Yeah, tellin’ it like it is. I’ve always thought Aleks was a smart guy and talented fighter; he just hasn’t had the opportunity to really prove it these days.

Jeez, don’t Fedor and Aleks talk? It seems like Fedor is just taking this bs from Vadim up the ass, or maybe he just doesn’t care?

Once Fedor signs the UFC he’s pretty much locked down that’s why he’ll never sign one, Finkie knows he won’t be able to pull any bs once Fedor’s name goes on the iron clad Zuffa contract.

Simply put Dana aint’ paying Finkie a dime, sooner or later Fedor will get beat and Dana will have the last laugh and then Fedor can fade into obscurity as that Russian guy that was really good but never fought in the UFC.

All these talks about “strict” contract terms with signing with UFC, come ONLY from Vadim Finkelstein.

So there are no strict contract terms? Fedor would be able to compete in Sambo and they are prepared to waive the champion clause?

Im not quite sure what Aleks is trying to say. Is he saying the strict terms dont exist or that Fedor doesnt care about the strict contract terms, only Vadim? I have heard Fedor in interviews speak about the terms he doesnt like so this doesnt add up.

I didn’t see that one coming.
Ud expect aleks to be able to make his own brother see sense more than vadim,but obviously not.
I mean,they’ve must of spoke of this before at some point in their careers.

One word: indoctrination.

Nice to hear from someone with this perspective. I’ve never known what to think of Aleks before.

of what we’ve always suspected? now that vadim = don king comment seems on the money. also i wonder if this is why fedor doesnt speak english during interviews, so he doesnt say something finky doesnt want him to?

I love Aleks. He should just come to the UFC.
If he doesnt have hep.

Now, I do believe that Finkie (like many managers) is a scumbag, but, you have to know a bit of the history of what is going on here.

- First, Aleks and Fedor are the Russian version of Frank and Ken Shamrock, though not as bad. It’s been previously reported quite a few times that Aleks and Fedor would pass by one another and not speak one word, this was obvious during the pressers of the first Affliction Banned event press tour and many instances before. They typically don’t get along, reported to never be in good terms, and don’t agree with each others decisions. There is a rich history of not seeing eye to eye between them.

Also, Aleks is currently looking at moving to the US and wants to join the UFC, so putting in a good word for the promotion you want to fight with is never a bad move.

- Second, Fedor and Finkie have some sort of mission statement for M-1 to help raise awareness of MMA in Russia and throughout the world. Fedor and Red Devil alone could not accomplish this, though they tried before, so they joined forces with Mix Fight, which is the biggest MMA promotion in Russia. Mix Fight, then created M-1 Global (which Fedor later joined) to spread MMA around Russia and expand around the world, and thus the M-1 Challenge was created. From here, the M-1 Selection was created that would pit the best camps in Russia to fight each other to see who will represent their country in the M-1 challenge. Now, M-1 has been able to create these sort of MMA drafts for other countries in Europe like Holland. Also, due to Finkie, M-1 was able to negotiate a TV deal with Russia for Affliction Trilogy, which would have put Fedor on National Russian TV for the first time ever. This would have been huge for Fedor and MMA in Russia.

-Third, now I don’t doubt for one bit that Finkie doesn’t take money from Fedor, but it does take money to get all these events done (which Aleks refers to as Finkies projects), but Russia is a communist country, where Sambo is the national sport. They are trying to get MMA accepted over there, and without the government’s approval of anything, you simply aren’t going to get any money to fund anything. Thus, having Fedor as your greatest asset to make money to spread MMA in Russia and Europe is essential for M-1.

-Finally, Fedor could care less about money, his legacy, or what people think about him. He believes heavily in the Russian communist motto of the greater good is the only good. He could be making millions but he really could care less. He loves competing in Sambo and MMA, and loves the competition, his fans, and the honor of the competing in combat sports.

-That being said, I am pretty sure Finkie gets a good cut of everything and possibly steals from Fedor, but if Fedor doesn’t care and is part owner of M-1 to try to accomplish his goals of spreading MMA for Russia, what can you do? Now, Fedor does trust Finkie to a very high degree and trusts that Finkie is doing what is best for their common purposes, but Fedor has also stated that everything that they do is approved by Fedor first. If Fedor disagrees with any decision that Finkie makes, he has the veto power to nix it.

Again, this is not to point that one side is more correct than the other, but it points out that M-1 (Fedor) and the UFC have completely different goals, and is why many in the MMA industry have said that Fedor in the UFC has always been a long shot.

So an Emelianenko finally figured this one out?

I’m wary of all those tatoos Aleksander’s got!!!
But it’d be cool to see him in the UFC.