Dana White: Emelianenko Meeting “Didn’t Go Well”
This past week the UFC held yet another round of contract discussions with highly coveted MMA free agent Fedor Emelianenko in hopes of hammering out a deal to bring him to the UFC. Initial reports were mixed but in a recent interview with CBS White discussed the true status of the drawn out talks. Here’s an excerpt from the report:
UFC president Dana White said that his recent meeting with representatives of Pride heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko did not bring UFC any closer to signing the superstar free agent.
When asked how the Emelianenko meeting went, White said “it didn’t go well,” but declined to discuss details.
“I don’t like to talk about contract negotiations with the public — but it didn’t go well,” White said. “These guys are crazy.”
The stalled contract negotiations revolve around one thing and one thing only: exclusivety. The UFC wants Fedor exclusively limiting to only fighting in the organization while he wants to be able to compete in other MMA promotions, particularly in Russia. It is very rare for the UFC to allow fighters under contract to fight elsewhere and in the rare instances they do the fighters have typically lost several bouts in the octagon and are sent to other organizations to improve. Money is not an issue that has come into play as his managers have stated repeatedly that the UFC deal is the most lucrative.
Negotiations have been in the same status for months with the UFC trying to convince Fedor to sign an exclusive contract but they have been reluctant insisting he be allowed to fight elsewhere.
I will provide more as it becomes available but unless either side has a change in their principal demands expect more of the same.
Tags: Dana White, Fedor Emelianenko
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Its not a money issue, its about Fedor being able to say I'll fight the best any time he wants. Why would he want the UFC telling him he cant fight out side there organization. I am honestly sick and tired of the UFC not getting the job done signing him. Where ever he goes thats were I'll spend my pay-per-view money. Personally I would like to see him fight Josh Barnet
The MMA industry is still maturing. Like most gorwing industries, takeovers are common (ie. Pride FC). It also makes business sense to secure fighters under exclusive contracts to further that business growth. The UFC should stick to their guns by protecting their assets (fighters) under exclusive contracts. Any sane business man would be never allow their employees to work with the competition.
Apart from a hardcore fan base (who surf the net for MMA news), most casual mainstream fans don't even know the so-called legend known as "Fedor Emelianenko". Sure, he tore apart the competition in PrideFC, but the real question remains, will signing a FOREIGNER equate to
an surge of PPV buys, especially for an AMERICAN mainstream audience who's just beginning to familiarize themselves with the sport. He is Russian after all, and we all know that mainstream Americans will always bank on heroes who can speak clear English and
embrace the American flag.
Sure, the hardcore masses want Emelianenko to sign with the UFC. But most mainstream fans (the real revenue base) don't even have a clue this foreigner is all about and probably don't care.
Ooops….Sorry about the typos with my previous post. Feel free to edit them.
I agree that the UFC should do wahtever it takes to get Fedor fighting for them. I am glad to see that Fedor is not giving into the UFC's demands. It is good to see that the UFC can't push Fedor around.
IM GLAD TO SEE THAT AS WELL. IT SHOWS THAT FEDOR IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE MONEY LIKE ALL THE FIGHTER THAT FIGHT UFC R . HE IS A TRUE BREAD FIGHTER MADE TO FIGHT ITS IN HIS BLOOD. AT THE SAME TIME IT IS A GIVE AND TAKE SITUATION IF FEDOR REALLY WANTS TO PROVE HIMSELF TO AMERICA HE WILL TAKE THE CONTRACT AND IF NOT HE WILL BE HUMBLE AND MAKE PEOPLE BEGG FOR HIM TO TAKE THE CONTRACT LOL ITS JUST A MATTER OF TIME
Whatever Fedor wants; the UFC should give him. I think it is a matter of time before the UFC gives into Fedor's demands. How foolish would it look, if the UFC, as big and powerful as they are can't get arguably the top fighter in the world to fight for their organization?
Screw Fedor let him go. $2/mill a fight? He'll probably pull a Cro-Cop or Big Nog. Your going to give him $2mil to fight a 44 year old. Where do I sign?
Come on.. look at the UFC track record with being able to hype up fighters. The UFC singlehandedly made Gonzaga an INSANELY hyped up name.. acting as if he could keep up with anyone and the Mirko KO wasn't pure luck. REPLAY AFTER REPLAY of him kicking Mirko and then switch to him beating up a bunch of other no-namers.. There is no doubt that the hype factor will be INSANELY high.. that PPV (if it happens) vs Randy will just go through the roof. Pulling in new MMA fans that weren't really wanting to watch the UFC. Fedor actually has a record of beating a bunch of top fighters, dominating them. They will just replay his stuff from Pride FC over and over and over…then walla. The up birth of "hardcore fedor fans" will be upon us.
Gonzaga didn't just get a lucky kick against Cro Cop. He ground and pounded him for 2 min. before the ref called for a stand up, where Gonzaga kicked his head off his shoulders. It doesn't make it a lucky fight for Gonzaga. If Cro Cop takes any fight for granted, then he doesn't deserve a title shot. The biggest part of fighting is training. As far as " 2 million $ to fight a 44 year old". Not a 44 year old, to fight Randy Couture, one of the only men in the world who could possiblly take Fedor out right now. Head over to the forum to see what I think.
dude..lol..Mirko was obviously taking the fight for granted. He lost, so lets hype up the guy who beat one of the top guys in the world when he wasn't at 100%. it's called hyping to sell the fight. UFC has been doing it for a long time now. My point was they would EASILY be able to profit AMAZINGLY from signing Fedor, even with an insanely high payout.
"…Where ever he goes thats were I'll spend my pay-per-view money…"
Jeez, I made that mistake with the Bo-Dog PPV. I mean, I guess overall, it wasn't so bad, but I wouldn't ever do it again.
Look, Fedor is really, really good, but he does have a serious weakness that would get tested every fight in the UFC; his skin is too thin and weak and he cuts & bleeds like sieve everytime he gets clipped in the face. Can you imagine the gashes he will get when some elbows start ripping aross his forehead and face.
Look, his only loss is a TKO due to Cut, Lindlind had him bleeding like a hemophiliac after 1 punch, Fedor just cuts and bleeds too easily.
I am not saying someone will KO or submit him, but rather, get a TKO win due to a brutal cut on Fedor's face, that I see happening because it doesn't take much to cut Fedor.
YEA THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT FEDOR IS SO GOOD ITS VERY HARD TO EVEN HIT HIM LET ALONE MAKE HIM BLEED…I HAVE ONLY SEEN HIM CUT BAD LIKE 2 TIMES AND THAT IS NOTHING COMPARED TO MOST FIGHTERS THAT ARE AVERAGE THAT GET HURT ALL THE TIME AND BLEED LIKE THEY DRANK ALCHOLE 2 MINUTES AGO….
IT IS VERY CLEAR TO ME THAT DANA WHITE IS AFRAID TO SIGN THE BIG RUSSIAN BECAUSE HE KNOWS MR. FEDOR HE WILL DISTROY EVERYONE IN THE UFC. DANA WOULD BE A FOOL NOT TO SIGN HIM TO A 2 MILLION DOLLAR CONTRACT PER FIGHT. I BELIEVE HE WOULD MAKE INCREDIBLE MONEY THE FIRST FIGHT LETS SAY FEDOR VS/ RAMPAGE JACKSON NOW THATS A FIGHT I WILL PAY $44.78 CENTS ON PAY PER VIEW TO WATCH ….NOT CHUCK LIDELL AND TITO LOLOL…….NOW DANA LISSON GUY….WANA MAKE A LOT OF MONEY SURE U DO ……SIGN FEDOR GIVE HIM ANY DEAL DONT WORRY NO ONE WILL BEAT HIM NOT IN THIS DECADE ANYWAY….THE ONLY PROBLEM IS YOUR GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME FINDING SOMEONE TO FIGHT HIM IF THEY DONT WANT TO GET THEIR HEADS TAKING OFFF THAT IS LOLOL
I agree, sort of. After Randy Couture RETIRES, Fedor will have a long reign in the UFC(unless they sign Barrnett, which is unlikely) Randy could give Fedor the best fight he has had yet. I know he could take it to the later rounds with him, and that is where Fedor would get into trouble. Everybody has seen Fedor get taken down, and other than Fedor, Randy is the best at Ground & Pound.