Emelianenko-Lesnar on Hold as Fedor Says UFC Contract Terms “Not Acceptable”
Top-ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko appears unlikely to end his UFC holdout anytime soon, putting an anticipated superfight against the promotion’s title-holder Brock Lesnar on hold indefinitely.
UFC President Dana White was confident at Saturday’s post-UFC 100 press conference that he’d soon sign Emelianenko away from Affliction following his August 1 matchup against Josh Barnett.
“This whole Fedor thing has been going on and on and on. I keep saying this and that about him and he keeps waiting. Eventually, Fedor’s going to be here. I want Fedor. I want him to come to the UFC and everything else,” said White. “[Brock Lesnar] just became the heavyweight champion. We’ll end up getting that deal done. And then we’ll do Brock vs. Fedor, and it’ll be a huge fight.”
White’s hopes to sign Emelianenko won’t be enough to persuade the Russian to enter the Octagon, as it appears Emelianenko would only consider fighting in the UFC should the promotion consider altering its contract terms.
The disagreement between Emelianenko and the UFC over the terms of a proposed contract is nothing new, with the same issue derailing a fight between “The Last Emperor” and the UFC’s then-heavyweight champion Randy Couture.
Emelianenko re-affirmed his distaste for the UFC’s contract terms in a recent interview with Bas Rutten on HDNet’s Inside MMA.
“At the present time, I don’t think so, I don’t think you’ll see me in the UFC, just because the terms, and the manner in which those terms are offered, are not acceptable today,” said Fedor.
The UFC will not only have to alter its terms to lure Fedor and reach an agreement, but will also have to compete for his services with Affliction, who, despite an uncertain future that has been well documented in recent months, is reportedly nearing a long-term agreement with the fighter, who is considered one of the world’s pound-for-pound best.
Checkout Emelianenko’s full interview from Inside MMA below:
[HT: Cage Potato]
Tags: Brock Lesnar, Fedor Emelianenko
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I saw this interview the other day as well. Anyone know the exact date it was taken? Judging by the fighters win/loss records in the scroll bar below, it was take PRIOR to UFC 100 not after. If that’s the case Fedor nixing signing with the UFC to take on their champ after UFC 100 is not true at all.
He says “not acceptable”, I say “**** who is afraid to lose”.
Great insight, dbiz. Perhaps you could explain to us the proper usage of the “rape choke” from full mount.
Yeah I’m calling BS on this as well. Of course Fedor isn’t going to say “The UFC has everything in line to sign me immediately” going into a negotiation. He’s going to say that the UFC needs to bend on everything, and the UFC will say Fedor needs to bend on everything, and in the end they meet somewhere in the middle. That’s how negotiations work.
This isn’t anything the UFC doesn’t realize either. I’m sure they know his exact concerns with the T&C’s of the contract and Dana’s confidence is probably in part to his knowing what Fedor’s concerns are and having a proposal lined up to address those concerns in a way Fedor will find acceptable.
Plus… how much can Affliction REALLY offer Fedor? They might be able to promise him a huge contract but if they’re filing Chapter 11 before the end of the year, what does it matter. Fedor HAS to realize that as well and by signing with Affliction he’s guaranteeing his irrelevance in MMA.
My prediction… he signs with the UFC later this summer and Affliction folds within a month afterwards.
Also, the UFC has to realize that signing Fedor not only promises them one of the best HW fighters but likely the death of Affliction. If they can get a great fighter and kill a competitor I’m willing to bet they’ll A LOT more flexible than they have in the past.
Ok, I will let you in on a little secret ok, here it is…
Affliction MMA IS NOT the same company as Affliction apparal, Affliction MMA’s parent company is Affliction apparal and therefore I doubt highly that any Affliction is going to file any chapter of anything… Affliction apparal makes A LOT of money, when I speak of Affliction “folding” it is do to the fact that Affliction MMA isn’t making a profit so they will close their doors and cut their losses, or as I assume will happen StrikeForce will “aquire” Affliction MMA and move forward… its basic economics but Affliction apparal will continue to be out there and make money….
@FR-
I always try to make that point about them being separate but no one listens but kudos for trying haha
Also I think it’s important to realize that the MMA side’s biggest shareholder and financier is struggling a little in his main area of expertise(real estate) due to the weak global economy, so if he’s going to cut funding to places it will most likely be to the MMA world and not his other ventures since the cost benefit ratio to this point has been so poor.
the only way we will see fedor in the oct. is if dana allows him to continue to compete in Sambo… which i dont see happening…
put money aside, a mma arena aside and all the other lil stupid things aside and there is still the Sambo competition issue…
i feel that Fedor believes that he is worth more than he actually is. I’m a Fedor fan, but i’m a bit confused at to what his motives are for fighting still, i guess is money because as he said he “doesn’t care about his legend or legacy”, looks like we problably won’t see him in the UFC.
what is going to happen is that he is going to lose to a nobody and his “street cred” is going to go waayy down and he won’t be worth as much as he is now and he’ll lose his aura and his mojo and everyone will completely lose interest in him coming to the UFC, then Dana won’t be interested and if he is interested i guarantee that the UFC’s offer won’t be as good as it must be now.
i’m kinda dissapointed because i’ve always been a Fedor fan. He should want to come and fight the best the UFC has to offer, he’s making himnself look like he only wants money because after Barnett there for sure is not a legit Heavyweight out there at all. I honestly can’t beleive that he doesn’t care about a legacy, i mean then what else is there to fight for besides a big pay day, i see him getting beat by a nobody in the not to distant future.
This is why I refuse to put Fedor as the pound for pound best. Only george continually dominates the #1 contender at 170 2-3 times a year.
no one else can match that.
Great point, mk4.
If Fedor continues on with his half in, half out approach to MMA, someday he’s going to run into a guy thats going to shock him senseless, and his so-called value is going to dry up.
The sad thing is is that if the guy could match his PRIDE performances in the UFC, he’d be a monster and draw huge money.
As it stands I think the Dana White might be overestimating his drawing power with the 2009/2010 larger, more casual MMA fanbase thats got a narrower, UFC viewpoint than some older MMA fans, who actually know PRIDE and Pancrase firsthand.
Will it be Barnett who “shocks the world”?
Hard to say, because Barnett himself is pretty erratic when it comes to training and performance.
Even though I’m a Barnett supporter, I’ve seen him in the last year and a half go 4-0, but against what I’d consider soft competition.
If Fedor does decide to “come out and play”, Barnett won’t get out of the first round.
carls – I would probably buy into the Fedor thing if he maintained in the last few years even 2/3 of GSP’s workload. No one can match what GSP has done recently, not even Anderson Silva.
I’m thinking that GSP must read or hear all of this Fedor static and say to himself, “you’re kidding me with this guy, right?”…
Fedor is saying, that there are things more important to him then proving he is the best MMA fighter in the world! imo
sorry he is the best
I will be out today on business, I personally can’t wait to come back and see all the “edited comments” by Justin and to see all the Fedor sucks type stuff it will be an interesting read when I return tonight that is forsure…..
I wonder who will come out the champion of discrediting Fedor’s record,,,, DbiZ or jcohl…. awww damnn DbiZ is vacation, well it will be an interesting read none the less..
Hey, I freely admit to dbiz being the top dog when it comes to Fedor-bashing, just think of me as a sort of “unpaid intern” filling in until the boss gets back from vacation…
You people crack me up.
I’m going to be lost when (if) someone is able to refute the point that Fedor won’t face top contenders and therefore isn’t even in the top 3 p4p.
Until then, carry on the fight, my anti-Russian Mob brothers.
hahaha someones scared!!!!he will be the best when he fights in an octagon it is totally different than fighting in boxing ring!!!!
brock v fedor today would be awesome.
after brock fights carwin/cain – and maybe loses,
and fedor fights – barnett and maybe loses.
we might not even be discussing this match up.
it’d still be awesome imo opinion but the way we talk on these forums anybody who loses once or twic e is washed up.
Fedor Emelianenko is a joke. I don’t care how decorated he is or what his record is. Not that it really matters, but Jose Canseco has tried his hand at MMA this year. What does matter however, is that Canseco fought a guy that Fedor fought. Fedor is fighting the same guys that Jose Canseco is fighting?!!! That, cats and kittens, is a joke, anyway you slice it. Fedor and his ridiculous salary demands dovetailed with his refusal to fight anybody worthwhile lately is a joke.
Since 1996 he has fought 4 times. That includes a washed up Tim Sylvia and Arlovski plus the guy who fought Jose Canseco. Because of this inactivity and the quality of his opponents, he belongs nowhere near the map of top p4p fighters. It is absolutely unwarranted. Fedor and everything he is involved with and stands for is bad for the ufc. He can keep dominating potzies for millions twice every 3 years elsewhere.
First off Canseco fought the guy after he fought Fedor, so that point is moot.
Where do you get your weed from man??? seriously 1996? He’s actually fought 32 times since 1996
If you meant 2006 I see your point BUT in the same respect Couture has only fought 3x in the same timeframe, Barnett only has 4 as well, Big Nog only has 3 fights, Mir has four… do I need to keep going?
whoops, sorry, yes i meant 2006. Mir and Nog were tied up on the tv show which is another conversation all by itself and Randy held the UFC hostage so niether of those three are a fair analogy. My main point is Fedor being widely considered as the best p4p fighter on the planet is a joke considering his body of work lately. And by lately I mean the last 5 years.
The hype machine that follows him around is nauseating and I really hope Dana and the Fertitas dont send a couple million bucks his way.
i’m just going to go ahead and say that fedor just doesn’t want to go to the UFC. MOney? yeah right i bet they’re offering a sweet deal dude. Scared/intimidated/overwhelmed? maybe, who knows, maybe he’s a little intimidated by the octagon. I just wish he would stfu and stop making excuses dude. If you really wanted to compete, and compete against the best and truly test your skills, would you let management, so called offers get in the way? i don’t know man
its pretty easy guys…Fedor puts Russia above all else, and competes in the Sambo tourney for his country. If Dana wont allow him to do this, then he wont fight for UFC. Dana shouldnt care about the Sambo tourney.
Anyone who discredits Fedor or his record probably didnt start watching MMA until WWE fighters started making their way in. Fedor has lost as many fights in 10+ years as Brock has lost in less than 2 years. Fedor didnt tap on his loss either. Fedor doesnt have anything to prove, Dana White has everything to prove. If he cant sign the greatest MMA fighter to have ever lived, then he isnt doing his organization, or the fans (doubt he cares anyways) any justice.
Best MMA fighter to ever live? Bold statement dude…
name one with a similar record (including the only loss due to a cut) that has fought all of the top fighters MOST of them at or near their prime:
Arona, Sobral, Herring, Big Nogx2, Fujita, Colemanx2, Randleman, Cro-Cop, Hunt, Lindlan, Sylvia, Alrovski
Jerod how is it not a fair analogy?
Randy was holding the UFC hostage because he wanted to fight who??? oh that’s right Fedor. The TV show films in 6-7 weeks and for some people like Cro Cop that’s a whole camp. So that’s not an excuse. I’m not saying it doesn’t disrupt the schedule but really you have to be fair here. I’m not trying to make excuses or discredit anyone but Fedor didn’t really have a viable organization until Affliction.
If you don’t like him fine and that’s cool. I am a fan but I’ve been a combat SAMBO practitioner for years now. I DO agree his competition has slacked but I think in large part that’s due to him being so stubborn about joining one organization and his management having to concede so much in control and benefits to them. I do not believe he is the best P4P guy in the world(and not because I don’t think they should be ranked) due to his competition’s performance after facing him.
He’s not the savior draw for any organization(IMO based solely on cost/benefit) but if you put him in the UFC he becomes the proverbial god the Fertitta’s and Dana will hype him up to be to sell fights REGARDLESS of his recent fights or how he would perform in the UFC. A few of the old PRIDE guys like Fedor and Lindland believe the fight contracts in the UFC are unfair because of the amount of control the UFC wants and so be it. The same think happened with the AKA guys over control(and it was resolved thankfully). That’s their call and if they can make a living outside of the largest current MMA market then it’s their call.
I’d like to see him in the UFC but to be honest I’m not so sure of how he’d do in the cage the first time. A lot of fighters tend to struggle with it in their first few fights because it is completely different than the ring. If he wants to fight Lesnar off the rip then fine but I wouldn’t expect him to look dominating because in all fairness, he doesn’t always look very dominant until you see the end result of what he does.
@Zac, man I’m not here to disprove Fedor’s record which I’ve seen him fight sooo much and think he is awesome….. Did Fujita ever really have a “prime”? When Babalu fought Fedor he wasn’t in his prime what so ever.. Colemans prime imo was in the early UFC’s but hey Coleman is the man soo there is that.. Linland come on seriously “rope grab” and he moved up 2 weight classes but anyways.. The Arona fight well, with the RINGS rules its up in the air but he did win the fight..
Someone with similar “stats”
Chuck Liddell has beaten Tito 2x, Babalu 2x, Randy 2x, Vitor Belfort, Guy Mezger, Bustamante, Randleman, Monson, Jose Landi~Jons, Wanderlei, Horn (most were definately in their “primes”)
He hasn’t lost to scrubs either, Rampage 2x, Shogun, Evans, Jardine, Randy, Horn
so there is your comparison for you feel free to break it down, cuz I will throw numbers at you all day
have a good one
God I love listening to the UFC fanboys go crazy. Really tho Fedor dosn’t care about UFC as much as he does Sambo. @Jerod.. if you can’t SEE WITH YOUR EYES why Fedor is so good there is not point arguing the issue.. he does fight in a number of non-MMA circuits as well.
Arguing points about non UFC fighters with the fanboys is not for me.. but.. common.. he takes less money dana lets him fight sambo.. we all win.
But to be fair.. he already has a legacy in Russian Sambo and that is the legacy he cares about (not MMA) and judging from his character he is not the type of person who really gives a **** about anything anyone thinks on this side of the pond.
Also after the things Dana has said about him I wouldn’t be surprised that he just gets into these contract talks with Dana just to get him excited then shut him down and laugh in his face. I know that is what I would do.. just for jokes
Well it would help if Fedor would actually sit down with Dana and the reps of ZUFFA for one thing, Vlad is the only one in contact with the UFC sooo perhaps one day Fedor will find the time to sit down and talk about what HE wants in HIS contract..
How could you say Fedor is a joke?? Everyone says he has beaten weak competition? He has beaten Cro Cop at his prime. He beat Noguera 2 times. He beat 2 former UFC heavyweight champions in Arlovski and Sylvia. The guy has beaten everyone that has been put in front of him. Fedor vs Randy would be a joke…. He would submit Brock in the first round. The guy is the greatest fighter on the planet. The Heavyweight division in the UFC is garbage. The need him more than he needs the UFC. They should give the guy anything he wants. And they will. Its just a matter of time. After all, its all about money, and Dana and the Fertittas will eventually give him anything he wants because of the amount of revenue Fedor will bring in for the UFC.
Look at the great HW division in Affliction, when you actually break it down the UFC has the best Heavies in the world
Afflicition~ Barnett,Fedor, Sylvia, Yvel, Paul Bauntello, Rothwwell
UFC~Lesnar, Mir, Big Nog, Randy, Carwin, Cain, Cheick, CC, GG, plus all the TUF 10 guys and the new european Hevies that Zuffa has aquired…
In all honesty the Affliction HW division is GARBAGE other than Fedor and Barnett imo… definately compared to the depth of the UFC hw divison
Fedor, is actually being smart IMO. He is going to wait til Dana is actually begging him to come over. Same in the sense that they went out and MADE MIrco sign. No one could offer the same kind of paper the UFC can. Their are not really that many super fights that I’d be really interested even if he did come over to be honest.
Lord save us from the Fedor-ians.
It sounds like a bad sci-fi or horro movie, but its true.
This one goes out to all you Fedor-ians, or as dbiz harhsly refers to you as, Fedor “nut-huggers” :
I hate to be the one to break this to you all, mainly because I feel like I’m telling a room full of schoolkids that there is no Santa, but at this stage of his so-called MMA career Fedor is more MMA urban legend than MMA competitor. His MMA activities the last 4 years qualify him more for semi-retirement than “p4p bad-@ss” status, and even if he beats Josh Barnett, who I am a supporter of, he still hasn’t proved he’s the best HW on the planet, just the best HW in a half-a$$ed MMA promotion owned by a trendy clothing line.
Also, Barnett’s record isn’t exactly sterling, and he’s about as uncommitted to MMA the last few years as Fedor has been, and far less consistent.
Speaking of has been, if Fedor wants to devote himself to national athletic service thru the sport of sambo I think that’s terrific. If he’s more concerned about being the number 1 220er on the planet in Russia’s national martial art than being the number 1 MMA HW, thats fine too, and laudable.
If his personal code of values outweighs his love of money, as some of his supporters assert, then he deserves all the credit in the world for being a decent human being.
If Fedor has begged off of more serious MMA competition because it’s a bit too rough on his hands, which seem to have some issue with breakage, in order to maintain his peak performances for sambo, thats all well and good and definitely understandable.
What doesn’t work for the clear-thinking MMA fan WITHOUT a boxful of Fedor trading cards in those little plastic slipcover things and a faded PRIDE t-shirt from 2005 in the bottom of their closet is the fact that Fedor still carries himself, and negotiates like, he still is the number 1 MMA HW in the world, which I’ve disproven point by point on other threads in painstakingly long detail.
Not to mention how often has dbiz broken out his red marker to correct your mistakes on the whole “Fedor is God” thing??
Seriously people, its 2009. Live in the now. Yes, Fedor had an amazing run in a boxing ring against opponents who are at best .500 fighters in the UFC SEVERAL YEARS AGO. Yes, Fedor by all accounts is the greatest 220 pound Sambo guy to ever compete. And yes, he’s a national sports hero in his home country, where previously he served with distinction in the Russian Army as a firefighter, and walked in the 2008 Olympics for his country.
He’s also a tremendous ambassador for the sport of sambo specifically and Russian sports in general.
Fedor should be praised for all the things he actually IS, instead of something which he IS NOT, and that’s currently the world’s best HW MMA fighter, the unfounded opinions of his fanbase notwithstanding.
Actually, he may very well still be the best, but thats the sort of thing you need to PROVE periodically, nonsensical comments to the contrary. Dana White has in fact proven, sometimes to my dismay, that he’s far and away the best MMA promoter on the planet, and acts like it sometimes to the point of being obnoxious.
If Fedor chooses not to pursue MMA, thats his right. Its our right to then move on to supporting, or not supporting as the case may be, and discussing fighters who actually ARE interested in being number 1 and compete like they mean it.
Reminiscing is all well and good, but we’re trying to sort out TODAY’S HW fighters, not guys from the “where are they now?” file.
Fedor passed on a golden opportunity to shut people like me up who thought he couldn’t beat Randy Couture in a cage, and instead he decided to fight a cast of characters reminiscent of the island of misfit toys, such as the really tall uncoordinated fighter [HMC], the really fat fighter [Zuluhino], the really small ugly fighter [Matt Lindland], another really small uncoordinated fighter [Tim Sylvia], and the “confused as to whether or not I really want to be here” fighter [Andrei Arlovski].
This should be communicating on some level that Fedor is no longer interested in serious MMA, and is happy drinking glasses of diet MMA and toting around that silly-@ss WAMMA lamma ding dong title belt they had made up for him.
I’ve asked this before of Fedor’s supporters, and I’ll ask it again.
Please, please stop drinking the Red Devil KoolAid and come back to us.
Please. Fedor would want you to go on with your MMA lives, and not cling to the past like the crazy cat lady in your neighborhood.
Hows that for justice?
i guess this qualifies you and dbiz for “Dana White nut-huggers.”
Please get back to me with some stats on anything comparable to Fedors W/L against similar competition, and only loss coming from a cut.
Nobody has been as dominant a champion in any sport. Name 1 fighter who comes close? You cant! you keep talking about how overrated his competition is, and how he sucks…name one fighter in any weight class, look at who they’ve w/l to and do a basic comparison.
While you have a really long post, you have made no real point. Give us a name and we’ll compare to Fedor.
Zac dude, seriously? Uriah Faber, Anderson silva, and gsp have cleaned out each of their divisions fighting arguably better talent than fedor has. Don’t get me wrong, i’m a fedor fan, but I think you should rethink the way you’re going about your “fedor is the best campaign”.
You shouldn’t look at his record so much and start looking @ what he’s accomplished in mma and who he’s beaten in mma. Bisping is like 18-2, pretty good record right? But we all know his record doesn’t at all mean he’s “great”. Although i’m a huge thiago silva fan, he’s like 18-1 also a great record but he’s not even on anyones top 15. Fedor has an outstanding record and has beaten some talented guys, but he just hasn’t beaten the best, and done it consistantly like the fighters i mentioned.
Not that I’d have expected you to, if you’d ever read any of my other stuff you’ll see that I flame Dana White as often as I praise him. Especially once Brock Lesnar was signed.
As for dbiz, I’m sure he can post for himself if he chooses when he has the time regarding your “nut-hugger” comment.
The bad news is that if you read my post and missed my point, you’re never going to get it regardless of how much back and forth goes down. And I’m sorry I don’t do a Cliff’s Notes version events, but the point was painfully obvious. I expect the mostly knowledgable people here at mmafrenzy to be able to read thru a few paragraphs and separate the hype from the facts.
Maybe in some cases thats my error, but for the most part its been the case to date.
The good news for you is that Fedor and his management team appreciate your undying support, and the signed poster for your dorm room wall is on it’s way, big guy!
I would love to type out a long-winded reply, but I’m too busy fingering Dana White’s taint and praising his all-baldy greatness.
So hating the Fedor hype machine means I’m hugging White’s nuts? I’ve take the UFC to task on any number of issues, you just don’t see it because you LOOOOOOVE Fedor.
Regarding W/L ratios…
I may be the heavyweight champ at the Special Olympics, but it doesn’t make me Muhammad Ali.
@jazz
“Uriah Faber, Anderson silva, and gsp have cleaned out each of their divisions fighting arguably better talent than fedor has…”
Faber is in his prime and has losses to Mike Brown x2, and Tyson Griffin…His division isnt as stacked as you would like to believe., as most of his wins have come in Regional tourneys. his notable wins are against the likes of an aging Jens Pulver
Anders Silva is in his prime, and has losses to Ryo Chonan, Yushin Okami (via DQ), Dauju Takase, and Luiz Azaredo. Hardly top level competition, but maybe you just started following the sport. He has been on fire as of late though, so you might have figured he is unstoppable.
GSP is in his prime, and has losses to Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra (def not top level). While he has been dominant, and beaten top competition hes got quite a bit of fluff in his record too.
@jcohl
i did kinda speed-read it so i could get back to the Fedor poster on my dorm-room wall, but i did catch some basic points you made and responded to them. i dont know what i missed on my response that was your overall point, but my apologies for missing them.
Dude Zac as a Fedor fan myself even I admit that Fedors run, while impressive, is like comparing the ‘72 Dolphins run to the Patriots or whoever. By that I mean it was completely different then than it is now. The old guard at heavyweight is aging and fights a completely different style as a whole than most of the heavyweights today. There are bigger athletes in the division(some could argue better athletes as well) now than then so it’s pointless to talk about his past PRIDE dominance because yes it adds to the hype but has no real bearing on now.
It’s also pointless to argue it because he did fight a lot of guys who changed weight classes before/after fighting him. The only person I could compare a run with would be Wanderlei from 1999-2006 and to be honest Wanderlei often fought much bigger guys as well. Once again that brings me back to my original point of you can’t compare then and now. Wanderlei Silva had that long run and has come over to the UFC and posted a very loud(and still impressive) 1-3 record. Whose to say Fedor wouldn’t struggle against bigger guys who could grind him out against the cage with out the luxury of a restart if you are caught in the ropes?
The truth is this Fedor has fought competition the past few years that while stronger than most of the guys in the UFC was very good but not elite. That said the guys were highly ranked when they fought Fedor but still their last few post-fedor fights have spoiled any argument for Fedor and really hurt his image. This fight with Barnett will settle some of that hopefully but yet again until he’s in the UFC there is in all likelihood no end to the legit doubt over his reign as it pertains to now.
@jcohl- my only two beefs with you on this is you are constantly talking about how you are such a grappling enthusiast so why would you not want to see a fighter whose won over 50% of his fights by submission come into the cage? Especially with the known benefits to a grappling game of being in the cage as opposed to the ring.
Also my second point until the past year or so the UFC heavyweight division was by and large considered stagnant(and some would argue dead) with no real challengers to anyone anywhere so who else was Fedor to fight that he had not already defeated in Pride? If you want Fedor fans to stop drinking the Kool-aid then you need to stop drinking the Kool-aid that the heavyweight division in the UFC was anything that Fedor thought would be beneficial to his career as an MMA fighter or his status in grappling as a whole. No one has had an argument until now that the UFC heavyweight division was anything better than the other MMA promotions out there, much less leaving his comfortable deals now. So since then no one has shown that he is anything less than #1 why wouldn’t he still ask for #1 money?
Chris
you are comparing a fighter that is only 32 years old and has only been in the fight game since 2000 to a difference in the way football is played in a 35year timespan. maybe you would say that there is too much “aging” competition, (AA is 30, Sylvia was 32, Cro-Cop 34, etc.)…so in 9 years I would say that the sport has seen a lot of change…but still, i would argue that a lot of fighters dont reach their prime until 25-28 and dont start leveling off until they are 35+
oh well…i guess people can discredit Fedor, his record, and his “old way of fighting” all they want. Dana can make those people right or wrong, but its all up to him…Fedor has the track record to prove that he’s the no.1 heavyweight.
Jazzkok I’m with you on that!
fedor is good but he pick the fights he feel he can win, that my 2p.
Zac: Apparently, you haven’t really watched a whole lot of stuff over the last nine years, buecause if you had, you’d realize that in the last nine years, MMA has evolved as a sport about as much as the NFL did over the last 35. Every sport goes through a massive evolution the first few years and then slowly gets refined. I don’t think anyone here would take away how great Fedor WAS nine years ago in Pride. But with the evolution in the sport, would the skillset that he had then be translatable to now? That’s the multi-million PPV buy question that will never be answered.
couldn’t have said it better bsbiz
Holy Cow!
The UFC Huggers are out at full force. First and foremost, we are talking about the HW class. There is no such thing as a HW fighter that has been consistently fighting top 10 HW’s. What do UFC fan boys want? You want Fedor to fight Kongo, Cain, Carwin, Dos Santos, and Gonzaga? Those guys haven’t fought the quality opponents Fedor has nor have they racked up the quality wins or gained the experience needed to fight Fedor. It is no difference than having Silva vs Leites or GSP vs Swick (if that happens). Back when Fedor was fighting in PRIDE, he was fighting the best, and guess who the best in the UFC were, Arlovski and Sylvia, who he has beaten both soundly. If you discredit Arlovski and Sylvia, you are discrediting the two most successful HW’s in UFC history.
Randy Couture and Nog will retire next year. All that will be left for the UFC will be Lesnar, Mir, and potentially Carwin (though he is still very green). It makes more sense at the moment for Fedor to fight experienced HWs that are well rounded, like Josh, Overeem, and whoever else they decide to throw at him like Werdum, Rogers, Monson, Antonio Silva, etc.
Sounds like you’ve also qualified for that signed Fedor poster for your dorm room wall.
Good job, junior Red Devil!
Also, I don’t have to discredit Sylvia and Arlovski.
Ray Mercer and Brett Rogers have already done that for us…
I understand that Fedor lately has not proven much and it’s justified to criticize him on a lot of things like the fact the he has not faced elite competition and is not taking his MMA career as serious as he should, and he is walking around like he is still the Fedor who was so dominant a few years back, but whether a lot of you like it or not, his record speaks for itself, he has beat some good fighters even if that was a while ago. I don’t have a problem with people calling out Fedor on all the bull$hit that’s been going on, but it’s funny how some people think that he is not all that great and that he hasn’t done anything special, but people hold someone like Randy Couture so high….
Can anyone help me out, what’s Randy Couture’s MMA record???…if i’m not mistaken
Name: Randy Couture
Height: 6′ 2″ (188 cm)
Weight: 220 (100 kg)
Record: 16-9-0 …..that’s not the greatest record now is it?..and yet Fedor’s record doesn’t even get a little respect? I know Couture has accomplished a lot in his career, but he was never dominant like Fedor was, if you compare their primes, Fedor and Randy are not so different, only that Fedor has never been knocked out twice by the same guy, AND what did he do to deserve his title shot against Sylivia at the time? Couture went on to beat Sylvia which made him look better and all but my point is he’s had a lot of shots handed to him so before anyone keeps criticizing Fedor, why not look at other guys who havn’t really done anything special who walk around like they have.
Whether Fedor haters like it or not, he has accomplished a lot in his MMA career even though now he acts like he’s god and doesn’t deserve to be called the best p4p fighter in the world….but he was at one point, something that Couture has never been…AND even if they fought in Couture’s prime, Fedor would have kicked his a$$..period
Just a question, MK4.
When you have Fedor kicking the Natural’s a$$, which would have to take place in a comic book because he didn’t bother to show in real life for whatever reason, is that in the 616 universe or the Ultimates universe?
haha, good stuff jcohl
I have Fedor being more like Batman(i know Batman is from DC, but anyway..) without any superpowers and i have Couture being like Dr. Doom and stealing everyone’s powers because that’s what he would need to beat Fedor.
jcohl, in all seriousness… Fedor will ruin his chance with the UFC and when he finally gets his head out of his a$$ it will be to late and nobody will care and like you pointed out i too feel Dana overestimates his drawing power.
RC was dominating the HW division back in the day, that is why he dropped down to LHW. And thats quite a stretch sayin that Fedor could kick Randy’s a$$ if when they were both in their prime. Also, u don’t think that the same Chuck Liddell could have knocked out Fedor? Thats crazy, or maybe not since Fedor could never drop down to 205
“RC” never dominated the UFC heavyweight division… he also went down to light heavyweight after a couple of brutal beatings at the hands of Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett.
ZP580,
Fedor is a more well rounded fighter than Couture, Couture has just always been great at what he does which is use his Greco Roman Wrestling, Fedor can knock you out and submit you AND ground and pound the hell out of Couture, especially in his prime. And Couture was never dominant in any division. Chuck Liddell in his prime was more than capable of knocking out Fedor, the only difference with Fedor and Couture is that just like Chuck would have been able to ko Fedor, Fedor also could have ko’d Chuck, Randy could not.
In much the same way that my love for the sport and my committment to keeping things grounded and factual in my posts led me to take up for Brock Lesnar after I’d spent days and days hammering him, I feel its only fair to mention something regarding Fedor and the UFC.
If in fact the stumbling block to signing Fedor is his participation in sambo, reportedly his “first love”, then I fail to see Dana White’s problem. If Fedor wanted to comepete in MMA elsewhere, I could understand, but sambo is a different sport.
The weekend of UFC 100 we see Joe Stevenson, to the best of my knowledge still under contract to and in good standing with the UFC, rolling with Bill Cooper, a truly bad man in the world of submission grappling. I’m almost positive, but Justipedia can confirm, that when Demian Maia subitted Ryan Jensen at [I think] UFC 77, he was the reigning ADCC champion in his weight class. I also think that Gabriel Gonzaga participates/ed in ADCC, as did Jeff Monson during his UFC stay.
Plus I believe Randy Couture was involved with an organization called the ProSub League when he was the UFC LHW champion, or immediately thereafter, but still under UFC contract.
So clearly a precedent is there for UFC fighters to participate in other combat sports, so why the drama and static with Fedor and sambo?
It’s not like the UFC is competing with some PPV juggernaut providing pulse-pounding combat sambo matches to American audiences.
The casual American MMA fans sees the word sambo and is just as likely to think its some sort of racial slur then identify it as Russia’s nation martial art form, so its not like there is any sort of conflict of interest.
It’s not like Fedor is going to pimp out to the sambo mat and disrespect or in any way not benefit the UFC, so again, I’m forced to ask, primarily of Dana White, “whats the deal?”
CLEARLY there is more to this Fedor-UFC thing than JUST sambo. I’m certainly no supporter of Fedor, as my posts have made obvious, but whats fair is fair. Fedor shouldn’t be treated any better, or any worse, than any other UFC potential signee.
If the UFC doesn’t want the guy for whatever reason, thats their right. But Dana White continues to make public statements to the contrary, so on some level their is interest in Fedor.
If Fedor’s somehow got himself stupidly tangled in cross-promotional paperwork and is unavailable, then say so. If you think Fedor is overrated and past his prime, then say so. If Fedor’s management is out of their minds, and their demands unrealistic, then say so.
Name names and publicly out who is responsible, instead of making Fedor look reluctant to step into the cage and prove he’s still the best in the world.
But for Fedor’s participation in a non-MMA sport to be an issue is ridiculous, and having it out there as a stumbling block to signing the man is an insult to the intelligence of MMA fans everywhere, regardless if you support Fedor or not…
There is no need to say so it’s already known it’s cross promotional. His management is M-1 Global, who has deals with DREAM and Affliction(not to mention they still try to put on their own fights sometimes). That’s the main hang up. The UFC would concede the SAMBO(it’s an acronym people!) issue but they will not concede to allowing his management promote other other promotions(using him) that are considered competition in anyway shape or form.
DING DING DING!!! Someone wins the cookie!
SAMBO is not the hangup, it is M-1 and the Russian Mob backing it.
damn too bad I don’t eat cookies… go ahead and keep it…you are on vacation
Im not really interested in seeing Brock v Fedor at this point in Lesnar’s career. He still needs to work on his hands and move outta of lesson 1 of GnP. Show us some skill instead of the ol playground bully technique.
“I’ve never tested positive for steroids.”
-Brock Lesnar
honestly wit fedor im to the point of who cares. he wants an easy payday and id bet that he thinks if he just keeps dominatin no names from bumble**** hell b the greatest and deserves to b the best. “i dont care about my legacy”? please thats code for “i already think im the best and my **** smells like cinnabuns so who cares wat u people think.” wateva dude cool go fight the homeless guy who sits outside yankee stadium wit the sign “y lie i need a beer”. u kno i heard shaqs lookin to get his mma on there u go fedor anotha freakshow attraction against someone who has no buisness fightin someone whose supposed to b the best. wateva if fedor vs brock ever does happen hopefully itll end in them both gettin kicked out into mma obscurity neva to b seen again
“wateva dude cool go fight the homeless guy who sits outside yankee stadium wit the sign “y lie i need a beer”.
I think this guy is already booked to fight Kimbo to get into the TUF house next season.
Fedor already called dibs on the winner.
For 3 million
zac,
I think the most obvious deffense mechanism that all of you (i’m going to take a page off of dbiz’s book) “Fedor Nutthuggers” resort to is “you musy be new to the sport”. “You must only follow the ufc”. “Fedor is 30-1″. “Fedor has ko’d former UFC champions”. If that’s the best case you can make for Fedor being “the best mma fighter ever” then i’ll step aside and let you argue with the rest of you who “are new to the sport”.
I really hate to keep it going, but who is the best HW in your eyes?
Either Kimbo or the Undertaker.
I will hand it to you, this one made me laugh out loud…in a very quiet work environment unfortunately
Ask me on August 30th
Honestly, I couldn’t really tell ya one at this moment other than Fedor by default. However by August 30th, Barnett-Fedor will have already occurred and so will Big Nog- Couture. Both fights will solidify a #1 IMO.
If I’m being honest, the answer is probably I don’t know who I think is the best HW out there. My problem with Fedor isn’t with where he ranks in the world HW picture. My problem is the hype machine that glorifies him as the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter who ever lived. That is exactly the part I don’t have the patience to deal with.
But if I was forced to pick the top HW out there, I would probably have to give the nod to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka.
the man with the golden elbow…
FEDOR is. lol. And im sure the Fedor haters would agree.
zac,
Funny as hell Kimbo
OK,everyone last thing. If Fedor does come over and actually beats Lesner do we call him the p4p best?
Yup, up until the Spider ko’s GSP!!!
nope!
To me it’d depend on how he won in the first place and secondly I think it’s hard to him from separate GSP, Anderson, and the Mexican jumping mullet. Those three have also shown true dominance in all 3 phases of the game as of late.
Nope. P4P best has never been a heavyweight in any combat sport. For me, P4P best is probably GSP, since he is the most complete fighter at any weight class. Close second: Miguel Torres, followed by A. Silva. Fedor might crack the top 5 though.
Maybe.
If he would fight real competition and not the D-BAG of the week that M-1 Global hand picks for him.
I’m glad the “boss” is back on Fedor duty.
It’s tiring hammering Fedor while debating with his fanbase all day long…
Not totally back. Just found some open wifi and checked in.
If these huggers are going to come out every time his name comes up, I’ll have to migrate over to sherdog for my rational conversation…
Honestly I’m kind of shocked about the “hugging” as you call it.
In my short time here almost everyone I’ve read is usually rational and knowledgable about MMA, and then this fanboy Fedor-lanche started and I was wondering if I’d accidentally clicked onto some bizarro version of mmafrenzy…
“ooh looky, Fedor! me am so happy!”
dbiz the fact you feel you’d have to go to sherdog for a rational argument is rather disturbing haha
if we wanna claim not to buy hype of affliction or ufc, let’s consider that fedor or brock both could very well lose their next fights.
or lesnar might have more trouble with barnett than fedor.
or cain/carwin could shatter brock’s confidence with a savage beatdown
Lesnar wouldn’t have more “trouble” against Barnett rather than Fedor just a different type. With Fedor the fight is pretty much guaranteed to end either way w/n the 5 rounds and with Barnett it’d be likely to go to decision with the wrestling back grounds.
I don’t see cain being as much a problem for Lesnar as Carwin. However, there is a factor with Carwin… how good was his surgeon? if his surgically repaired face doesn’t hold up with Cain it could become a pretty big issue for Carwin endurance and chin wise. Carwin has the better shot with his powerful and more accurate strikes but it is very plausible that any of the situations you’ve listed could happen.
I”m pretty sure we won’t be seeing Brock being beat down anytime soon. I think It’s just gonna take a well timed perfect landed shot to KO the “Bully”. I think I just stole Maynard’s nick name from him but it fits Brock better.
if no one hears from Gun call 911 he may have an aneurism when he sees that…
lol nice
what if he is gassed and the other guy is still relatively undamaged?
or if he cant employ his patented full contact rub a dub ?
“i’d like to thank god – god bless you (god)”
-Brock Lesnar
I just thought It was fitting since Brock’s size IS THE ONLY REASON HE HAS WON A FIGHT PERIOD. I live in Minneapolis and I still don’t like Brock
If size was “the only reason he has won a fight period,” don’t you think other, larger men would have better records, like… Bob Sapp?
bob used to be pretty good, and im convinced that the only reason Sylvia was any good was his size coupled with the lack of skill in the heavyweight division at that time.
Then you have Hong Man Choi types…
My point is, if size were the only factor, there would be a lot less over sized fighters gettin their butts kicked… what about that guys Ken Shammy Shamm subbed in his last fight? The guy’s record is 6-9 and he’s 6′8″ 360lbs… clearly his size isn’t winning him too many fights. Considering he got beat by Shammy, there’s no way he’d last against Mir.
@ chrisl, I have to admit that when I read your post I busted out an old school spittake onto my laptop.
Not cool with orange soda, trust me.
Not that I disagree with your cross-promotional thing, or have an issue with you calling me out on the Fedor thing, but the exasperation impled in your “SAMBO (its an acronym, people!) was off the hook”
I feel your pain, bro.
Imagine the weird looks and questions I’d get when I’d be talking to a chick in a bar and when they asked if I was into baseball or NASCAR or whatever and I tried explaining that my thing was submission grappling….
As it relates to your two issues with my Fedor stance, I’ll try to explain.
Yes, I am a huge fan of submission grappling, and of the ground game in MMA, which is why I prefer seeing it performed in an enclosed space like a cage [or the Ocatgon if you prefer] instead of a boxing ring. And yes, I do realize that Fedor is, or maybe I should say was, a terror on the mat, and a finisher for the most part, which I also admire. For me Fedor was the best part of PRIDE, bar none. And again yes, Fedor whether he realizes it or not has a skillset, even in 2009, far better suited to a cage than a ring.
The point being, do I want to see Fedor in the UFC??
Well, yes and no, but let me explain so that answer doesn’t sound like a cop out. Yes, I want to see Fedor circa 2005 come to the UFC and really mix it up with a top contender [Frank Mir?] and EARN a title shot against Lesnar, assuming he’ll still be the champ. But no, I don’t want to see some Coke Zero version of Fedor who’s skills have atrophied due to years of disuse and weak opposition, nor do I want to see Fedor fast-tracked into a title match because of something he did nearly 5 years ago come fight time, or because Dana loves paper.
And no, I don’t want to see Fedor fight BigNog and beat him for like the fifth time, or fight one dimensional Mirko CroCop and beat him again, and no, I most definitely do not want to see him fight Randy Couture as he’s approaching 50 or whatever. That ship has sailed.
What I wanted was for Fedor to come to the UFC to fight Randy Couture when he was called out, and do his best. If he beat Couture, I would have been pi$$ed as a Couture supporter but glad to see the bout go off as an MMA enthusiast, if you follow. It would have been good for the sport, and good for Fedor to move on to another promotion after PRIDE was absorbed into the UFC.
No Fedor supporter, no matter how rabid, can make the case that Fedor’s MMA career was better served by BoDog’ing and Affliction and M1 Global and DREAM and the ASPCA or whoever the hell else has got a piece of the Last Emperor than it would have been in the UFC the last few years. The UFC has become the sport’s preeminent promotion, and the others more closely resemble sideshows than sports outfits, Strikeforce not withstanding.
And while I won’t deny that in the past few years the UFC HW division has been lackluster to say the very least, so has Fedor’s opposition, and his promotion. If he was going to take easy fights, he should have taken them in the cage, where he would have been more effective, and gotten the recognition he deserved and earned in the early part of the decade. It’s not a matter of me drinking the UFC KoolAid, as you suggest, it’s simply a fact. Fedor in the last 36 months would have been better off in terms of MMA in the UFC than in Affliction or M1 or whatever, mostly because in that 36 months the UFC has become number one, and looks to stay there for a long time.
Also, and this isn’t towards chrisl but those of you who’ve done this, you Fedor-ians really need to stop using Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski as evidence in the case for saying Fedor is fighting contenders. Ray Mercer and Bret Rogers sort of blow holes in that case, no?
I hope that at least addresses those 2 beefs you have with me, chrisl.
I’m not trying to change your mind, you’re certainly entitled to your own opinion. For the sake of discussion I put it out there that Fedor’s time had come and gone, and he needs to WORK at getting back to the top, and work in the UFC, if he wants to be recognized as the top MMA HW in the world TODAY, and not the top guy from back in the day…
So largely we agree to disagree. I have no problem with that because any argument against Fedor only grows the longer he faces competition that later proves to be weak. I think he would get back to an ‘05 level in a hurry if he faced regular top flight guys eager to knock him off(he’s only 32) because I think the guy would rise to that level of competition. Also I agree that while he would have been better in the UFC during the Post-PRIDE days he wasn’t because there was just more to lose from going to the UFC rather than doing what he wanted for more money and staying in Russia. I take issue with that because I believe to be considered to be the best you have to beat the best where ever they may be.
Also sorry about your keyboard but I’ve been involved with Combat SAMBO (SAMozashchita Bez Oruzhiya or “self-defense w/o weapons” for the majority of people who don’t read Russian) for years but have actually been reprimanded by school authorities and other people who are ignorant to what SAMBO is for listing a “racist” term(from the “Little Black Sambo” book) as a hobby or interest. I can’t list my main martial art because of a stupid old kids book? Seriously? Really though if you have an iTunes account look up the Human Weapon on SAMBO and you will see it is censored because it’s written Sambo.(sorry for the off topic rant mods!)
No worries on the keyboard, dude, thats what the OxyClean wipes are for.
Also, I don’t want you to think I was poking fun at SAMBO, or at you for being a practitioner. I know what its like to be the only guy in your dorm [or on campus for that matter] with a unique personal pasttime, or who knows that randori isn’t a style of Indian chicken.
I respect everyone pursuing martial arts, even if its something obscure in America and not found in every strip mall.
And yeah, if you put a gun to my head and made me guess, I’d say that if Fedor were to take regular matches with better opposition, he’d probably return to PRIDE-ful form in a year, maybe less.
Now whether or not that form would equate to similiar domination in today’s MMA and MMA HW fighters, and in a cage, remains to hopefully be seen…
Ok justin good point. His wrestling helps too. Also Bob Sapp you could say was no where near the athlete Lesner is. Dam it Justin now you are making me give Brock appraises…
Didn’t see this before my last comment.
It occurs to me how hysterical it would be after 75 or so comments on this thread and probably a zillion others in the mmafrenzy archives if Fedor were to lose to Josh Barnett [unlikely but possible] and Lesnar were to lose his next title defense [presumably against Carwin, and also unlikely but possible], we’d have to start breaking down a Carwin-Barnett fight, assuming Barnett would even return to the UFC?
I really do love this sport…
I don’t think the/us Anti-Fedor’ites out there are rallying behind Brock Lesnar. I definately think Fedor is overrated and nowhere near the list of best p4p fighters in the world and a Brock Lesnar loss does not change my position on that. I think they are issues independant of each other.
But I can definately sense the anti-climactic windfall that would surely ensue if both were to lose their next fights.
WVR would hold that up… again with the cross-promotional issue haha!
Barnett IMO would actually do well in a return to the UFC because his experience using top wrestling in an MMA setting would really help against the majority of the UFC fighters. He mostly has struggled against well… Cro Cop(3 losses in PRIDE) and in a cage I think he’d destroy Cro Cop by pinning him against the cage and taking away the strikes. He’s got a solid ground game and I’d love to see the rubber match between him and Big Nog.
If Fedor loses to Barnett he loses all of his aura and “Fedorness” and Dana will offer him a weaker contract, or completely drop the whole Fedor thing for good, if Brock loses his next fight the UFC will most likely begin to hype up Brock-Mir 3
If Fedor loses, Dana won’t offer him a contract because…there’s no reason to. Fedor wouldn’t be Fedor anymore, he’d be The Tub Formerly Known As Fedor and would have to change his name to some random tribal armband tattoo.
Does anybody know why exactly Fedor doesn’t like the UFC contract??? I haven’t heard much about why he doesn’t like the contract.
Thanks!!
i think it’s because the UFC will not allow him to compete in Sambo and other tournaments AND i think the price isn’t right, but i’m not too sure
Actually zac, Lesnar after all was said and done brought down reportedly close to $3 million. The 400 large was just his base salary.
If you do the math, Lesnar is clearing like 3 times what Fedor is, which sounds about right given the relative strength of their respective employers…
misterraggy – if you read some of the other posts on this thread, you’ll see a lot of theories and rationale behind why Fedor finds his UFC contract “not acceptable”.
There are 2 schools of thought on the Fedor contract thing. Simply put, one is that he’s an shrewd and egotistical businessman pulling all the strings with Monte Cox over at M-1 to squeeze every last dollar out of this sport that they can, and the other is that Fedor is a humble guileless country bumpkin with a supernatural knack for SAMBO and MMA that is being manipulated by Monte Cox and his wannabe Russian Mob manager Vadim Finkelstein so that they can squeeze every last dollar they can out of this sport.
I would suggest you do your own research and draw your own conclusions.
Hope that helps answer your question…
jcohl — Thanks man!!! He doesnt seem like he would care much about money, but he does look like a person that would care a ton about competing in Sambo. Ill research it. Thanks.
I agree…but im talking base…didnt Fedor take down over $1mil base in the last Affliction event?
Fedor just doesn’t want to go to the UFC dude. I can’t imagine the stipulations (if any) in his offer that would keep him from competing in the world’s best HW division. What else is it? MOney? I’m sure dana and the fertitas have offered him a suitable amount of $ to make the move.
to my knowledge Brock is one of the highest paid figheters in UFC with a $400,000/fight contract + bonus/ppv cut/etc. Fedor made $1mil plus in his last fight. There is a pretty big disparity.
and pretty big ego dude.
zac,
please see comment above…
“fedor’s 30-1″, “fedor’s ko’d former ufc champs”, “since fedor was in pride and now in affliction, anyone who isn’t a fan or doesn’t believe fedor is the best mma fighter ever, must only follow the ufc, i mean why else would they not agree with me”…there i said it for you
save it dude we’ve heard this before from “fedor nutt huggers”
It’s simple (Dbiz has said it before) his management(which may or may not have an illegitimate tie or 8, I mean just look at his brother Aleksander “eastern promises” Emelianenko it’s like ordering pork at a bar mitzvah… something isn’t kosher) loses too much if he signs the deal with the UFC. He’s the only viable star they have. If all the UFC had to do was buy out Fedor’s M-1 deal it’d been done by now.
Plus “officially” Fedor made 300K, Arlovski was the one who was guaranteed 1+ million.
I love Fedor and find him exciting to watch. Would I love to see him in the UFC.. forsure.. because one thing I don’t think anyone is arguing is that outside the UFC there really isn’t any heavyweights worth fighting anymore.
Fedor is one of those fighters that fights on a different level and does things that are constantly exciting and surprising. That’s whY i consider him on of the p4p best.. that and let’s face it.. because more important and in the know people then anyone on this website put him up there as 1 or 2.
Sad thing is unless the UFC can give a little we probably won’t ever see him fighting over here outside affliction. Does he think he’s the best in the world rightfully at HW? Sure.. he has one of the best records and regardless of what the naysayers would have you believe he HAS beaten great fighters in AMAZING fights and when AA fought him a lot of people thought he would win and he WAS high ranked at the time.
If he’s a can now he’s a can now but if we went through record sighting exactly when some formerly great fighters became cans many, many fighters MMA records would look a lot different.
I would love to see him in the UFC and would doubt that he is “ducking” competition here as the reason as Fedor is one of those fighters that enjoy pushing himself in fights. Also you can be damn sure that the UFC is throwing TONS of cash at him already.. it dosn’t seem to me like money is the issue it’s the control over the fighters the UFC wants that is making him and his people say no.
just think about it… EA is making an MMA game.. Jon Fitch won’t get a dime form it but he’s in it… just think about some of the things the UFC puts in contracts before you jump all over money being the issue.. because Fedor is already loaded guys. The UFC is known for shady contract weather you accept it or not it is a fact..
Fedor won’t ever sign with the ufc cause he knows he cant beat Brock
I hope fedor extorts the **** out of dana white and the UFC. just because the contracts they have with some of the fighters disgust me
Anyone think that Lesnar-Mir 3 would be cool? There’s a lot of more storrline now that Mir talked a lot of personal $hit and Brock did what he did after the fight at UFC 100. Mir would have to get passed 2 top 5 guys and Brock would have to defend against 2 top 5 guys which is a long shot, BUT maybe Fedor loses to Barnett, Couture gets lucky and beats Noguera and Fedor vs Couture happens?
mk4, I’d be shocked if there wasn’t a Mir-Lesnar 3 at some point.
You’ve got storylines, personal beefs, rubber match, the kneebar heard around the world, who’s the real champ, on and on the drama goes…
yeah i hope this fight happens in the future, Lesnar-Mir 3 would be bigger than Mir-Lesnar 1 and 2 all together and would be a huge draw across the board.
I don’t see it being any different to be honest. Mir won the first fight on a rookie mistake and this time Lesnar did exactly what he had to do to win. Unless Mir developed knockdown power and takedown defense I (just on the fight)wouldn’t really care about a 3rd fight. However, from a marketing side it’d be an easy “super fight” to sell.
i said it on several posts now- lesnar should fight in extra-heavy weight division. in my opinion, if there is 20 pounds difference, it should not count as a title fight.
I guess Randy should have never been HW champion after he came back from retirement then… according to that reasoning.
fedor can only hurt himself in taking on lesnar. so, in his place i’d ask for alot of $$$, in case he gets smashed by the vanilla gorilla.
Lesnar is just too strong and lots of techniques dont work on him as well.
the only true test of lesnar’s abilities is to fight someone of the same weight, so the technique would be the deciding factor, not brute weight.
aky”r
Please see my above comments about size not being the only deciding factor.
Insert snarky comment about desperately wishing that size didn’t matter.
Don’t hurt me, Justin.
im gonna settle this debate. [115+posts, wow] fedor sucks! why, because i said. i am the mma god and say who is good and who isnt.
i dont like fedor because he has way too many fans, so i am a hater. if you guys want to know who the future hw king is… his name is shane carwin. he is just as big as brock, and athletic, he has bigger hands, and has legit one punch ko power. he will destroy cain in thier fight in the first round. if im not mistaken none of his fights have made it to the 2nd round. thats dominance. dont give me that line that he hasnt beat anyone with a big name or whatever. he is the future. he doesnt even do mma full time. he has a job and still beasts mofo’s with a part time camp. imagine what he can do with a full time dedication of mma.
Not fighting opponents of merit is no detriment to the Fedor-lovers, bigchris2328, just look at their man’s record. It’s chockful of no-names, LHW or MW fighters, and guys that Dana White kicked to the curb for sucking out loud.
The there are the guys from the island of misfit fighters, like the tall guy and the fat guy and on and on…
In all seriousness, I think we’ll be able to better assess Fedor’s relative level of UFC readiness by how he does against Josh Barnett.
And by UFC readiness I don’t mean Fedor actually coming to the UFC, I mean him being still able to fight at the UFC level of MMA.
And if you’re wondering how the Fedor negotiations are going, fr702 has posted a very insightful clip over in the forum about them…
no offense but it’s going to be a short window for Carwin to get it while he can since he’s 34. So I can’t really call the guy the long term future. Cain is more likely that being under 30.
I think Fedor is the best and that the UFC has great fighters, but one has to look at the big picture – simply – the UFC needs to get rid of Dana White. This guy is a meatball to quote TIME MAGAZINE:
“Let me put it to you this way. I’ve done fight contracts with all the best fighters in the world,” he said, working his way to the knockout blow. “With big huge superstars — Brock Lesnar, Chuck Liddell, the list goes on and on. Who the f___ is Fedor? Are you serious? The guys who fight for me have a chance to make a lot more money fighting with me than with anybody else. If he signed with us, he’d find his place in history, find out if he really is the best heavyweight in the world.”
Best fighters: chuck? brock? list goes on and on… yeah right!
Who the F is fedor? and now you want him? Dana simply treats all ufc fighters like trash. Seems to me all Dana is about is money and muscles. He simply doesn’t have the class or professionalism to carry the UFC to the next level, just hear how he conducts himself (I deleted the you tube link, it was Dana’s rant @ Loretta Hunt and really imho has no place in this thread.. I did leave it up for 3 and a half hours) and this is a president of what should be a respectable sport.
Fedor should hold out for a better contract, or stick with affliction. Seems for some fighters money isn’t everything. I sure wouldn’t want to work for the UFC, given my skills (20 years of training), I’d probably only make $200 a fight, but wait if I gain 300 lbs, maybe a 800k???
Too much BS if you ask me. Mir beats lesnar, and lesnar gets title fight with couture, are you serious dana?
edit by FR702
There are sooo many things wrong with your opinon, I don’t even know where to start…. Clearly you’re anti Dana White just by your name alone.. I most likely will pull down the Loretta Hunt ranting video that you put up just because there is no place for it here in this thread….
You also are obviously unaware that Dana White is the president of the UFC not MMA, futhermore lets realize that he may rant and rave yet the man is leading a growing company that makes millions of dollars, I believe he might be doing something right… Chuck Liddell is a legand in MMA and yes it is collectively known throughout the world that ZUFFA employs the “best fighters” in the world.. Tho they don’t have Fedor signed to a contract doesn’t mean that Fedor isn’t great, he is no doubt I’m a huge fan but your anti~UFC stance is well just mis~informed. Lesnar fought (destroyed) Herring before fighting Randy (and before you say how does beating Herring get you a title shot, how does beating Big Country get you a shot against Fedor, clearly speaking of AA)…
20 years of training good for you my man thats good stuff, I myself have been training for 17years and the knowledge I’ve obtained over the years has been great for me…. ZUFFA hasn’t paid a fighter $200 dollars for a fight, com’on man do some basic research, I’m not here to put you on blast, but your opinon’s are just mis guided and it is clear that you are an anti UFC person and thats ok but goodness, you don’t even have an argument other than Dana cusses alot and gets passionate about MMA, and doesn’t complement his competition, so be it….
fr702 – you should have replaced his video with the one you posted over in the forums regarding Dana White and Fedor…
From my understanding, if Fedor were to sign with the UFC he would be bound to a self-renewing contract should he earn the belt. He would only be allowed to leave the organization after losing it. The Fertitta’s are willing to let him compete in Sambo, but Fedor doesn’t want to sign a contract that could potentially give the organization complete leverage over him after a single loss. His reasons for not signing are not monetary either; he was willing to accept a lower salary the first time negotiations were attempted. Money would be even less of an issue now considering the fact that he owns all of his Affliction footage.
Fedor’s record full of no-names, really ???????
He’s beaten both Nogueira and Cro-Cop when both fighters were in their prime.
Question marks over Fedor’s ability to still compete at the UFC level of MMA ???????
Not too long ago he KO’d both Sylvia & Arlovski who had both held the UFC HW title in the 12 months prior to their respective fights without breaking sweat.
Brock’s sheer size and strength could pose a significant factor in any potential bout with Fedor, but Brock aside Fedor would walk through the UFC’s HW division.
Fedor is the best lets just get that over with….guys lets all admit it fedor is the best!
notable wins-arona, kerry schall, babalu,semmy schilt,heath herrig, big nog(x2), gary goodridge,coleman(x2),fujita,Egidijus Valavicius , randleman,cro cop, hunt, lindland,hong man choi, tim sylvia, andrei arlovski
notable loses- none….except for a cut early in his career which was avenged
IMO I think this hurts Fedor in the Long Run as he has to continue to wait and the big money fights disappear as time progresses. Next month either Randy or Big Nog will be completely off the table and he will have dispatched Barnett on a card of lesser magnitude. He needs the UFC more than the UFC needs him as they have the name fight(Lesnar). The sad truth is Fedor is not known by the casual American fan… Look at all the opportunities Zuffa has for a large gate HVWt fight without Fedor;Lesnar versus CArwin/Cain V winner, Nogueira/Lesnar provided Big Nog bests Randy,with one more win Junior de Santos, Gonzaga should he beat Brocks training partner as you now have a promotable material, a rubber match with Mir, a HVWT outing by Liddell would be a major draw for Vegas….and Signing Lashley gives you all the the WWE fans and turns ever sports bar into a manifestation of the movie The Great White Hype. Fedor needs to get in line while they want him….
what does he really need? hes established himself as the no.1 HW, he’s a multi-millionaire, and he’s the pride of his country.
i dont know about it hurting fedor….becuase if you know fedor he could care less what american casual fans think of him…….he knows hes the best HW and he will continue to fight for a living and make plenty of money…most likely more than the ufc would give him outside of the ufc anyways…….Fedor is so calm, he doesnt really care if he’s not big…i mean who honestly care’s he knows the hardcore fans know who he is and most of them acknowledge him as the best hw and at least top 3 p4p…and thats all that matters…..i mean if you look at the video about fedor’s life…you can see he lives around family values and hard work….he’s not living a lavish lifestyle like alot of people think he is….but i think it can easily be proved that fedor is the best hw in the world with just this quote from freddie roach after fedor ko’d arlovski
On Fedor: “He’s the best,” says Freddie Roach, the famed fight trainer . “He so calm. He sees things happening. If you make a mistake, he’ll knock you out. That’s the mark of a great fighter.
GUN…totally with you buddy, its just too many Dana White nut-huggers that dont respect the last 10 years of the sport, think that Anderson Silva has and will never lose a match, and Brock Lesnar cant be beaten because he has lots of muscles.
133 COMMENTS….WOW
zac, silva will lose to maia. take that to the bank, and brock will be ktfo’d by carwin. bank on that too. fedor is good, but the only fight worth mentioning in the ufc is with brock. after that who does he have? by the time he were to sign [which will be like a year] carwin will have beat brock. i doubt he would sign to fight carwin. dana is making a fuss about fedor, because he believes brock can beat him. and the sad part is, brock will beat fedor by applying his mir technique. fedor cant stop brock from taking him down. fedor is more of randy’s body type, and randy didnt stop brock. the only guy in the ufc that has the ability to neutralize brock’s laying on them technique is carwin, also carwin has the 1 punch ko power. brock has a questionable chin, [randy rocked him]. but jcohl has informed us that there are guys in the islands of hawaii who are just as big as brock, but more athletic that might make the jump to ufc in a few years. what happens when someone brock/carwin’s size has a bjj game at the blackbelt level? answer- they are unbeatable.
bigchris2328, so have you informed your fiance that your first 2 sons are going to be named Shane and Carwin?
And yeah, if you look back at the Travis Lutter fight, it seems as if Anderson Silva isn’t all that into being grounded. Trust me, when Demiam Maia eventually gets his shot, Silva is going to be spending more time on the mat in that one fight than he has in the last couple years, and thats not good news for the Spider…
Finally, thanks for remembering bigchris2328, yes definitely there are guys working now in the Islands in local shows that can match Lesnar’s size and probably equal or even surpass his overall athleticism. Are they ready today for the UFC ?, no, but when you’re in your mid 20’s you have time on your side.
They also might not have his college championship wrestling pedigree, but its not inconceivable that in the next couple years one or two of them [if they haven't already done so] might find their way into Gracie Technics in Honolulu, 808 Fight Factory in Waipahu, or even a certain cracker factory-turned-MMA gym over in Hilo run by some guy named Penn…
Also, just to put a specific name to one of those up and coming HW’s who’ve worked in Hawaii that I’ve previously referenced and will be making their undefeated [7-0] debut for Strikeforce in [I think] August is Shane del Rosario.
I’m sure from here on out our resident Strikeforce expert fr702 can fill us in on del Rosario’s progress.
The up side is that he was on Team USA West in the M-1 Challange and probably has the most potential this side of Cain Velasquez. His last fight ran all of 22 seconds, where he finsihed the HW from Fedor’s M-1 team via TKO/ref stoppage. He’s finished all but 1 of his fights in the first round, with 6 of his 7 fights ending via KO or TKO, with one submission.
Tall, athletic, probably will fight around 240, not as heavy as Brock Lesnar, but taller and far quicker, is also a former Thai boxing champion, and trains with Team Oyama, which is regarded as one of the better Thai boxing/BJJ mash-up camps in the country. Both Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson have trained there in the past, so they must be doing something right.
The downside is that del Rosario’s been rumored to be contemplating a move down to LHW as he recovers from a hand injury.
If this guy stays at HW, and continues working on getting his ground game to match his stand-up, he could definitely make some noise in a year or two. Or less in Stikeforce where their HW ranks are thin.
You heard it here first…
Fedor has earned everything with hard work, determination and the support of his friends and family. He’s very proud and doesn’t need the UFC to make him wealthy (he is already), or to solidify him being a great fighter and person (he already has). So why would he take any crap from them? Here’s hoping Fedor and the UFC work something out, I would love to see him fight in the octagon before retiring. Lesnar is tough, but he will get Emelianen-ko’d.
Fedor has to care about his legacy…He’s giving too much to the sport not to care. BTW I am not trying to promote Dana’s side of this, just looking at the tide of popular interest and the water is flowing away from Fedor. A sad truth is a good portion of today’s fans don’t even recall Barnett in the UFC.Just about any fight with Lesnar will outgross anything Fedor can do without ZUffa and that doesn’t even take into account counterprogramming(Anybody else think 98 will be on Spike next month?).Not saying its right its just what is today. Even Shaq-Lesnar is getting the front page of yahoo.
he has a legacy he is a legend is russia……plus alot of people dont understand fedor he isnt one of those people who just love the limelight…..he lurks in the shadows he doesnt care about being that huge star…..even though to hardcore fans he knows hes a star……I know plenty of casual fans who already know who he is from other things like sports science and the internet…..just because he doesnt fight in the ufc doesnt mean anything….fedor wakes up trains spends time with his family, goes to church, talks to fans and trains again that who he is……Hes care so little, why do you think he is so calm…even in victory he isnt jumping up and down he just smiles and walks back to his corner…he is not the kind of guy most american fighters are he loves fighting for his country and he has thats the most important to him