wants to take on Fedor). Those are two very big ifs as it doesn’t do Strikeforce any favours to loan out one of its top heavyweights for a Russian smackdown and I can’t imagine Rogers could be ready in time to make the bout anything more than a smackdown.

Meanwhile, it looks like Michael Bisping may have his next opponent: Wanderlei Silva. The two are tentatively scheduled to square off at UFC 105 in Manchester, England, on November 14. Again, no deal has been signed, but the time is right. Bisping will be back up to speed following his brutal KO at the hands of Dan Henderson at UFC 100 while Silva’s last fight was a controversial decision loss to Rich “Ace” Franklin at UFC 99. I’m sure both fighters would love to end 2009 on a high note.

Ditto Bisping’s Wolfslair teammate Cheick Kongo, who could face Frank Mir at UFC 107 in Memphis, TN. The French striker is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 99 while Mir lost to Brock Lesnar at UFC 100. Already headlining the UFC 107 card is Kongo’s other Wolflair pal Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and his fellow Ultimate Fighter coach Rashad Evans.

Again, until it’s all in ink and nobody fails a drug test, nothing is definite.