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One man to blame in UFC-Fedor breakdown
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
Itגs easy to paint Vadim Finkelchtein as the villain in this mess between heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Emelianenko is the free agent heavyweight with the gaudy 30-1 record and small but passionate fan base. The UFC is the worldגs finest mixed martial arts promotional company and has roughly 90 percent of the top 100 fighters in the world under contract.
Emelianenko was looking for a place to fight and the UFC wanted to put on what it believed could have become a massive pay-per-view show with a big push by pitting Emelianenko against Brock Lesnar, its silo-sized heavyweight champion.
But no deal was reached despite a lucrative offer from the UFC. Though UFC president Dana White wouldnגt rule it out, chances of it happening in the future are remote.
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Finkelchtein is the Russian heavyweightגs manager and, more significantly, the president and co-owner of what purports to be a major MMA promotional company, M-1 Global. Finkelchtein clearly used Emelianenko as a pawn in an attempt to force the UFC to accept M-1 as a partner. All M-1 Global brought to the table was one fighter, even if he is a very good one, which would have made White a moron had he acquiesced to that demand.
If the UFC was in the business of giving 50 percent of its company away every time it tried to sign an elite fighter, it would have been in worse shape a lot sooner than Chrysler.
The reason the deal didnגt get done is simple: Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenkoגs supporters are going to point the finger at White as the reason a deal did not get done. White, though, agreed to essentially every demand Emelianenko made. He offered to pay him more than heגs ever made. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to fight in combat sambo. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to advertise M-1 on his fight shorts, on the apparel he wore and on banners his cornermen brought with them to the cage.
What White wouldnגt do, though, is give half of his company to Finkelchtein in return for the, ahem, privilege, of promoting Emelianenkoגs next few fights.
The demand was kind of like an owner in the Continental Basketball Association demanding 50 percent ownership in an NBA team before allowing his player to sign.
Emelianenko can fight wherever he wants, of course. His legacy, though, took a serious shellacking when he refused to order Finkelchtein to get a deal done.
That would have allowed Emelianenko, who was ranked No. 2 in the most recent Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound Top 10 poll, to end any doubts whether he is as great as his most ardent supporters say or whether he is overrated, as White insists. Rather, Emelianenko acts as if heגs under some sort of spell cast by Finkelchtein. Heגs never met White and when Finkelchtein, White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta negotiated via conference call, Emelianenko was on the line but said nothing.
All Emelianenko needed to do to know what he should have done was to look to Tito Ortiz, the UFCגs former light heavyweight champion. Ortiz and White have long engaged in a nasty public feud and they split, seemingly for good, after Ortizג contract ran out after he lost to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in May 2008.
There Ortiz was, however, on a conference call on Friday all chummy chummy with White. White revealed he had flown to Huntington Beach, Calif., recently and met personally with Ortiz, where they finalized resolved their differences.
Ortiz had dalliances with Elite XC and Affliction and said he was close to a deal to fight for Strikeforce. He referred to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker as גan awesome guy.ג
Ortiz said the reason he opted to fight in the UFC is simple: Competition. גWho was I going to fight there?ג Ortiz said. גI want to fight the best.ג
Itגs too bad Emelianenko doesnגt have the same attitude. Had he been outraged by Finkelchteinגs negotiating tactics and insisted Finkelchtein work out the best possible deal, White would have been announcing an Emelianenko-Lesnar bout at his ballyhooed news conference on Friday rather than again railing at Finkelchteinגs bizarre stance.
Finkelchtein released a statement on Friday before the UFC news conference in which he said, in part, גAll we are asking is that there is give-and-take in the negotiations and that they are not one-sided.ג
But the UFC gave on the money. The UFC gave on the Fedorגs desire to compete in the Russian combat sport of sambo. The UFC gave on allowing Fedor to wear M-1גs logos. Finkelchtein wouldnגt budge on his ridiculous demand that the UFC make him a full promotional partner.
So now, Emelianenko will be a free agent, traveling the world in search of a fight. He could fight Josh Barnett, whom he was supposed to fight on Saturday on an Affliction card until Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid and was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission.
Emelianenko remains highly popular in Japan, where they donגt test for steroids and donגt honor U.S. suspensions. Barnett, who has been caught cheating more than once, could be licensed there and conceivably could fight Emelianenko.
But there are precious few quality opponents for him outside of the UFC. And none of the fights would captivate the worldגs interest the way UFC 100 did on July 11.
Emelianenko is largely unknown in the U.S. despite his 30-1 record and long winning streak. The three pay-per-view shows he headlined in this country ג PRIDE 32 in 2006, Affliction 1 in 2008 and Affliction 2 in January ג sold a combined total of fewer than 300,000 units.
UFC 100 alone sold well over 1.5 million.
Finkelchtein clearly botched the negotiations, but heגs not to blame.
If Emelianenko really wanted to be in the UFC and fight the best competition in the world, he would have made certain Finkelchtein got it done.
If you want to blame someone in this fiasco, blame Emelianenko.
Itגs 100 percent his fault.
all that needs to be said... hopefully fedor will give one day.. this shit is just dumbfounding.. he would get paid more than he ever has.. he must just hate white.. oh well.. ufc doesn't need him.....Russian wrote:i can't say i disagree
http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news;_ylt=A ... &type=lgns
One man to blame in UFC-Fedor breakdown
By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports 1 hour, 23 minutes ago
Itגs easy to paint Vadim Finkelchtein as the villain in this mess between heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Emelianenko is the free agent heavyweight with the gaudy 30-1 record and small but passionate fan base. The UFC is the worldגs finest mixed martial arts promotional company and has roughly 90 percent of the top 100 fighters in the world under contract.
Emelianenko was looking for a place to fight and the UFC wanted to put on what it believed could have become a massive pay-per-view show with a big push by pitting Emelianenko against Brock Lesnar, its silo-sized heavyweight champion.
But no deal was reached despite a lucrative offer from the UFC. Though UFC president Dana White wouldnגt rule it out, chances of it happening in the future are remote.
ADVERTISEMENT
Finkelchtein is the Russian heavyweightגs manager and, more significantly, the president and co-owner of what purports to be a major MMA promotional company, M-1 Global. Finkelchtein clearly used Emelianenko as a pawn in an attempt to force the UFC to accept M-1 as a partner. All M-1 Global brought to the table was one fighter, even if he is a very good one, which would have made White a moron had he acquiesced to that demand.
If the UFC was in the business of giving 50 percent of its company away every time it tried to sign an elite fighter, it would have been in worse shape a lot sooner than Chrysler.
The reason the deal didnגt get done is simple: Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenkoגs supporters are going to point the finger at White as the reason a deal did not get done. White, though, agreed to essentially every demand Emelianenko made. He offered to pay him more than heגs ever made. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to fight in combat sambo. He agreed to allow Emelianenko to advertise M-1 on his fight shorts, on the apparel he wore and on banners his cornermen brought with them to the cage.
What White wouldnגt do, though, is give half of his company to Finkelchtein in return for the, ahem, privilege, of promoting Emelianenkoגs next few fights.
The demand was kind of like an owner in the Continental Basketball Association demanding 50 percent ownership in an NBA team before allowing his player to sign.
Emelianenko can fight wherever he wants, of course. His legacy, though, took a serious shellacking when he refused to order Finkelchtein to get a deal done.
That would have allowed Emelianenko, who was ranked No. 2 in the most recent Yahoo! Sports pound-for-pound Top 10 poll, to end any doubts whether he is as great as his most ardent supporters say or whether he is overrated, as White insists. Rather, Emelianenko acts as if heגs under some sort of spell cast by Finkelchtein. Heגs never met White and when Finkelchtein, White and UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta negotiated via conference call, Emelianenko was on the line but said nothing.
All Emelianenko needed to do to know what he should have done was to look to Tito Ortiz, the UFCגs former light heavyweight champion. Ortiz and White have long engaged in a nasty public feud and they split, seemingly for good, after Ortizג contract ran out after he lost to Lyoto Machida at UFC 84 in May 2008.
There Ortiz was, however, on a conference call on Friday all chummy chummy with White. White revealed he had flown to Huntington Beach, Calif., recently and met personally with Ortiz, where they finalized resolved their differences.
Ortiz had dalliances with Elite XC and Affliction and said he was close to a deal to fight for Strikeforce. He referred to Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker as גan awesome guy.ג
Ortiz said the reason he opted to fight in the UFC is simple: Competition. גWho was I going to fight there?ג Ortiz said. גI want to fight the best.ג
Itגs too bad Emelianenko doesnגt have the same attitude. Had he been outraged by Finkelchteinגs negotiating tactics and insisted Finkelchtein work out the best possible deal, White would have been announcing an Emelianenko-Lesnar bout at his ballyhooed news conference on Friday rather than again railing at Finkelchteinגs bizarre stance.
Finkelchtein released a statement on Friday before the UFC news conference in which he said, in part, גAll we are asking is that there is give-and-take in the negotiations and that they are not one-sided.ג
But the UFC gave on the money. The UFC gave on the Fedorגs desire to compete in the Russian combat sport of sambo. The UFC gave on allowing Fedor to wear M-1גs logos. Finkelchtein wouldnגt budge on his ridiculous demand that the UFC make him a full promotional partner.
So now, Emelianenko will be a free agent, traveling the world in search of a fight. He could fight Josh Barnett, whom he was supposed to fight on Saturday on an Affliction card until Barnett tested positive for an anabolic steroid and was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission.
Emelianenko remains highly popular in Japan, where they donגt test for steroids and donגt honor U.S. suspensions. Barnett, who has been caught cheating more than once, could be licensed there and conceivably could fight Emelianenko.
But there are precious few quality opponents for him outside of the UFC. And none of the fights would captivate the worldגs interest the way UFC 100 did on July 11.
Emelianenko is largely unknown in the U.S. despite his 30-1 record and long winning streak. The three pay-per-view shows he headlined in this country ג PRIDE 32 in 2006, Affliction 1 in 2008 and Affliction 2 in January ג sold a combined total of fewer than 300,000 units.
UFC 100 alone sold well over 1.5 million.
Finkelchtein clearly botched the negotiations, but heגs not to blame.
If Emelianenko really wanted to be in the UFC and fight the best competition in the world, he would have made certain Finkelchtein got it done.
If you want to blame someone in this fiasco, blame Emelianenko.
Itגs 100 percent his fault.
Agreed. At this point it is in his best interest (legacy wise) to keep fighting former champions, washouts and freaks. Off to Japan he goes!!dat piff wrote:I think he's afraid he might lose
Fedor vs. Couture (match that has been years in the making)Tweak Da Leak wrote:Besides Fedor vs. Brock what other big fights could UFC offer him, esp. cus they want to pay him based off ppv revenue fedor vs. carwin, fedor vs. Santos, Fedor vs. GG, none of those are big drawers Fedor vs. Crocop would prolly do bigger numbers for the UFC and cro cop is washed up
SuperFeen wrote:
Fedor Signs with Strikeforce
Fedor Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight agreement that will see the worldגs No. 1-ranked heavyweight compete for Strikeforce, the promotion announced Monday.
Emelianenko, who became a free agent after Affliction Entertainment canceled its Aug. 1 event two weeks ago, will make his debut on Showtime under a co-promoted Strikeforce/M-1 Global production this fall. Emelianenko was to have faced Josh Barnett at Affliction גTrilogyג on Aug. 1, but Barnett failed a pre-fight test for anabolic steroids and was refused licensure by the California State Athletic Commission.
Emelianenko, along with his promoters and management team M-1 Global, negotiated with the UFC last week, but could not come to an agreement over co-promotion.
"Strikeforce is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world," said Emelianenko in a press release. "I am prepared to fight any of them."
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com last week that he plans to match the stoic Russian against the likes of Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum and the promotionגs heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem.
גI feel pretty confident that we could give him four or five opponents that would make sense for him,ג Coker told Sherdog.com in an exclusive video interview.
I don't know if Barnett will ever fight in North America again, so I doubt he'll show up in Strikeforce.Tweak Da Leak wrote: I see Monson and Barnett both going to SF so I don't think its that much of a problem I think Overeem would destroy Lesnar
What?Ramen wrote:Rumours of Wandy vs GSP @ 185
A stretch but still got the mind running
I'd love to see an Overeem victory over Fedor. How quick would White trip over himself to offer Overeem a big dollar contract?SuperFeen wrote:Well at least we'll see Fedor in a cage. Overeem is the only match I'd be remotely interested in, hopefully they pay Fedor out the ass and lose a ton of money and M-1 folds, *crosses fingers*
I wouldn't mind scrapping Babalu vs Mousasi if it means Mousasi fighting in the UFC at 205
Wand vs GSP makes no sense but I'd watch the shit out of that
Alistair Overeem would be an interesting match-up, but that's about the extent of it. Brett Rogers is not on Fedor's level, no matter how good a punch he throws... he just lacks the polish.Psychosis wrote:This whole Fedor situation is ridiculous. He's not going to bring in big ratings to Strikeforce. There's no one I care to see him fight there. Well, checking the site, it seems Bob Sapp's on their roster, so that'd be a good fight for the lols.
Jim Rome wrote:"It looks like Fedor is running from Brock Lesnar"
Similar, I thaught this was a delay by Fedor's team to give him 3 more fights by which to analyze Brock's weaknesses, to ensure Fedor's victory 110% prior to taking the fight. Plus, he gets 3-4 more W's of his own, and they can then claim another org's title on their rap sheet, when they finally do come to the UFc in 12-18 months.Prophecy wrote:Really this is all just a conspiracy between Fedor and Dana to run all of his competition out of business before Fedor comes to the UFC.