ELITEXC'S SILVA, AFFLICTION'S DEWEES FAIL DRUG TESTS

California State Athletic Commission Assistant Executive Director Bill Douglas has confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Affliction fighter Edwin Dewees and EliteXC fighter Antonio Silva have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. On Aug. 1, Douglas said that both cards were “not out of the woods” and positive tests were likely on both cards.

Dewees, 26, tested positive for Nandrolone, a common illegal steroid, following his losing effort against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Affliction “Banned” on July 19. The level of drug in Dewees’ system, 499ng/mL, far outstrips other high profile fighters who have been ensnared by the CSAC since it began drug testing in March of 2006.

“The level of drug in his system makes it very hard to explain,” Douglas said.

Also hard to explain is Silva’s positive test, which showed the presence of Boldenone, an anabolic steroid mainly veterinarian in nature. According to Douglas, the CSAC does not record the level of Boldenone in a fighter’s system, as the drug’s long half-life in the body make false positives extremely unlikely.

Both men have been suspended one year from the end of their respective bouts, and have been fined $2,500.

Dewees declined comment saying he needed to check with his lawyer before making any statements.

Silva and his representatives were unavailable for comment.

Aside from Justin Levens, who has already been reported as testing positive for pain killers, all other EliteXC and Affliction fighters from the noted July events tested negative for any banned substances, whether recreational or performance enhancing.

Man is Dana White licking his chops at this. It's not good news when two upstart organizations who were supposed to threaten the reign of the UFC have blemishes on their record so soon in their promotion. It's not uncommon for it to happen, especially in the UFC, but with a roster of only a handful of fighters, it's a black eye. The UFC has over 200 fighters on their roster. If two of their fighers test positive, it's 1%. If Affliction only has 30 fighters on their roster and one of them tests positive, you're already at 3%.

It's not too much of a situation as it's gonna happen a lot over the next few years, in all organizations. But it doesn't look good when the upstarts are already headlining in a poor manner.

Tyson Griffin vs Sean Sherk Official for UFC 90 in Chicago

Rising 155-pound star Tyson Griffin will put his four fight winning streak on the line at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois on October 25th when he squares off against his most accomplished foe to date, former UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk, in a key matchup on the UFC 90 main card.

Las Vegas’ Griffin has been nearly perfect in his UFC stint, going 5-1 since making his Octagon debut in 2006. Among his victims are Clay Guida, Thiago Tavares, Gleison Tibau, and most recently, Marcus Aurelio. In Sherk, Griffin will be taking on a nine year veteran of the sport who is looking to get back in the win column after a loss to BJ Penn in their UFC 84 title fight in May.

Also added to the UFC 90 card is a battle for Brazilian bragging rights when Fortaleza’s Hermes Franca takes on Rio Grande Norte’s Gleison Tibau in a lightweight bout, and a clash of former Ultimate Fighter alumni between season two’s Josh Burkman and season four’s Pete Sell, who will be making his welterweight debut in the UFC’s initial foray into the Windy City.

Full cast announced for 'The Ultimate Fighter 8'

Spike TV revealed today the 32 cast members for the eight season of its UFC reality TV series, "The Ultimate Fighter: Team Mir vs. Team Nogueira," which premieres Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 10pm ET/PT.

UFC interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and former champion Frank Mir serve as opposing coaches guiding 8 lightweights and 8 light-heavyweights as the contestants battle through a single-elimination tournament to be crowned the season's division champs.

Sticking with the opening "twist" that began last season, all 32 fighters will compete on the first two episodes (airing Sept. 17 and 24) to narrow the field of fighters down to 16.

The two finalists from each division will battle Saturday, Dec. 13 at the live finale on Spike TV for the six-figure UFC contracts.

Lightweights

Jose Aguilar
Age: 25
MMA Record: 17-3-0
Trains With: Grapplers Edge
Location: Las Cruces, NM

Fernando Bernstein
Age: 25
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Location: San Clemente, CA

Marcus Brimage
Age: 22
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Location: Birmingham, AL

Junie Allen Browning
Age: 22
MMA Record: 2-0-0
Trains With: Four Seasons Martial Arts
Location: Lexington, KY

Rolando Delgado
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-1
Trains With: Westside Fight Team
Location: North Little Rock, AR

Joseph Duarte
Age: 24
MMA Record: 3-0
Trains With: Unleashed Training Facility/ Alliance MMA
Location: San Diego, CA

Efrain Escudero
Age: 22
MMA Record: 10-0-0
Trains With: Southwest Martial Arts
Location: Tempe, AZ

Brandon Garner
Age: 26 MMA
Record: 4-1-0
Trains With: Team ROC
Location: Raleigh, NC

David Kaplan
Age: 28
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: Lloyd Irvin Team
Location: Camp Springs, MD

Brian McLaughlin
Age: 23
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, FL

Wesley Murch
Age: 25
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: Trojan Gym
Location: Bristol, UK

Shane Nelson
Age: 24
MMA Record: 11-3-0
Trains With: BJ Penn’s MMA
Location: Hilo, HI

Phillipe Nover
Age: 24
MMA Record: 5-0-1
Trains With: Team Renzo Gracie
Location: Brooklyn, NY

Ido Pariente
Age: 30
MMA Record: 13-4-0
Location: Tel Avis, Israel

John Polakowski
Age: 26
MMA Record: 3-1-0
Trains With: The Pit
Location: San Luis Obispo, CA

George Roop
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-3-0
Trains With: Ultima MMA
Location: Tucson, AZ

Light Heavyweights

Ryan Bader
Age: 24
MMA Record: 7-0-0
Trains With: Arizona Combat Sports
Location: Chandler, AZ

Antwain Britt
Age: 29
MMA Record: 4-0-0
Trains With: Bombsquad MMA
Location: Virginia Beach, VA

Jules Bruchez
Age: 30
MMA Record: 3-2-0
Trains With: Ronan Dojo
Location: Lafayette, LA

Lance Evans
Age: 30
MMA Record: 4-2-0
Trains With: TKO MMA
Location: Niagara Falls, NY

Karen Grigoryan
Age: 26
MMA Record: 5-0-0
Trains With: RusFighters Sport Club
Location: Russia

Jason Guida
Age: 30
MMA Record: 26-13-0
Trains With: Hellhouse Gym
Location: Chicago, IL

Ryan Jimmo
Age: 26
MMA Record: 6-1-0
Trains With: Titans MMA
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia

Kyle Kingsbury
Age: 26
MMA Record: 7-1-1
Trains With: American Kickboxing Academy
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

Tom Lawlor
Age: 24
MMA Record: 4-1
Trains With: American Top Team
Location: Oviedo, FL

Ryan Lopez
Age: 25
MMA Record: 5-3-0
Location: Oklahoma City, OK

Vinicius Magalhaes
Age: 23
MMA Record: 2-2-0
Trains With: Team Quest
Location: Temecula, CA

Eliot Marshall
Age: 27
MMA Record: 5-1-0
Trains With: Eastern Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Location: Boulder, CO

Tom Matijacic
Age: 31
MMA Record: 4-0-1
Trains With:
Location: Tigard, OR

Sean O’Connell
Age: 24
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Location: Salt Lake City, UT

Shane Primm
Age: 23
MMA Record: 1-0-0
Trains With: Team Gracie Tampa
Location: Tampa, FL

Krzysztof Soszynski
Age: 30
MMA Record: 16-8-1
Trains With: Team Quest Location: Temecula, CA