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| Dana Whites Says That He Sees Fedor Coming To The UFC Someday
Posted: 7/27/2009 3:40:33 AM | | Fedor's management will be able to get him a sweet deal in Japan that will get them great money and take safe fights. Fedor or, more accurately, the people riding his coattails to easy money, won't take the risk of entering the UFC until they have no other option. And that's unlikely to ever happen because there will always be a Japanese promotion or some other gullible mark willing to pony up an exorbitant amount of money to have the 'top heavyweight fighter' compete for them. | |
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| Dana Whites Says That He Sees Fedor Coming To The UFC Someday
Posted: 7/27/2009 12:41:29 PM | http://www.m-1global.com/lang/en/2009/07/26/m-1-president-vadim-finkelchtein-believes-trilogy-cancellation-could-create-window-of-opportunity-with-the-ufc/
"Mixfight.ru, the official Russian-language site of M-1Global.com, was able to reach M-1 Global President and Co-Owner Vadim FinkelchteinTrilogy.” by phone soon after the cancellation of
Finkelchtein issued his first official comments regarding the matter to Mixfight.ru in Russian. A translated version of Finkelchtein comments to Mixfight.ru is now available.
During the brief conversation with Mixfight.ru, Finkelchtein explained Affliction’s logic behind canceling the entire event.
“Affliction is asserting that all the steps that have transpired had to take place because of the disruption caused in the presentation of their PPV,” he began to explain. “The fact is that according to American laws, if you advertise the showing of an event on a paid television channel, you are obligated to deliver what has been advertised.
“In other countries, the marketing was centered around Fedor. However, in the U.S. the marketing of the fight was clearly built around both Fedor and Josh Barnett. Since Barnett was unable to compete as advertised, Affliction was concerned about legal issues.”
In a bit of a surprise, Affliction announced a reconciliation with the UFC on Friday and confirmed that its involvement in MMA will now be limited to that as a sponsor. Finkelchtein was asked if M-1 will continue to work with Affliction.
“This question remains open,” he answered. “Negotiations are currently taking place as we speak. With this cancellation they not only let us down but all the fighters and the MMA fans all over the world as well.”
One of the most pressing questions coming from the cancellation is what will be the fate of former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. In an official statement over the weekend, M-1 Global promised fight fans that Emelianenko will return to active competition as soon as possible.
“We are now with Fedor in the U.S. and we hope to make a decision about his next fight within the next few days,” Finkelchtein stated. “There are many business meetings and negotiations planned with all the major promotions. We will explore the possibility of Fedor fighting Barnett and will even look into whether the fight can take place as soon as August (since Barnett has not been suspended).”
Finkelchtein also believes that the cancellation of “Trilogy” could be used as an opportunity to jump start stagnant negotiations to bring Fedor to the UFC.
“This is the moment of truth that the UFC has talked about. Fedor and I are here in the States. If they want to come out and fly here, we are ready to conduct negotiations. Of course it still doesn’t imply we are ready to accept any conditions they’ll throw at us. We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global.”
He ended the conversation by pledging to keep the MMA public up-to-date in regards to Fedor and M-1’s next move via Mixfight.ru and M-1Global.com." | |
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| Dana Whites Says That He Sees Fedor Coming To The UFC Someday
Posted: 7/30/2009 1:44:12 PM | http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/7/30/969510/details-emerging-on-strikeforce
"Let the specualtion begin.
According to Chad Dukes of The Lavar Arrington Show With Chad Dukes on 106.7 The Fan and announced on air today, a source apparently is telling him that the deal Strikeforce has offered Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 would be for $1 million per fight: $500k from Strikeforce and $500k from CBS for 6 fights (not sure about what happens when he doesn't fight on CBS or perhaps these are all CBS fights?). Any fight would be co-promoted with M-1 and the contract would be non-exclusive. While I was adamant yesterday about the UFC's offer being excellent for Emelianenko, if these details are true the Strikeforce deal is excellent as well. It certainly isn't as financially lucrative as what the UFC has put together, but the clear obstacle of co-promotion is entirely removed.
Here's the rub: Five Knuckles is reporting something similar, but slightly different:
A source close to Emelianenko's camp has informed FiveKnuckles.com that Emelianenko has received an offer from Strikeforce which includes a non-exclusive contract for between $500,000 and $700,000 per fight, guaranteed exposure on CBS shows and a cut of any PPV event he was a part of.
I suppose this could actually be the same offer since a six-fight deal with Emelianenko implies a few of those fights would likely be on Showtime or PPV and not all CBS. The only detail I can add is that this is all similar to what I've been hearing and in fact, more lucrative. Stay tuned for information as it streams in.
Oh yeah, and does anyone else get the feeling that the UFC's mostly laissez-faire attitude towards Strikeforce is about to come to a screeching halt? It's just a guess and I don't blame Strikeforce for trying to capture the sport's top free agent when the opportunity presents itself, but I don't think it comes without significant reprisal. There is no such thing as a free lunch.
UPDATE by Kid Nate: Some more from the Fedor/M-1 side of the fence per Jonathan Snowden:
“The actual guarantee offered Fedor was less than $2 million. The other money would only come into play if the PPV’s did extremely well,” Snowden said. “Fedor was not offered a $5 million guarantee. It is also important for the entire Russian crew to have a chance to help grow the sport there. Although Fedor can make more money now in the UFC than he likely can elsewhere, it wouldn’t allow an opportunity to expand Russian MMA.”
and:
-Offer was only for three fights, not six as originally reported.
-The guarantee per fight was *less* than Fedor’s contract with Affliction." | |
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| Dana Whites Says That He Sees Fedor Coming To The UFC Someday
Posted: 7/30/2009 2:19:13 PM | Fedor's publicized salary for events is always suspiciously low, and I wonder if it's simply to throw the Russian mob off his trail. Then again, Putin is a fan...
Barnett wasn't suspended because of a loophole. Rumors are that the Fedor Barnett fight can happen as early as later next month. | |
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