The Ramifications of Fedor Emelianenko's UFC Contract Failure

Fedor Emelianenko has long been considered one of the top athletes in this sport in the past, present, and likely in the future. We can't take away his epic comeback wins, dominating performances, and sheer terror he's brought to the ring over the course of his career. We can't deny the fact that hardcore fans everywhere are absolutely intrigued by any fight he takes part in, but hardcore fans aren't exactly thrilled about yesterday's news that Fedor Emelianenko turned down one of the most lucrative deals to ever be presented to a fighter in mixed martial arts.

The deal is rumored to have reach a 6-fight/$30 million dollar deal with a cut in the PPV revenues. He quite possibly could have pulled in nearly $10 million on a PPV with Brock Lesnar. Not only was the money insane, he was guaranteed an immediate title shot, the ability to compete in Sambo competitions, and was given permission to cover his shorts, face, body, cornermen, and even a giant banner with M-1 Global logos and advertising. As Luke Thomas pointed out, this was probably the most unbelievable deal to have ever crossed a table between the UFC and ANY fighter.

As Luke pointed out yesterday, we can't fault M-1 Global in trying to create an opportunity to work with the largest MMA promotion in the world. After all, the UFC pulls in hundreds of thousands of fans for pay-per-view events, and they've managed to grab the interest of well over a million viewers in their free SpikeTV events. The ultimate question comes down to whether or not they are willing to drop the "co-promotion" term from their contract negotiations and let Fedor fight as a fighter... not as a man trying to use his leverage as one of the best heavyweight fighters in the world to create an opportunity for M-1 Global to get that massive exposure.

Being able to use as many M-1 Global logos and advertising as you want is nearly the same as being involved in a co-promotion. The main event of a Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko showdown will easily be the most viewed MMA fight of all time, yet Fedor's management won't budge unless they have a few M-1 Global logos on the turnbuckles and maybe a logo on the mat? The "co-promotion" term needs to be dropped in this case. M-1 Global is an organization, with or without Fedor. There are plenty of other stable promotions out there willing to co-promote with other organizations that have the opportunity to grab huge exposure. Just look at Strikeforce.

Another interesting point that could be made is that Fedor isn't worth $5 million a fight in the United States. If he managed to roll through the heavyweight division and defeat most of the best heavyweights in the UFC, he'd easily have the exposure to garner that kind of big money. Right now however, he is far from that kind of draw in the United States, yet the UFC threw huge money at him in order to push the best vs. best match-ups in the heavyweight division. He'll never see that kind of money in a contract ever again.

Hardcore fans everywhere have been waiting for this contract to come through, but unfortunately... Fedor has now lost a lot of footing in the United States. Most hardcore fans and casual fans that had kept up with the information coming out following Affliction's demise are absolutely disgusted at M-1 Global's terms in the contract regarding a co-promotion, and the denial of the contract due has only angered most of the fanbase. Undoubtedly, Fedor's stock has dropped substantially.

Fedor and his management have dropped the ball terribly. Being able to display M-1 Global logos on their entire entourage during the biggest PPV main event in history is unprecedented, yet they managed to turn it down like it was an insulting offer. It helps M-1 Global as a company, but they obviously don't see it that way. Fedor's reputation has been hurt by this whole ordeal, and with not many huge opportunities for great competition outside the UFC... he's likely going to head into retirement down the road without ever answering the question as to whether he could compete with the best in the UFC.

On a personal note, I'm a huge supporter of Fedor Emelianenko, but this whole ordeal has rubbed me the wrong way in so many ways. I feel that Fedor is trying to set himself up for retirement by helping grow M-1 Global, but he's also trying to bring more exposure for MMA to his own country along with building something successful that he can work with later in life. That's a commendable effort by Fedor, but the fact of the matter is that as a MMA fighter... you don't get offered $5 million a fight with PPV escalators EVER!

He not only has the chance to prove he's the best, something that Fedor always states he wants to do, but you'll be paid handsomely for it. M-1 gets some exposure, you get paid huge amounts of money, you have a chance to be a superstar worldwide with ACTUAL numbers backing that claim, and you turn it down because you must have M-1 Global's name mentioned by Joe Rogan, and a giant banner in the arena? You have truly failed, Fedor. I'll ultimately still watch you compete, but be very aware that many fans have turned their back on you.