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Fedor Emelianenko To Become a Free Agent

Posted by Kris Karkoski on Mar 7, 2008 at 10:55 am ET46 Comments

Heavyweight sensation Fedor Emelianenko will reportedly become a free agent next week, according to a new ESPN Magazine article which discusses the former Pride champion’s departure from M-1 Global:

“Apy Echteld, one of Emelianenko’s agents, confirmed what a source close to the situation previously told The Magazine: M-1 Global and Emelianenko will part ways some time in the next week, making the Russian a free agent. Divorce negotiations are ongoing right now, with a formal announcement likely for in the next few days. ‘Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent,’ Echteld says.”

This means that Emelianenko could soon be available to fight against the legally troubled Randy Couture, though the article points out obvious obstacles to the long-awaited matchup taking place:

“Of course, the UFC would have to be willing to re-open negotiations with Emelianenko’s management. Previous talks dragged on for almost a year before falling apart amid plenty of name-calling and finger-pointing from both sides. UFC president Dana White was vocal in pinning the blame on Emelianenko’s team, saying he never once spoke or met with the fighter.”

Things end on a positive note however, as both sides of the table appear to be open to making the dream match a reality:

“Would the head of the UFC be willing to enter the Fedor fray again? ‘Absolutely, 100 percent, in a heartbeat,’ says White. ‘People think he’s the best—I don’t, not even close. But if it’s somehow possible, I would make it happen… As much as we’ve gone back and forth on this, I would sign Fedor and do everything possible to get Randy in the octagon with him. I’d do anything, because a., it’s a great fight and b., I think Randy would smash Fedor’”

“We’re open to a discussion,” says Echteld. “If everybody is willing to put a little wine in the water, then we have something to work with. There is space for this to happen.”

At this point in the game, it seems cruel to tempt fans with the possibility of Fedor vs. Couture actually happening, so hopefully this news turns into something much more tangible in the weeks to come.

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46 Comments »

  • Cornflakes281 says:

    So now what? The UFC is gonna get fedor, but Randy’s gone.. Honestly who cares any more

  • YZFOXRACING says:

    WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHO CARES. THATS AWESOME.

  • Eddyr92806 says:

    CornFlakes I hope Randy realy is gone but Dana will work it out. I think Nog should fight Randy and that win should fight Fedor. I really think Randy will get his arm broken by either one of these guys. PS Randy is a B!tch and i hope he never fight again. He lied to the fans and went Hollywood on us. F him and his new movie agent!!!

  • Jason N. says:

    Exactly, it is AWESOME news! Fedor can sign with the UFC, that will then bring Randy back! Those 2 can then finally fight – winner can then take on Noguera for the belt! The heavyweight division would be solid then! We could also see a fight between Randy and Lesnar. I want to see that ever since Lesnar was talking crap saying Sylvia should be embarrassed for letting Randy come in and beat him – this is very exciting news – just hope Dana doesnt screw this up again!

  • YZFOXRACING says:

    I DON’T KNOW WHY EVERYONE IS HATING ON RANDY NOW. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT. IF HE COMES BACK ALL PROPS TO HIM. HE IS A BAD ASS AND HE HAS SHOWN IT TIME AND TIME AGAIN.

  • FixXeR says:

    You beat me to this one Eric! haha. I was writing up an article and you posted! THis is awsome news though!

  • Thumper says:

    At this point Dana is going to be seriously motivated to make this fight finally happen. The HW division needs something major and Brock Lesnar is not it, yet. Randy needs to shut up and get back in the ring; when you come out of retirement at 40 years of age and are given a four fight deal, that’s four guaranteed paydays, you should show some f’n gratitude and loyalty.

  • MMAN says:

    Randy is the man and he knows that the fans want to see him fight fedor. He will go anywhere he needs to make the fight with Fedor. I just hope the UFC is able to land a contract with Fedor this time around. Great news!

  • Eric Shapiro says:

    Sorry bout that Fixxer, but don’t sweat, that happens to me all the time as well. I actually wrote that up late last night because I don’t sleep like the rest of the world. Any how Kris should be in the process of figuring out a posting system, so soon this may not be an issue.

  • scotchydow says:

    How funny. I was worried at first cause Randy has signed with HDNet, but the way the courts are looking at it, I think Randy will have to fight in the UFC at the very least 1 more time. Couture/Emiliananko has to happen and soon. I am sure that Zuffa/Dana White know(s) this and are trying to make it happen NOW. I am also sure that HDNet is(are) in talks with Fedor as we speak as well. Whereever it happens, it will happen, and that is what is important.

  • FixXeR says:

    Yeah, I was just giving you a hard time ;) haha.

  • tom says:

    I really cant see Randy getting back in the cage the UFC have craped on him from a great height this time round they’ve tried to destroy his name and his buisness. I no it all started over suprise suprise his pay check but when they couldnt come to an aggrement the UFC acted like a petulant child and threw all there toys out the pram which to be honest i was stunned at because Randy has always been loyal to the UFC.

  • johnboy says:

    plz dana sign fedor and kiss an make up with randy then let randy take him to skool, if randy wont fight with the ufc again let herring kick his arse, fedor is a bum any1 who thinks hes the best heavyweight in the world is crazy

  • JAI says:

    HDNET is going to be after Fedor hard and they probably have the advantage on other promotions ecspecially since they’re already trying to work a deal with Couture. Fedor has made it known that his #1 gaol righ tnow is to fight Couture and Couture has said the same thing. With Fedor already having heat with Dana White and Couture in the midst of a fall out with the UFC, Fedor will probably sign with HDNET. If he does signe there, fights Randy, then what? Who else does HDNET have for him to fight after? For that reason alone, I think I would rather see Fedor sign with the UFC. There lots of potential good match ups for him there even if the fight with Randy never happens. You have Silvia, Arlovski, Herring, Kongo, Kerr, & Lesnar at HW and others at LW that would love to fight Fedor if given the opportunity like Liddell, Rampage, Shogun & Wand and possibly Anderon Silva and Hendersen as well.

  • MMAN says:

    If Fedor signs then Randy will come home. He fights for the competition and the Loyal fans. He has stated that at this point in his career he wants to fight the best and it is said to be Fedor. He will go to where the fight is and make MMA history with that incredible matchup.

  • Eddyr92806 says:

    Tom Randy is a lier and let a hollywood agent f with his head. Dana and the UFC has been more then good to him. They gave him 6 title shoots the last coming after losing 2 in a row in a lower weight class and sitting out a year! I think the UFC has been more then loyal to Randy. And Randy was sh!ting on Dana before Zuffa called Randy out and showed the whole world the signing bounce the Randy cashed but said he had not been offerd. I know Randy got he head messed up by his new agent (who by the way would get a pennie on any deals randy signed before he was hired) but randy let the @ss mess with head. Dana my be a a-hole but he is not a lier i can’t say the same for Randy!

  • belly says:

    hope this happens but i think fedor will end up back in japan.i dont see the ufc backing down in contract talks and fedor can get top money on his own terms elswhere hope im wrong tho.

  • JAI says:

    JohnBoy,
    Fedor is the best HW in the world and argubly the best fighter P4P on the planet!!! (either him or Anderson Silva). He’s the real deal!! He’s beaten everyone there is to beat. There are guys fighting right now in the UFC that Fedor has already walked through! Nogueira who is now the UFC Interim HW Champ has been beaten twice by Fedor. The first time came with Nogueira was considered the best fighter P4P and he got taken apart by Fedor. Then again in the rematch. Fedor beat Cro Cop back when everyone was saying he was unstopable. He’s also beaten Josh Barnette who is at worst the #4 HW in the world. I believe he’s also beaten Herring as well and everyone all on his jock now after he just beat Kongo. The list goes on and on! This guy has fought a whose who of fighters and has beaten them all!!

  • Ryan says:

    “I think Randy would smash Fedor”, this is Dana White basicly saying he’s not going to sign Fedor.

  • Tim D. says:

    if i was fedor noway would i sign with the ufc. does anyone dana with the ugly bald head called him a punk and said he was not tough enough for ufc. sign with cubin many more are on their way there after what they did arlovski i hope all the fighters change company’s.

  • Cornflakes281 says:

    The UFC has always said that they want Randy. They’ve always been behind Randy. It was Randy who came out and BLASTED the UFC 1st talking about how he does not want to be with them anymore. And now, if they get Fedor, he’s going to be crying to come back. Well the UFC already said it, they’d welcome him back. Now, do we all want to see him CRAWL back to the organization that had “disrespected him” in the first place? Like I said, I’m over it.

  • Tim D. says:

    of course dana wants to sign fedor now another org. has expressed the intent to make this fight happen.

  • johnboy says:

    JAI
    fedor has not fought any top HW for at least 2 years now, hes been fighting nobodys and i think thats the only reason randy wants to fight him so much, for some strange reason fedor is classed as the top HW but u cant live on past wins he hasn’t done owt for years randy nos that and wants to take anvantage of him and if they fight he will kick his arse i just dont rate fedor anymore sorry if that upsets people but i think he has to prove himself again and to do that he needs to come fight in the ufc. on other HW herring looked top in his last fight and i think he is going to be hard to stop now

  • Joe says:

    A dream can finally come true. Dana make it happen. I know you will.

  • Vampslayr says:

    If Fedor is signed by Dana, we’ll see Randy’s true colors. Fedor would again get offered more than Randy is currently making. If Randy returns, then we know it was about Fedor. If he doesn’t or wants to renegotiate (for I believe a 3rd time) then we know where his priorities are. I still see Fedor going to HDNet and fighting Randy there.

  • ihatedana says:

    Go HD NET!

    Sign fedor, randy, timmy, arlovski, fedor’s bro,
    Tito, and the growing list of UFC malcontents!

    I’ll be the first to order!

  • kelvin says:

    i’m with cornflakes on this one. this subject is to me is like barry bonds and steroids: i just don’t really wanna hear about it anymore. anyway, i don’t think it would be the dream fight everyone makes it out to be. i think it’ll be like lidell vs. silva – something that was long overdue and is finally happening when neither one of these fighters is in their prime anymore. it would’ve been great and meaningful a couple of years ago, but let’s move on to the fighters of the future.

  • Segablack says:

    Come on some company needs to get this to happen, UFC, DREAM, HDNET FIGHTS come on!!!! cross-promotion
    who ever get this fight on the air theres big money to be made..but thats the problem if they want to make mma a legitimate sport then it sould be all about the fight not about the company that puts it on!

  • BAH says:

    RANDY WILL BE FORCED TO FIGHT WITH UFC SINCE HE IS UNDER CONTRACT FOR TWO MORE FIGHTS. anD FEDOR DONT WANT TO COME TO THE UFC BECAUSE HE KNOWS THAT EVEN IF HE BEATS RANDY (WHICH HE WONT) HE WILL HAVE TO FACE MUTIPLE OTHER OPPONETS THAT CAN DESTROY HIM JUST AS EASILY. FEDOR IS NO CHUMP JUST TO SMALL FOR HW IN THE OCTAGON. AND SILVIA IS MOST LIKELY GOING TO MOVE AWAY FROM THE UFC BECAUSE OF MONEY.

  • SOLO says:

    FEDOR deserves his money. so does randy cotoure.
    i think randy would lose, but who knows…

    i think lesnar will be great in a short time.
    i want to see lesnar vs kimbo.
    i want to see KIMO VS KIMBO!!!

  • john says:

    Don’t get me wrong Randys a great fighter but Fedor will clean him up, It doesn’t matter if he’s fighting no bodies or not, he’ll step up his game when it comes to fighting couture (sorry couture fans, but its a fact mark my words)Randys going down!.

  • Segablack says:

    Fedor Emelianenko Is not small time if you think that then you obviously have no idea of mma out side the ufc! Fador has the only HW recored to prove it 28 and 1 and the last and first loss ever was in 22nd of December 02 thats an 8 year 25 straight wins! in Pride fc it took him 3 fights to win the belt from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira which is the current UFC champ and went on to defeat Nogueira 2 more times, and defending the belt he won 14 fights till the end of pride itself. destroying well known fighters such as Mark Hunt,Mirko Filipović,Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman twice, Gary Goodridge, Zuluzinho just name a few the man is unreal 28 -1 in mma …..he is also the the 1997 Judo Russian National Champ, he is a 4 time Russian Combat Sambo Champ, 4 time World Combat Sambo Champ including this year …dont say the man cant fight and has not fought anyone good.
    thats why Randy has said this is the only person left worth fighting for him! randy wants to be know as the best and he want to fight ONLY THE BEST!

  • Segablack says:

    lol 22nd of December of 2000 not 2002

  • belly says:

    i rate fedor but some of the names you have listed arnt that impressive. randleman has in the main looked like **** and has lost 7 of last 10. goodridge altho a big puncher is definatly not top class mma fighter.coleman altho a top wrestler was 39 and 42 when they fought.and the cro cop wins dont look as good after what has happened to him in the cage. like i said i rate fedor but if we never see him in the cage against some of the ufcs best we wont know how good he is or can be.

  • JJ says:

    He stomped Herring, who is the #1 contender

    He stomped Nogueira twice, who is the champ

    Who are the ufs best, you are talking about.

  • belly says:

    i would suggest that there are tougher fights than hong man choi and lindland for him in mir ,couture ,sylvia ,vera , gonzaga, werdum and kongo. you seem to think im suggesting he isnt good? well im not im just saying that beating a middleweight and a freak isnt top competition.his last fight of any substance was mark hunt in 2006.his wins over nog are impressive but that doesnt mean he will beat everyone else.cro cop has been owned in ufc i just wanna see fedor really tested to see just how good he is and the ufc will test him.

  • M3 says:

    Fador fighting in the ufc would be great but the Competition in the ufc is not to impressive at all. Frank Mir and his 11 and 3 wins and 2 losses last year is pore at best no where near what he used to be back in 2003 and his win over Brock Lesnar who is amature fighter plain and simple, Tim sylvia would be a good choice if he had not lost to Antonio Nogueira who look very relaxed when he chocked him out,Brandon Vera only fighting 4 time in 2 years and lossed 1 of them does not make him a good choice at all , gonzaga has lossed his last 2 fights in the ufc Hey just like cro-cop!, werdum did better in pride with the ring then in the ufc since hes only fought twice and lost one. and kongo was not looking like top contender with his last fight and hes ufc record is 4 and 2 where is this test in the ufc?

  • belly says:

    so where do you suggest he goes to get the test.apart from barnett the ufc still holds the best fighters.i suppose you want to see him fight kimbo! or are you happy with his level of competition? his last win over cro cop was 2005 and his last win over nog was 2004. where is the organisation with better talent for him to fight? or shall we just keep him at his number one spot regardless of who he fights?

  • M3 says:

    well i think he needs to go where randy goes! to make that fight happen first then he can go where the money is for him that may aswell be the ufc, or dream when the get up to any sort of hw title going. but for right now theres only 1 person he needs to fight for any sort of challenge and thats randy neither of these fight will be considered the best till this fight gets out of the way can we all agree on that?

  • belly says:

    yes agreed that fight needs to happen quick but after that there is only the ufc that has a deep enough set of fighters to be a test.no other org is solid enough for him to be in with decent fighters not middleweights and freaks.

  • M3 says:

    yeah you got a good point that the ufc is defiantly the only place for fador to have any sort of a career right now. The ufc could really help him make a more of a house hold name like they did for Rampage when he came over from pride. Plus being there size they could bring new fighters from around the world to challenge him. So yeah good point.

  • yeah says:

    YEAH AS LONG AS DANA WHITE DOSENT FIX THE FIGHT!!!!!!!!!I WOULD LIKE TO SEE DANA EAT SOME HUMBLE PIE…FEDOR IS A PROVEN BADASS..DANA JUST WANTS TO ICE HIM OR HOPE HE LOSES PRIME , BUT I THINK FEDOR IS THE BEST WORLD CLASS FIGHTER HE ALREADY BEATEN THU CURRENT UFC HEAVY WEIGHT CHAMPS..HE DESERVES TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT HES THE BEST …ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS …FEDOR IS THE BEST HEAVY WEIGHT STILL.

  • jay says:

    Dana White’s a selfish B*tch! I hope Fedor tells him where 2 go. Fedor is unstopable. He should just retire as a champ.

  • belly says:

    retire as champ of what??? he isnt champ of anything now and he has a lot more to prove just like any other fighter.i think fedor is definatly one of the best fighters and thats why i wanna see him in the best organisation in some big fights not fighting in one sided mismatches.

  • Ben says:

    I would like to see Fedor sign with anyone other than the UFC, a lot of orginazations will be looking for him, with all the other MMA organazations out there I wont waste any more money on UFC PPV’s, there no longer worth the price, HDNet is my new MMA home.

  • belly says:

    that is your choice fact remains that apart from barnett the quality is in the ufc.seems strange that you seem to dislike the ufc yet have chose MMAFrenzy.com to state that fedor should sign for anyone but the ufc.

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