M-1 President and Fedor Emelianenko's Manager Vadim Finkeltein has issued his first official comments regarding the cancellation of Affliction: "Trilogy" and the fate of the world's greatest heavyweight fighter.

"Affliction is asserting that all the steps that have transpired had to take place because of the disruption caused in the presentation of their PPV," said Finklestein. "The fact is that according to American laws, if you advertise the showing of an event on a paid television channel, you are obligated to deliver what has been advertised."

According to officials, there wasn't enough time or funding to redo advertising and that, along with difficulties in finding a suitable replacement for Barnett resulted in the cancellation.

"In the U.S. the marketing of the fight was clearly built around both Fedor and Josh Barnett," Finkelstein said. "Since Barnett was unable to compete as advertised, Affliction was concerned about legal issues."

Despite the legal issues, Finkelstein expressed disappointment with Affliction's decision while remaining open to working with the company as a sponsor.

"This question remains open," Finkelstein said. "Negotiations are currently taking place as we speak. With this cancellation they not only let us down but all the fighters and the MMA fans all over the world as well."

One of the most pressing questions coming from the cancellation is what will be the fate of former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. In an official statement over the weekend, M-1 Global promised fight fans that Emelianenko will return to active competition as soon as possible.

"We are now with Fedor in the U.S. and we hope to make a decision about his next fight within the next few days," Finkelstein stated. "There are many business meetings and negotiations planned with all the major promotions. We will explore the possibility of Fedor fighting Barnett and will even look into whether the fight can take place as soon as August."

Finkelstein also believes that the cancellation of "Trilogy" could be used as an opportunity to jump start stagnant negotiations to bring Fedor to the UFC.

"This is the moment of truth that the UFC has talked about," Finkelstein said. "Fedor and I are here in the States. If they want to come out and fly here, we are ready to conduct negotiations. Of course it still doesn't imply we are ready to accept any conditions they'll throw at us. We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global."