Dana White: Fedor is a Joke, Will Fight Nobodies for No Money
UFC President Dana White was in Abu Dhabi yesterday on business when news broke that top-heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko would pass on the UFC’s lucrative offer by accepting a contract with Strikeforce that offered co-promotion.
Here’s White’s response to the signing from Cagewriter:
“I’m in Abu Dhabi right now and my reaction is Fedor is a [expletive] joke. [He] turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies, for no money. Fedor is a [expletive].
“I feel sorry for the real fans! I wanted to make the deal but it takes two and it is VERY obvious Fedor doesn’t want to fight the best and doesn’t give a [expletive] about the fans.”
Seeing Fedor refuse to fight the world’s best heavyweights is a huge disappointment, and while Strikeforce has some good heavyweights (Overeem, Werdum, Rogers), its division is second-tier compared to the UFC’s roster. The UFC offered Fedor the best contract possible in an attempt to lure him to the Octagon, but ultimately co-promotion was more import to Emelianenko and his M-1 Global management team than competition, and as fans we’re left wondering whether he’s truly the top heavyweight without seeing him in head-to-head matchups with the world’s best.
Tags: Dana White, Fedor Emelianenko
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Well I think everyone knew this was coming from Dana, but it wasn’t all that necessary. You can cry in public every time you don’t get your way…
As for calling overeem and werdum good? I don’t know about that. Sure Rogers is good, but he wouldn’t last 5 minutes with fedor… Pretty disappointing, but I’d say it’s time to forget whining, and focus more on how awesome this weekends ppv is gonna be.
On the other hand, he can point out the so-called greatest HW in MMA is ducking competition and try to reassure the fanbase that drives all MMA that he made a serious pass at Fedor and the breakdown is out of his control.
As far as necessity…Yes, it rather was. Sure the InsideMMA guys will spin this as the reason Fedor didn’t sign and to some extent they may be right. But the real reason is the passage from his interview with Bas that the Fedorians cite: Fighting the best. He has zero interest in it DESPITE what he has said.
He’s a paper champ of TWO dead MMA orgs. Hopefully people will really start to see him for what he is. A has-been who never really was.
WAMMA was never a org and Affliciton never had a title fight
Look, Mr. “My Av Looks Like Anthony Keidis on Viagra”…I already put one fatwa out on you and I haven’t forgotten it.
Affliction MMA was WAMMA and WAMMA was Affliction MMA. Without one, there wouldn’t be the other. No coincidence they both up and disappeared like a fart in the breeze at the same time.
If you’re going to make me type out every possible combination of wordswhen it should be understood, I’ll be more long-winded than jcohl and grumpier than…well….me.
O sunshine relax and well I will agree that WAMMA was created to put that belt around Fedor’s waist… But they weren’t the same group or ran by the same people… So if you have chosen to put that fartwama or what the F ever on me fine you don’t bother me nor scare me what so ever
You have forced my hand, sir….
I, the Grand Sultan of Smackdownistan, hereby declare that all available hypnotists shall concentrate their considerable might on the Large Being known as FR702 to give him a Diaz lithp, that we all may chuckle mightily whenever he raitheth hith fitht of editing on thith thite.
DBiZ,
My friend (well you don’t accept friend requests you rebel you) I will let that one go cuz honestly I was expecting much much more from you.. You are better than that honestly and you know it. Perhaps Jcohl has stolen your thunder hell I don’t know what it is.. Maybe you were being nice to me because honestly I’ve never attacked you and you have a tendouncy to be pleseant to me.. Or perhaps it is just early and your liver hasn’t filterd the toxins of a long Monday night out of your body.. Either way thank you for talking with me, its been awhile
Actually, I never log in after my little hissy fit and clearing of all contacts here. I saw notes about messages and such come through my email, but as long as I can input a name and email, that’s how I’m gonna go.
i couldn’t be happier. i get to see fedor fight on showtime for 11
bucks a month (which i’m already paying)i get to see carrano v.s. cyborg, i get to see nick diaz and jake shields, all basically for free. screw dana and his $50 without even showing the undercard. the ufc heavyweight division isn’t that great, all those fighters will lose to lesnar, get dumped by the ufc and show up on showtime against fedor for free….
@ the rob
Maybe you should learn the difference between “crying in public” and calling a spade a spade.
And while you’re at it, quit hyping a paper champion. It gives the rest of us who know exactly who and what Fedor is the hives when we have to read Fedorian crap like that…
Ha – I’m sorry.. but you mock Overeem and Werdum but say Rogers is good…. ROGERS…come on man… im not saying Rogers is bad… but to say he is better than those 2 is not true… Rogers beat a glassed jaw Arlovski…ok… who else? No one? Ok… Overeem and Werdum has faced WAY better talent than him and are talented – more so than Rogers…
Let Rogers beat another big name or 2, then I will say the same.. but until then… Overeem, Werdum, then Rogers – in that order.. for talent… (when talking about those 3 – not Fedor)
Its all about $$$ and the future of MMA. Fedor isnt afraid to lose you sillys. Fedor just lost dana 100 million. Fedor in the UFC would have been the Biggest draw ever, 6 fights(cha-ching). Fedor is smart and will never be Dana’s ****.
Imagine that Fedor’s goal in life isn’t to make money for goons. Cost dana 100 million, lmao. Now Fedor is my hero, never cared about money anyway.
By can cry, I meant can’t…
It honestly blows my mind that this whole “co-promotion” thing is such a big deal to Fedor. Honestly, it is disconcerting. Dana White is right, “Fedor is a fu<king joke". I'm over it. I'm done with this whole mess.
Well, I guess that’s the end of it. Unless Strikeforce folds in the next year, by the time the deal ends his skills will be diminished. Then if he fights in UFC and loses all we’ll hear is he would have won in his prime.
Sad – but it’s time to move on.
wow im happy dana finnaly spoke his mind about fedor lol
scared of BROCK
dam-n right!
i think thats exactly it
I still can not believe that this whole “co-promotion” thing is such a big deal to Fedor. Honestly, Fedor’s actions are diconcerting. Dana White said it the best, “Fedor is a ****ing joke”. I’m done with this whole mess. Eff it, movong on.
*disconcerting
Fabricio Werdum good???? Brett Rogers good???? Maybe in Fedoria the Fedorians want to believe that these are good fighters and “top competition” for Fedor, but NO, Fedor will most likely never face any real top level competition in MMA, he is a joke who ruined his reputation and showed everyone his true colors.
dude as a Fedor fan I can’t pretend to say it’s top competition, but I’m not a true Fedorian.
yeah dude, i can see it now..Brett Rogers in one corner and Fedor in the other, the announcer introducing Fedor while a Fedorian in the crowd…”do it for Fedoria” with a belief that Fedor is about fight “top competition”, “com on Fedor, the Fedorians are behind you 100%”
.
@ chrisl
You always get a pass when it comes to Fedor, my friend.
Anyone with a kurtka hanging on the back of their door is entitled to rep their sport’s Michael Jordan, and you do it both reasonably and respectfully.
Rogers may be. And he is as tested as some of the UFC guys that get their names tossed around. And I would say Overeem is up there a ways too, although overall the level of competition is lower.
And I can’t stand the Heavyweight Chumpion of the WAMMA.
His true colors: a yellow red.
Shall we change his fighter nickname to “The Last Tuna”?
I love it dbiz, hence forth he shall be known as “The Last Tuna”.
Dana is 100% right. This was Fedor’s chance to go mainstream and he blew it because he got too greedy. I’d be pissed if I was Dana too. The guy has worked his butt off to create the greatest fighting organization on the planet and some **** russian fighter wants a piece of it just to be signed? Who the hell does Fedor think he is?
Fedor is a fighter, his company sucks at promotion, so why would he ask for promoter status? What a loser!
What does being Russian have to do with this have to do with this situation? What if he was American or English would you say the same?
edit~FR702
I’m shocked it took this long for a retort from Dana.
my question though is why is Dana in the United Arab Emirates for business…
ADCC is my guess.
He wants to educate the people there on the UFC and he has often stated that he wants to put a show on there…. Probably forming some deal of some sort!
Yeah thought that but that’s in Barcelona this year.
No, the actual championship is in Barcelona this year, all the principle players (trainers, fighters, managers) are in Abu Dhabi still.
very true!
ADCC is a good guess…and makes some sense in light of the submission grappling exhibition the UFC hosted during the 100 weekend.
Plus I’ve read/seen/heard in multiple media that the leadership in Dubai are hellbent on turning their country into a sort of global Las Vegas, with everything that entails, which I would assume is MMA, and the UFC.
I worked in the hospitality industry for years before starting my own business, and every major hotel chain and casino group has had an eye on Dubai for years…
*Abu Dhabi, not Dubai.
Apologies.
Jcohl you are only have to change the first of the Dubai’s to Abu Dhabi.
I think the co promotion is about seeing Fedor fight. M-1 Global has TV rights in 12-15 countries. All of Fedors loyal fanbase is in those countries. Can you imagine Brock or Randy signing with a company that would not be able to show thier fights in America? Dana should have worked out something instead of throwing money at it. From what Dana and M-1 say, it was an offer and thats it. Take it or leave it, no negotiations. Oh well, when he and Brock clean out the devisions, maybe we can see them fight. Fingers crossed.
M-1 does not have exclusive MMA broadcast rights in Russia or anywhere else. Dana could have and I believe work out his own broadcast deal.
M-1 wanted money and no effort for Fedor’s shows.
Fedor wanted nothing to do with Dana and the UFC to begin with. He and “his people” went into negotioations with a hardcore shield AND with hella demands. The “UFC”, the fans, the octagon and BROCK scared the hell out of fedor and i don’t think fedor believes his own hype so he opted out of getting his ass whooped by going with strikeforce.
Co-Promotions can’t be THAT important can they? especially with M-1!!
Good to hear dana say what we all NON fedorians are thinking.
Dana hasn’t inked a TV deal yet but says that one is coming in Russia and Japan very soon.
Co-promotion CAN be that important if it is the only way to give yourself any legitimacy, Jazz.
M-1 is trying desperately to be a somebody. They do this by puffing themselves up publically. Unfortunately, they are stuffing the captain of the chess team into his locker over, and over, and over.
Now they’re roughing up the punter, but still not taking on the REAL football team.
wow……what a bunch of idiots. Fedor is the single best fighter in the whole world, and by some margin. If UFC wants his 3 fight lesnar to be known as the best heavy weight, let them conduct a 1 fight deal with strike force/M1…….lesnar vs fedor. And strike force/M1 wouldn’t have any problem with that. Nor would Fedor
You’re not serious, are you? How is Fedor the single best fighter in the world? Because he beat an ogre and glass-chinned werewolf? Who else has he beat in the past, lets say 4 years that is worth mentioning? Have you ever heard of Miguel Torres or GSP? Their skills are far superior than that of Fedor’s.
Also, why would the UFC agree to a one time matchup with another promotion pitting their champ vs Fedor? That doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.
One more question, how’s the view from Fedor’s grundle.
You must be the guy running for President Of Planet Fedoria
i would not be disappointed by a Fedor v Lesnar UFC Strikeforce/M-1 1 time deal.
I think for the timespan of 2000-2009 Fedor is the best HW and Pound for Pound champ. The problem with Miguel Torrez, GSP, etc. is that they havent been around long enough to make that declaration. GSP lost to Matt Serra. You can make excuses about getting lucky etc, but GSP lost to MATT SERRRA. Fedor didnt lose by KO or Tap to junk competition ever. Miguel needs to fight 10 more times and not lose a single fight.
I’m sorry Zac, but your opinion is wrong. Torres and GSP haven’t been around long enough to be considered P4P the best? 1) Since when was that a criteria 2) Torres has been fighting for 9 years and has only lost once (record of 37-1 while Fedor’s is 30-1-1) and GSO has been fighting for 7 years. Also, Fedor has not continually faced the level of competition that both of these guys have faced and that statement is doubly true for recent competition. Rethink what you wrote, check your facts and then reply with the correct opinion.
Thanks, ether. At this rate, Fedor won’t GET to 37 wins, fighting once a year because of broken hands and general crybabiness.
Well said, EtherBunny.
Fez,
what will be your first act as President Of Planet Fedoria?
Fez’s got his head shoved up fedors “bandwagon” so far that he’s unable to accept simple fact. We’re not making any of this up fez. Fedor really did sign with affliction. Etherbunny brought up a great point. Name someone worth mentioning in the past couple of years that your sultan fedor has beat that would solitify him as the “single best fighter in the whole world”. Let it go man, fedor showed his true colors, character and he showed how much he respects and cares about you fedorians by passing on what would have been the best competition for him to really prove himself.
*strikeforce NOT affliction
Why should the premiere MMA org give away half their money to someone else on anything? If Fedor wanted to prove that he is the best, he had several chances. He candy-assed his way out of it. That says more than all those who floss with Russian short-n-curlies that flock here.
Why should the premiere MMA org give away half their money to someone else on anything?
because the fans want it….and it would be a huge payday for all involved that UFC/Strikeforce would both make loads of cash on. And they wouldnt be losing anything by doing it.
Except…if the UFC gives away half off the top, they aren’t making any more money than not doing it at all. It makes ZERO business sense. They aren’t in business to make fanboys happy, they are in business to put on good fights that make them money.
ok…maybe you are smarter than i am, but i still dont get your point.
By not doing the 1 fight co-promotion, UFC, Strikeforce and M-1 make nothing, and fans dont get to see the fight. (Fedorians dont get to see Fedor kick the crap out of Brock “Sean Sherk” Lesnar, and non-Fedorians dont get to see Brock “Sean Sherk” Lesnar get to kick the crap out of the old decrepid, overrated Fedor.
By doing the 1 fight co-promotion that everyone wants to see, we assume that UFC only gets half and cannot negotiate for 75% etc. This PPV easily gets 1.5mil PPV buys, and a live gate of at LEAST whatever UFC 100 did but we’ll say they only make $5mil.
PPV- $75mil and live gate-$5mil = $80mil for those following at home
Even if UFC only gets $40 mil of that (despite the extra sponsorship revenue etc. they would get) I’m guessing that is more than they get on any UFC Fight Night event.
No seriously DBiz…as a fan you dont want to see this fight? I know that they arent in business to “keep fanboys happy” but seriously, you dont think that $40mil is worth it for any of these companies? Or does your anti-Fedor bitterness really believe that $40mil “makes no business sense.”
First of all: The UFC has never seen 80 mil in PPV buys/gate. Ever. Do you know why? Because over $2.50 of each PPV buy would go directly to Brock and an equal amount would go to Fedor, and that assumes the deals haven’t gotten better for the fighters since the Randy contract dispute.
Then take out the cut for the cable companies (which, based on my cable bills as an example of industry greed, will be 25-40%). Then take out the cut for the PPV distributors (also likely to be at least 10%). Out of that $45 PPV, the UFC would likely see…5 or 10 bucks. So, the PPV will NET the promoters around…*pulls out the calculator* a total of 7.5M – 15M. Now cut that in half (or more likely thirds since you have the UFC, M-1, and Strikeforce). Why bother for the 2.5M – 5M BEFORE salaries (which were almost 1.5M at UFC 100)?
Ah, but there is the gate, you say. UFC 100 did 5M live gate. Divided by three. 1.67M.
Now don’t forget M-1’s M.O. They co-promote but don’t eat costs. So the UFC and/or Strikeforce eat the cost of the facility, the people to staff it, the security, the crew to set up and take down… That “huge” PPV take is about gone, isn’t it?
And M-1 walks away with their 4.2-7.7M, plus whatever they can extort from Fedor.
Sure, there is some sponsorship revenue, but not enough to make up that gap. Not worth it for the UFC on any level.
P.S. There’s no maybe on that one, zac.
alright man…im done posting on this topic after this one…but i seriously doubt that you have any idea about what ur talking about as far as PPVs go. You are saying for UFC 100 (according to your math) that:
UFC 100 PPV total would be $15 mil (assuming $10 UFC nets from the buy after the Lesnar/Mir main event fees, “cable company fees,” ppv provider fees) assuming nobody else on the card got any of the PPV!. and $5 mil live gate making it $20mil? yea…i bet they only made $20 mil.
Not likely.
Anyone who STILL needs to be educated at this point on the ills of co-promoting with M-1 Global either hasn’t been paying attention, or doesn’t understand the information already posted by those who took the time to do their research.
Regardless, they’re not going to “get it” no matter how many times we try to se the record straight on this Fedor/M-1 Global/co-promotion thing, so at some point we need to cut our losses and move on…
The difference between you and me, zac, is that you “think” and type, I spend hours googling and type. A lot of that info is a bit older but at the same time thoroughly researched.
I “think” I’ve seen your name around a bit, so I would hope you would remember how much research I put into some of the MMA pay series of posts I’ve done. You might even remember them the first time around.
Let me recap for you. Taking info from Randy’s disputed contract with the UFC we found that the 1M PPV mark is right around where it went to $2.50 per PPV. That was for Randy in about 2006ish. It is entirely possible that, at that time, he would be the only one on a card to get anything close to that.
Now, however…the landscape looks different. A Fedor-Brock matchup would absolutely NOT be one-sided liek that. both would insist and may even be contracted for equal PPV percentages. That’s a BIG chunk, whether you agree with all the math or not, right?
Now, unless we’re going to have one big fight and a bunch of nobodies, you have to assume the possibility of a couple of those fights per card. That is a lot of money to be shelling out when ONE PARTY HAS NEVER PAID A SINGLE COST in co-promoted events.
Either way, it makes no sense for the UFC to enter into the one-sided co-promotions that M-1 does. It doesn’t matter if they do 50M PPV buys, it still doesn’t make financial sense. It didn’t make sense 2 years ago when Pride got bought, it doesn’t make sense now when Fedor’s rusty, it won’t make sense in another year when Fedor comes up for negotiation again.
Look at the numbers you are putting up there on your end…Give up half of what it cost to buy Pride just for one fight? Really?
Also, zac, go back to my rants on who “gets it.” The money in MMA and combat sports in general is not off tickets and PPV buys, it is merchandising and sponsorships. I suspect my numbers are much closer to the mark than yours.
Really Fez?
The single best fighter in the the whole wild world?
Is that what they told you when your signed Fedor poster and your new limited edition platinum Fedor trading card set arrived at your house?
Does it say it right on your Fedor Fan Club membership card that Fedor’s number one?
Unreal.
Why don’t you run along Fez and go back to watching five year-old Fedor fights on youtube, and let the grownups get back to the business of intelligently discussing CURRENT MMA issues, OK?
ha hears a guy who hears somethin and just runs with it, dana gave his chance and he knew it’d be his demise, sucks that people are so ignorant they believe ****, screw 1 fight deals lets see them compete
I used to be excited to see Fedor fight. Now I am over him and I really hope he gets beat down. I just hope Strikeforce doesn’t invest all they have in him and blow a bunch of money and pull another Elite XC/Kimbo. I would hate to see them go down just because Fedor loses. UFC 101 is gonna be the Shiznit!
i don’t wonder, there is no doubt Fauxdor is a punk. A scared one at that.
I agree with Dana. The only fight that makes sense for the fans and for MMA is a Lesnar vs. Fedor fight. The UFC gave on all his demands except co-promotion and he still would not sign the deal. Co-promotion is out of the question if you have any business sense. You do not build a successful business and then give your competitors a piece of your pie. Fedor is no longer one of the best p4p fighters because he had an opportunity to fight the next best HW and he decided to run and hide. The Fedor hype is OVER!
Dana got that right!
Well the only guy that has a shot to beat Fedor is Brock. Most of the other heavyweights in the UFC don’t have the experience YET to hang with Fedor or Brock and Brock is new to the game. Yea he would have made a lot more in the short term with the UFC, but I’m sure he’s thinking long term and trying to get M-1 into the mainstream, so he has a future after fighting. Why sign with the UFC when as of now there’s really only one guy to fight, when he can get his company into the american market. I hate that Fedor did sign with StrikeForce as much as the rest of you, but I understand why he did.
Lesnar is NOT the only guy with a shot to beat Fedor.
Back when Fedor first had the opportunity to enter the UFC when Zuffa bought PRIDE and face Randy Couture, I would have picked Couture in a cage over Fedor. Now Fedor has waited long enough to let time, and his manager, do something he couldn’t do, namely, take Couture out of the picture.
Also, currently I like Frank Mir against Fedor because he has a better submission game and has regained his championship form, in spite of his loss to Lesnar.
Not to mention Fedor appears each year exactly twice as often as Santa, so in Lesnar and Mir Fedor’s first “year” would be booked, and allow time for Velasquez and Carwin to polish their games. Randy Couture IMO would have fought for a bout with Fedor in spite of his advancing age, because he’s said on multiple occasions it was the one opponent he wanted that he hasn’t gotten yet.
Also, with Mirko still hanging around like Lurch from the Addams Family, Fedor would have had plenty of opportunities, and not just to “fight on guy”.
The UFC represented the old sports adage of “high risk, and high reward”, in that the promotion had multiple quality opponents capable of dispelling the Fedor myth, while Strikeforce, the org he signed with, surprisingly has almost no one to challange Fedor.
Rogers IMO is too inexperienced, and needs a real haircut, Werdum simply isn’t very good at what he does, and Overeem is a quality kickboxer who lacks an effective ground game.
So its good that YOU understand why Fedor signed with Strikeforce, because most of the rest of us see it as taking the easy way out, and preseving a manufactured mythic status.
And Spud, do you think that Fedor is really going to push M-1 Global into the mainstream? Casual fans will only see the Strikeforce and Showtime logos, and more educated fans know M-1 Global for the steaming pile of WAMMA that it really is.
Fedor by waving off the UFC deal and taking a Strikeforce deal with the co-promotional stipulation has taken money out of his own pocket and shunted it into the hands of the parasites that feed off of him, first and foremost Vadim Finkledouchestein…
Good post…Add Brocks training partner and Gonzaga to the list. Even Napao is capable of beating him with a solid gameplan…
The ONLY guy who has a shot to best Fedor is Brock? Simply stated Mir beat Brock so what about him? Not to mention the other top tier talent that poses a serious threat.
While I wouldn’t go so far as to call Fedor a joke, co promotion makes no sense for the UFC at all. I wish I could have explained why it doesn’t, but dbiz thoroughly ripped zac a new one in doing so.
I’m a big Fedor fan (and stand by my opinion that the Russian mob is involved in this), Strikeforce will do nothing but tarnish his legacy.
The problem is this, M~1 Global has worked on tarnishing Fedor’s legacy Eldiablo, how is Strikeforce going to do nothing but tarnish his legacy? They are going to give him every opportunity to fight the best that they can give him, I know that their HW division isn’t exactly the UFC’s but come on man its not like Scott Coker is going to allow Fedor to fight Zulu again.. I just don’t see how the organization of Strikeforce is going to tarish Fedors legacy, hasn’t his management worked on that for years now? not Strikeforce……
Fedor’s legacy is already tarnished, he’s made himself look like a a money hungry guy who’s scared to fight real top level competition. And that’s funny about the Russia mob dude, you might be on to something
Sorry to seem like I’m gang-tackling you here, Eldiablo, but yeah, Strikeforce can only HELP Fedor’s sh!t-awful image and tattered legacy these days, not tarnish it any further.
Yes, its true that Strikeforce doesn’t YET have UFC-level talent at HW, but they will put him in the cage with legitimate HW MMA fighters, and not aging MWs, LHWs, the morbidly obese, and other such sideshow attractions.
Overeem is in his prime, and Brett Rogers is Strikeforce’s Next Big Thing. I also think M-1 Global has a guy named Shane Del Rosario in their org, and just threw a beating to the HW for Fedor’s M-1 challange series on the 4th of July, and if he continues to develop he would make a decent opponent for Fedor.
And of course there’s Werdum.
Obviously these guys aren’t Lesnar, Mir, Couture, BigNog, Carwin, Velasquez, etc., but they are the best Strikeforce can produce, and thats saying something considering Fedor’s last few Afflicted opponents are in the habit of fighting guys like Ray Mercer and Jose Canseco…
IMO Best chance for an interesting major money HVWT title fight without Zuffa would be coaxing Igor V. out of retirement for a battle of the Bears…The others just sound like a chorus of capable Buster Douglas hopefuls….
well said dana fedor an all his fans who lick his butt can go f*ck there selves if that offends any fedor fans that good if i offend any mma fans then sorry but u all no im right!!!!
Fedor and M1 are going to get less money with Strikeforce than the UFC, correct? There’s some controversy over the actual numbers, I think part of M1’s smoke and mirrors game.
Also where does Roger Gracie fight out of? There’s a matchup for Fedor.
I wouldn’t count Brett Rogers out……sure likely a non-existant ground game, but he’s a big guy and has fast, heavy hands. At any rate, I would laugh my ass off if Fedor gets demo’d in Strikeforce.
As usual Dana is running his mouth without thinking of the consequences. He’d already ruined chances of signing Fedor when his M1 contract was up by saying that no fighter on the EA game would ever fight in the UFC, but now he’s calling him a joke! The only joke in the MMA world is Brock Lesnar and Dana made him! Fedor does want to fight the best and always has but obviously Dana didn’t want to make that happen. The UFC didn’t want to make the deal that Strikeforce was brave enough to make. Dana is just not used to dealing with people who honor the contracts they already have in place. Maybe if the UFC got back to having real athletes represent the Heavyweight division Fedor would be interested but as long as
some steroid freak on a roidrampage is the competition who’d wanna waste their time?Rather than pick apart your comment, statement by statement I’m going to tell you that making false acqusations on someone well just isn’t looked at kindly here at the FrenZy, so please stop attempting to garner attention by making false assumptions such as these, Thank You~ FR702
Not worth the time…
Isn’t there some sort of minimum basic MMA knowledge test that the frenZy could administer to weed out posters like the ironically-named “fightfan”?
lol
I tried to resist the urge to feed the troll but…
If Fedor didn’t want to fight Steroid freaks, why did he fight in Pride?
“OH! On the button!”
Ok if strikeforce is so thin on competition for Fedor maybe they should go tournament style here and let all 3 guys fight Fedor in on night….
US athletic commissions won’t allow that.
AMENDED VERSION:
I like Fedor and believe he’s a great fighter but considering the following should help us get over our disappointment that he will not fight in the UFC.
If Fedor was seriously interested in fighting the best, he would sign with the UFC; nothing else would suffice; we don’t need to go into detail regarding how weak (relatively speaking) Werdum et al are.
Is Fedor “the best” HW? Who has he beaten? Some skilled fighters but he’s never faced anyone like Lesnar or Carwin (I say Carwin because, by all indications, Carwin will unmask Velasquez in spectacular fashion). Lesnar’s size coupled with more than adequate speed, strength, power and skills are such that, making an assumption that Fedor would beat him appears foolish; and Carwin seems prepared to really test Lesnar; predicting a winner in a match between them is very difficult.
There is an excellent possibility that Lesnar and or Carwin would manhandle Fedor. Undoubtedly, M-1 is cognizant of this as there appears to be no other rational reason for Fedor to avoid the UFC. The UFC was not going to screw him (contract-wise). On the contrary, Fedor would have made a pile of money; many times more than any other MMA fighter ever has, especially since he was offered a part of the PPV take. Thus, to avoid having to sign with the UFC, UFC personnel were accused of being disrespectful, unwilling to pay Fedor what he is presumably worth and finally, to ensure that Fedor would not fight in the UFC (as White et al could do something about the “disrespectful” and tight-fisted accusations) M-1 insisted that they be co-promoters (despite being unprepared to promote successfully) knowing full well that the UFC could not honor that request even if it wanted to do so. That is because in Nevada, the state gaming commission has strict requirements regarding who can promote fights in their state. A Fedor fight co-promoted by M-1 and the UFC might take years and fighting in another venue would apparently adversely affect the UFC’s position for future Nevada/Vegas fights if it was not prohibited altogether.
It seems M-1 would prefer to keep the mystery alive especially since many have prematurely pronounced Fedor as best anyway. We may never know unless he soon fights someone of Lesnar’s or Carwin’s caliber and that is not in sight at the present. Note that a fighter over 250 lbs. should, I believe, be in a different weight class; e.g. Superheavyweight. Thus, Lesnar’s “caliber” is inextricably tied to his immense size. However, the rules and weight divisions as they currently stand indicate that Lesnar and Fedor are both in the same class (re size).
The bottom line: It’s as I’d mentioned: It’s NOT to hard to imagine Lesnar beating Fedor (assuming Carwin doesn’t beat Lesnar) unless he got careless a la Arlovski; a fighter who by many accounts, is inferior to many UFC HWs but who nevertheless was nicely pummeling Fedor until he got careless. Lesnar could also lose if he continues to trade more muscle for fat as he did between the Herring and second fight against Mir.
Fedor’s strength (which throws a monkey wrench into all of my calculation): his humbleness and his respect for God which has carried him a long way (as he’s not the most impressive physical specimen).
So, because it would be such a great and interesting match-up, difficult to tell who would win, we the fans have really lost out as has the sport by Fedor’s puzzling loyalty to M-1; an organization that does not seems to have his best interests as a priority (the lone exception being preservation of his status as presumed best HW).
Deleted the “unamended” version.
@ wesley-
Just as an FYI, Fedor is reportedly the majority owner of M-1 Global, so his “loyalty” to the organization isn’t all that puzzling.
It’s all about self-preservation.
M-1 Global is a sham MMA promotion built solely on the mythic status of Fedor being the best MMA HW in the world, which he isn’t, the biggest star in MMA, which he isn’t, and the planet’s best p4p fighter, again, which he isn’t.
In the UFC that mythic status would have been dispelled pretty quickly by the rampaging Lesnar, and probably Fedor’s remaining crediblity shredded by men like Mir and Carwin in subsequent fights.
In Strikeforce, Fedor can slow walk himself into a title fight, and against far less intimidating opponents than Brock Lesnar or Shane Carwin, and less skilled opponents like Frank Mir. No disrespect to Alistair Overeem, Fabricio Werdum or Brett Rogers intended.
Thankfully, this Fedor thing is just about buttoned up for now, and the Fedorians can go back to their PRIDE pizza parties and Last Emperor sleepovers…
Not trying to harsh on you, but where are you getting your “majority owner” from? I’ve seen that Fedor only owns as little as 20%.
I had read previously that Fedor owned half of the promotion, and his manager owned another 20%, but if I have that wrong I’m always willing to admit to error, especially when I stand corrected by Justipedia…
Also, depending on how the shares of M-1 Global are split up, 20% could still make him a general managing partner, but not a majority owner.
And if Fedor doesn’t have that much of a stake in M-1 Global, then his insistance on staying with them, and maintaining Vadim Finklestein as his manager makes even less sense…
I’ve seen on other MMA sites that Fedor owns 20%, though at this point can’t remember where. The highest percentage of ownership I’ve seen other than what you’ve posted is 50%, and I think that was other commentators here.
In the interests of fairness to Fedor and posting accuracy for the site, I’ll refrain from referring to Fedor as M-1 Global’s majority owner until I find something more concrete and linkable.
Apologies for propigating what might be misinformation here at the frenZy…
I think it would be cool to see Dana try and sign his brother Aleksander Emelianenko to a contract. I think he would definately make some noise in the HW Division. Interesting none the less. I would atleast like to hear what Danas thoughts on that possibility would be.
Im pretty sure Overeem can destroy most of the heavyweights in the ufc!
yeah it’s those pesky light heavyweights that beat him into ground be…er I guess technically horse…
All you guys are hating on the heavyweights of strikeforce, but who does the UFC have thats so much better? they only have like 3 guys, seeing how fedor beat nogueira twice already. Lesnar, carwin, and velaquez. strikeforce may get barnett, and I know overeem and rogers aren’t exactly the top guys, but i would rate them higher than most other UFC heavyweights. by far fedor’s biggest challenge would be the meat himself, brock. I would love to see that fight. yes I hate brock lesnar because of how he fights. He’s extremely athletic and talented for a big, and quick too, but his fighting is so ugly. he just gets on top of the guy and hammer fists them. thats not a good fight. you need someone who can subdue his strong wrestling back ground and keep him on his feet. fedor might be able to do this, but i do believe brock will take him down a bit, but don’t be surprised if fedor gets on top, he too has some great grappling. maybe he wasn’t ready to fight a meat head like brock and wanted people with more fightin technique. idk. yes i would love to see fedor fight in the ufc, but hey at least i can watch him fight for bills I already pay for. and hopefully barnett gets clean and there will be a fight
This might get me kicked off of here: Fedor is a pu$$y who is ducking the worlds best competition. M-1 is a joke and the guy needs to grow a set and come to the big leagues!!!
Dana might have offered Fedor a lot of money but not everyone will be sold out for money, he(Dana) should understand that. Fedor is loyal to his contract and works towards promoting the sport itself. To be honest i didnt even bother to check who were fighting in Strikeforce but now i know because i wanted to find out what this organisation is about. Now i know some of the fighters in strikeforce.
I am fairly new to MMA and see how fedor helps promoting other MMA organisations?
Dana is pissed because he wants monopoly(which by the way he pretty much have) but he feels threatened that Fedor is promoting other MMA organisation.
i agree with u qckslvr, dana wants to be the only organization. fedor wants to expand the sport more and doesn’t sell out
Fedor ain’t a puss, he fought some of the toughest fighters, he fought a guy bigger than brock, and beat him in 36 secs.
Ya but Fedor won in 26 seconds against the guy that is “bigger than Brock”, don’t you remember com’on man tough as nails Wagner da Conceicao Martins back in 2005, doesn’t ring a bell? Talking about the great Zuluhino
Yes, we know he beat Tim Sylvia, and Ray Mercer took 9 seconds to destroy that guy (and more impressivly). Fedor is a slacker.
Sweet Christ, who let all of these Fedorians in here?!
It’d sure be nice if a) we focused more on UFC 101 and b) Dana White could learn to talk like a grownup.
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com Writes on ESPN.com the following:
“Of significantly less consequence is the report that Fedor Emelianenko has signed a three-fight deal with Strikeforce that’s likely to begin in the fall. The common reaction from both fans and UFC honchos has been, roughly: Emelianenko simply isn’t interested in testing himself against top competition.
For the sake of argument: Although the UFC holds a majority share of MMA’s quality heavyweights, the idea that Emelianenko’s legacy will be tainted by never making eye contact with them is a stretch.
Consider:
Antonio Nogueira: A nonentity where Emelianenko is concerned. He would lose a fourth meeting with the Brazilian only if he fractured both his hands against Nogueira’s skull.
Randy Couture: Legendary, but well into middle age.
Frank Mir: Smashed to pieces by Brock Lesnar and traditionally weakest where Emelianenko is strongest: dropping nuclear bombs on grounded opponents.
Ben Rothwell, Junior dos Santos, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Cheick Kongo: I could think of better ways to spend a Saturday.
Setting aside interdivisional fights with Anderson Silva or Lyoto Machida — which would be lots of fun for spectators — the UFC really has only three upper-tier heavyweights with the skills to potentially give Emelianenko a hard time: Lesnar, Shane Carwin and Cain Velasquez. Three.
Strikeforce can match the ante with Alistair Overeem, Brett Rogers and some kind of wild-card entrant: Bobby Lashley, Blagoi Ivanov, perhaps even Josh Barnett.
The notion that Strikeforce employs air-conditioning repairmen and the UFC enlists only Olympic-caliber athletes is pushing the envelope; I’d almost sooner see Emelianenko go on a free-agent tear for a year or two before settling in with the UFC, considering that the promotion’s asphyxiating contracts invite retirement at their conclusions.”