The initial test results for the remaining fighters on each show, however, indicate that there are more positive results forthcoming. CSAC Assistant Executive Officer Bill Douglas told MMAWeekly.com that, “Both cards are not out of the woods yet.”

He would not identify any of the individuals involved, nor would he indicate how many individuals were involved, but did indicate that initial testing of the remaining fighters’ “A” samples returned more positive results.

Douglas said that the earliest that confirmed results will be released is August 11.

Of the results that have come back for the Affliction card so far, only Justin Levens has tested positive. He tested positive for oxymorphone, the same painkiller that James Irvin tested positive for following UFN 14. The other fighters whose drug screens have come back clean from Affliction are as follows: Vitor Belfort, Terry Martin, Paul Buentello, Mike Pyle, J.J. Ambrose, Gary Goodridge, and Ray Lazama. Eight fighters from EliteXC have also had negative drug screens come back: Brandon Tarn, Drew Montgomery, Mike Cook, Carl Seumanutafa, Marlon Mathias, David Douglas, Jeromy Freitag, and Anthony Ruiz.

As you can see, there are lots of big names left out there whose drug screens could come back positive. Every person listed above whose drug screen has already come back was on the undercard of each of these shows. It will be very interesting to see the fallout from the positive drug screens, especially if the names are bigger than we think.

The news comes courtesy of Sportsnet.ca, which received word of Doerksen’s release from the fighter himself.

Doerksen is currently in the midst of a three fight losing streak that began this past August at WEC 29, was TKO’d by current WEC middleweight champion Paulo Filho at 4:07 of round 1.

After losing the vacant middleweight title to Filho, Doerksen was then transferred to the UFC and suffered a third round knockout against Ed Herman at UFC 78 this past November.

Doerksen fought on the undercard of the UFC’s most recent event, UFC 83 in Montreal, but lost to fellow Canadian fighter Jason MacDonald when he was TKO’d at  0:54 of the second round.

Doerksen had one fight remaining on his Zuffa contract at the time of his release but indicated that the company is open to the possibility of re-signing him in the future.

“(The UFC officials) made it very clear they’re very happy with the way I fight and they want me to come back,” Doerksen is quoted as saying by Sportsnet. “But they need me to go put a couple of wins together (first).”

I have no idea where this matchup came from. This is certainly nothing I asked for, having beaten him before in 2005. Usually when you have a fight in your career and you beat someone – unless it’s a controversial one or one that was left in the hands of the judges – you move on.

I would rather have been matched up with one of the new guys that has come into the division in the UFC. Evan Tanner, Michael Bisping, Ricardo Almeida, I would have loved to face one of these new guys that I think I match up well against, rather than someone I’ve already faced.

But he’s not going to rock the boat too much.

But it’s not my job to pick my fights and decide who I face. If the UFC decided this matchup is best for their business and for my career, then so be it. I’m under contract with them. If that’s what they want for Canadian fans to see, I’m fine with that and I’m definitely happy to be involved in what will certainly be a historic event, the first UFC event in Canada.

One might understand MacDonald’s concern with what he may perceive as a step backwards in his career. However, being on the card for the first UFC event in Canada could do a great deal for his career and marketability in his home country. This could be a blessing in disguise.

Check out more Jason MacDonald content on FiveOuncesOfPain.com

“This is a really good fight for me. He [Ed Herman] is obviously not an easy opponent, but style wise, we match up really well. This is a really good opportunity for me to get some of that notoriety and to get my name out there. I think he’s going to get hurt. If things go my way, he’s not going to make it out of the second round.”

I like Doerksen in the fight, that’s for sure. I think Ed Herman got the short end of the stick on this replacement. Usually when someone comes in to replace an injured fighter (see: Bo Cantrell), they’re on a lower level, skill-wise, than the person they were replacing. That’s not the case, here. Herman has his hands full with Doerksen, maybe even more so than if he was fighting David Terrell. Also considering that Doerksen already holds a victory over Herman, the ball is in Doerksen’s court.

Doerksen is an MMA veteran who has had many fights against top class opponents such as former welterweight champion Matt Hughes (loss), Denis Kang (win), Matt Lindland (loss) and Nate Marquardt (loss).

Also of note is that Doerksen already holds a win over Herman back in 2004 via 3rd round triangle choke. I also found it funny it was listed as a technical submission, which implies Herman, “went out like a man, rather than tapping like a bitch.”

This replacement will mark another unfortunate moment in Terrell’s promising career where he has had to pull out with injury. Examples of other cases were potential match ups with Yushin Okami at UFC 62 and then again at UFC 66.

David Terrell (6-2, 2-1 UFC) has not fought in Mixed Martial Arts competition since April of 2006 where he submitted Scott Smith by rear-naked choke at UFC 59.

Maybe some blame can be assessed to the WEC for not finding a better opponent for Paulo Filho, but if you want to find his equal then you’re going to have to bring in Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, Rich Franklin, or Anderson Silva. That’s not going to happen and I think Joe Doerksen was a handpicked opponent to allow Filho to look dominant and help build up his name recognition in the States. 

If that was the goal, then mission accomplished. If you had never seen Filho fight before then I don’t know how you couldn’t have been impressed with him after last night’s performance.

I do think some people are getting carried away though as I’ve read some message forum posts proclaiming Filho a good striker now. While his punches looked pretty powerful, his technique was not refined. He works hard on his striking but he still has a long way to go before he can be labeled a good, technical striker. 

I was also disappointed by the quick outcome of the Larson vs. Condit match. I expected a war. But you can’t blame anyone because looking at it from a matchmaker’s perspective, there isn’t a bigger challenge to Condit currently on the roster than Larson. It was a great matchup that just didn’t go according to plan. 

I am thoroughly impressed by Condit each time I see him fight. He’s going to be big time and will definitely be fighting in the UFC within the next two years. The WEC will need to bolster their welterweight division though if they want to make things interesting until then. If he can get past Larson that quickly then there’s no one who will pose much of a threat. 

Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter wasn’t anything special in my book but it was just good to see Curran in a televised match. It looks like there is a build towards a WEC featherweight title match between Urijah Faber and Curran. While I think Faber would win that match, it would still be pretty exciting. 

Jamie Varner looked great in a dominant performance over Sherron Leggett. Varner is now 13-2 and should get to fight the winner of WEC lightweight title match next month between Razor Rob and Rich Crunkilton. That’s not anything I’ve heard, just my opinion. 

Random Rants: 

• I’m usually a big fan of Frank Mir’s work as a commentator. I thought he did great during the first live show several months back but I thought his game was off a little last night. It seemed like he couldn’t get his timing down.

• To piggyback on a point made by Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer several months back, having Frank Mir do the post-fight interviews is just a bad idea. Mir towers over everyone and makes them look like midgets. Why not just pay some local Vegas sports reporter $2,000 per show to come in and do the interviews?

• Because of quick results to a lot of the fights they were able to show a lot of fighters in attendance. It makes the WEC seem a lot bigger. I also liked the interviews with Jens Pulver and Rob McCullough and how they promoted the next show. They did a much better job of future promotion this time than last but that’s likely because when they did the first Versus live show, there weren’t a lot of definitive details about the second show.

• Speaking of Pulver, if Mir is ever in a position where he can’t do a show because he’s training for a fight, Pulver would be an excellent substitute. He’s already done some broadcast work for the UFC and the IFL. If ESPN ever hired their own analysts for their coverage of MMA on ESPNews, Pulver would be a perfect for such a role.

• They should do an even better job with future promotion. Why is it that Joe Riggs is telling The Fight Network he’s fighting Jason Miller in October? Why do so many promotions get scooped on their own news? Maybe there wasn’t enough time, but it would have been cool if the report was addressed in some fashion.

• I am real curious to know the duration of the WEC’s contract with Versus. I just feel the product deserves a better distribution outlet. They have a lot of potential superstars in Condit, Filho, Larson, Urijah Faber, Jason Miller, Carlos Condit, “Razor” Rob McCullough, and Rich Crunkilton but I just don’t think Versus gives them enough exposure. I know a lot of people who still don’t get Versus and on systems that do carry it, it’s usually buried. I have DirecTV and it’s in between a tier of premium sports channels on channel 608. The non-premium sports channels (ESPN, ESPNews, NFL Network, etc.) are all in the 200’s. You can run all the promos of the fighters you want on Versus but what good is it if the only time people watch Versus is for the WEC? People really don’t even watch the NHL on Versus. Hell, there are already rumblings that the NHL could be going back to ESPN once their Versus deal is up.

• Prime channel positioning is important. My in-laws don’t even like MMA yet they knew exactly what the IFL was when they found out I was going to cover the show this past Thursday. They know what the IFL is because they watch it every Monday in spite of the fact they don’t like MMA. Why do they watch it? Probably because there is nothing but reruns of sitcoms or first run versions of scrub reality shows on network TV right now and the IFL is on channel 17 here in the Philly area. If you’re a channel flipper, you’re going to be passing the IFL. If you’re a channel flipper, odds are you aren’t going to find the WEC.

• If they aren’t looking into it already, Zuffa should be exploring other future television options for the WEC. I know it’s easier said than done, but I think the USA network would be great. The clearance is strong and the channel has prominent positioning on most cable systems. And of course, ESPN would be even better. You would think ESPN would have room for the WEC on ESPN II with WrekCage every Tuesday or Wednesday night along with a live monthly show.

• They should also do some kind of deal with YouTube that would put all the WrekCage shows on the Internet for free. They have a product that is very appealing to hardcores and it’s time to let everyone see it and get them all talking.

• The WEC champions are as follows: Chase Beebe at bantamweight (135 lbs.); Urijah Faber at featherweight (145 lbs.); “Razor” Rob McCullough at lightweight (155 lbs.); Carlos Condit at welterweight (170 lbs.); Paulo Filho at middleweight (185 lbs.); and Doug Marshall at light heavyweight (205 lbs.). That’s a pretty impressive lineup of champions. It could be a long time until McCullough, Faber, Condit, and Filho lose (if they ever lose in the WEC).

• Right now the only fighter currently on the WEC roster who poses even a small threat to Filho is Jason “Mayhem” Miller. If Filho gets past Miller, he’ll have smooth sailing until an inevitable debut in the UFC.

• There’s still a lot of talk that more additions will be made to the WEC roster consisting of a lot of the Japanese fighters from Pride. I still haven’t heard any names though. A non-Japanese fighter from Pride that I’d love to see is Zelg Galesic. Pride signed Galesic from Cage Rage and he debuted at Pride 34 and lost. However, the guy has a ton of potential and has earned the nickname of “Mini-Cro Cop.” He’s a prospect and would fit perfectly on the WEC roster.

• The WEC should have shown highlights of fights that took place on the preliminary portion of the card. Antonio Banuelos fought earlier on the show and has increased name recognition after being featured on TapouT. He could be a future title contender at 135 lbs. but there’s no promotion behind him coming from the WEC.

Paulo arrived in Vegas from Brazil on Wednesday in preparation for his match against Joe Doerksen on Sunday night for the vacant WEC middleweight title. Filho vs. Doerksen will be the co-main event of a card that will be televised on Versus starting at 9 p.m. ET.

I was able to speak with Paulo about his first match in the U.S. soon after he touched down in Vegas. I made sure to ask him about the process behind him fighting for the WEC as opposed to the UFC and whether his friendship with Anderson Silva was a factor.

You can read that exchange right here:

Q: When Zuffa first approached you, did they give you a choice between fighting for the UFC or WEC?

PF: No. I wasn’t given a choice. I was offered a chance to fight in the WEC and that’s what I took.

Q: Was any detail provided as to why they wanted you for the WEC as opposed to the UFC?

PF: There was no detail given. The WEC is a huge organization, and I feel it’s one of the best in the world, and right now I think the opportunity for me to be in the WEC is a much better situation. There’s a lot of big names in the UFC, and I don’t have a huge name in the U.S. With the WEC, we’ll both be able to grow together. The WEC and Paulo Filho will be able to grow their names in the U.S. together, and that’s why I feel it’s a better choice for me.

Q: There were reports that one reason why you’re in the WEC is because you’re good friends with current UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and don’t want to fight him. Is that correct?

PF: We’re under the same management and we train together. That is true, but that’s not really the case (of why I’m in the WEC) as we chose to go to the WEC because I wanted to. But we are friends and I wouldn’t want to have that fight happen, but if that fight were to happen, then hey, we’d fight and it would be a phenomenal fight and then we’d go out to dinner after.

You can read the rest of the interview by clicking here.

Through its official web site, the fight promotion has announced additional matches for the cad.  Bouts between Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter (featherweights), Jamie Varner vs. Sherron Legget (lightweights), Hiromitsu Miura vs. Fernando Gonzalez (welterweights), and Antonio Banuelos vs. Justin Robbins (bantamweights) have all been officially added.

The main televised portion of the card will include Larson vs. Condit, Filho vs. Doerksen, Curran vs. Ledbetter, and Varner vs. Legget.

That’s a pretty sweet double main event and I expect the WEC’s rating to be much stronger next Sunday than it was for their first live telecast. During their first live show, they were competing against a lot of programs that appealed to the male 18-34 demographic. But with a lot of shows in reruns, I think the only real competition for them in their time slot next weekend will be ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

Also rumored is a welterweight title defense by Carlos Condit against Brock Larson and matches between Jeff Curran vs. Stephen Ledbetter and Eric Schambari vs. Logan Clark.