Step Back and Breathe: The Fedor Saga is Only Beginning
by Michael Rome on Aug 1, 2009 10:10 PM EDT
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Mike Chiappetta made a great point on MMA Nation today that I've been talking about with others in private for a few days. For all the general exasperation over talks between Fedor and the UFC falling apart, it's worth considering the fact that Fedor only became a free agent a little over a week ago.
Fedor is the most sought-after free agent in MMA history. Not only does every promotion want him, money men who aren't in the sport (stupidly) think they can use him to create a successful MMA promotion. Thus far, the people at M-1 have been able to get everything they want from promotions like Bodog and Affliction without giving anything up in return. They aren't about to bend on their demands until they are sure they can't get someone else to satisfy them again.
The UFC could ignore Fedor and never be worse off for it. They are extraordinarily successful without him, and there are a number of risks associated with signing him. Will he bomb as a draw without Lesnar or Couture opposite him? Will his management hold out for more money mid-contract given their leverage? Will he plow through the division and leave with their title? These are all big risks that Dana is willing to ignore because he wants Fedor so badly. Unfortunately for the UFC, they've already shown their cards to M-1, and now M-1 will take its time before plotting its next move.
I think it's premature to say the talks are dead. It's been a week. M-1 will now try to play Strikeforce and the UFC against each other while they also look to other options. The UFC violated several cardinal rules of negotiating by storming in with an amazing offer and numerous concessions, and they did it because they thought they'd be able to avoid a long negotiating process. Now they have to take a step back and figure out where to go from here, and how to reorient their negotiation strategy to address the fairly transparent goals of M-1 Global.
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This is one of several level-headed takes I have read here over the last few days. Somehow I think it won’t matter in the comments section. Let the vitriol fly!
BOOSH
I’ll just add my +1 up here. Good to see some maturity finding its way past all the emotional hysteria from the MMA community.
"Like a ballet of violence clothed in fine Brazilian silk." ~ MMASuPreMaCy
You know what I mean?
Most people here, on both sides of the Zuffa/AntiZuffa spectrum, usually remain somewhat normal. Even when people get heated and talk shit, it’s still normal 90% of the time.
But these past few days have been unreal.
BOOSH
To be fair, people have a lot of vested emotional interest at the moment. The MMA wet dream nearly came true: Fedor in the UFC.
When a dream like that nearly comes true, people have a right to lose their shit a little bit :P
As the headline says though, time to take a breath and calm down .
"Like a ballet of violence clothed in fine Brazilian silk." ~ MMASuPreMaCy
I think a lot of us...
Who have been a part of the online, hardcore community have had to hold our tongues on a LOT of what has been said of the UFC, and Dana, because the consensus was that they were getting in their own way of a deal with Fedor, among all sorts of criticism that the UFC treats fighters bad, etc… People called Dana every name in the book…
But when the time came to show and prove, although maybe they were a little over-zealous, the UFC proved that they were serious… They still didn’t even meet with Fedor himself, but let go of a lot of sticking points, and left a deal on the table that no other fighter would have been given (regardless of how u look at it, the potential for Fedor to make MILLIONS of dollars per fight was there, with over a million per fight guaranteed, a fee to M1, and not to mention sponsorships, and ppv percentage)… After all this… the only straight answer we can get is “UFC needs to meet us halfway, and we need to co-promote”….
We have a right to be upset at that… as fans…. obviously theres going to be back and forth negotiating, but the only thing they can say is that they want to co-promote, when they haven’t proven to be even close to the promoters that UFC is… When we as fans can see that M1 is either trying to benefit more for the company (leeching, and then leaving with Fedor after UFC markets him) than Fedor, or is simply trying to block a deal from happening, we have a right to speak out…
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
Speaking out is fine
Insulting Fedor as a fighter is poppycock. It went from “Fedor hasn’t fought top competition in a while, but has beaten a lot of top fighters in his day” to “FEDOR IS SCARED OUT OF HIS MIND AND WOULD PEE HIMSELF IF HE SAW BROCK ROTFLMAO!”
I mean, get serious.
Also, “But when the time came to show and prove”…do we really have proof of anything? Dana saying he offered something is not proof either, unless M-1 confirms it. Because nobody here was in the room or on the call
BOOSH
I think its fairly obvious that the deal was a lucrative one however u look at it...
I also don’t think it’s fighter bashing to insinuate that Fedor is ducking consistent competition… Just because your opinion differs, doesn’t make either assumption right or wrong.
In fact, it’s very easy to draw that conclusion, being that in the UFC every fighter Fedor would fight (if he keeps winning) will have beaten other good fighter before fighting Fedor… He won’t be getting to fight any MW’s… nor will he fight freakshow fights… He would have to fight a guy coming off of wins over other capable hw;s… every time. A fighter that may have some momentum on his side, not a former champ coming off of losses… or a former UFC fighter who’s beaten a couple lower tier fighters out of the UFC… I’m not saying that every UFC HW is top notch, but Fedor would be fighting whoever sets himself ahead of the pack at the current time…
BTW, over the past few days I’ve said some things because I was disappointed, but it’s only because I can imagine how awesome it would be to see Fedor fight tough fighters consistently… on cards with other great fighters… His decision may be based on himself as a business man who owns part of M1…. but Fedor, the fighter, makes sense and dollars in the UFC…
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
a little too optimistic?
i’m trying to think what they would re-negotiate cuz it seems that fedor is getting everything he wants except the co-promotion. they even admit that if this deal was presented to them before they probably would have taken it
if fedor goes to ufc what becomes of M1-Global?
Vadim: “What about M1-Global? You no mention M1-Global. Imagine how incredible if combine UFC and M1-Global. Imagine the light if M1-Global presents UFC 105!”
I think
and this might be just me, that from a business stand point, if Fedor and management shop around and don’t find what they are looking for, the UFC isn’t going to be so generous. The second kick at the can will probably be at least less then half the first offer, and co-promotion is still off the table. I can’t see the UFC ever folding on the co-promotion part of the deal.
Nice article, Michael. Time will tell if M-1 truly lacks flexibility in the area of co-promotion. If they do, however, I can assure you that you’ll never see this near-33 year old heavyweight in the UFC.
The co-promotion demand is what kills all negotiations with the UFC. As long as it’s a requirement by M-1 then the UFC might as well just ignore them. For all practical purposes the deal is dead due to that. There is a good chance that all M-1 was looking at to start with was seeing what the UFC would offer to use it as leverage in their other negotiations too.
The fans want Fedro in the UFC.
Fedro in the UFC presents several problems to UFC management.
The UFC does not need Fedro.
Zuffa blitzes Fedro with an awesome offer that they think he will probably refuse (speculation).
Zuffa publicizes said offer after it is refused.
The fans turn on Fedro.
Zuffa looks good and gains credibility while not having so much pressure to get Fedro in the UFC.
Sound possible?
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
With the offer made
is it also possible that the UFC will not come to the table with the same dollar amounts the next time round, I think we can all agree that the co-promotion thing will never, ever happen, but if Fedor shops around and doesn’t find something that his management likes, and then comes back to the UFC table, is there a chance that considerably less money will be involved?
Pretty much...
Dana would say :
Welcome back. Now as I was saying, you can have 15 millions for 6 fights.
Vadim : But you said 30 million last time?
Dana : So I did…..LAST TIME. But that was “LAST TIME” and this is “THIS TIME”. And This time, you will take this offer or you can just go and have Fedor fight in Japan the rest of his life getting paid peanuts….
I think they should make a spectacle out of the whole thing.
Put a giant counter on ufc.com, or just to kick them in the balls, transform pridefc.com into a giant countdown.
Start it at 30 million and let it tick down one dollar every x amount of time. Every time there is a ufc show put it up in the corner between rounds and talk about it. Pay for ads on sherdog, the ug, and any other site they see fit. Let everyone know what the max value of the offer is, and that it is going down by the second. See how long they negotiate with Strikeforce when they know 30 mil is off the table.
by Phildo on Aug 2, 2009 1:14 AM EDT up reply actions 4 recs
iiowyn I have the same theory
They can build their own heavyweight empire without the famous Fedor and they will be more successful because of it guaranteed.
Who in the blue hell is FEDRO?
Is he related to PEDRO by any chance? lol.
(spell-check next time….)
Maybe hang around long enough to notice the inside jokes next time.
"Like a ballet of violence clothed in fine Brazilian silk." ~ MMASuPreMaCy
My Condolences...
I was almost married…Thank god it didn’t work out.
Hence, I’ve still got my social life…and my sanity still intact.
That’s MY excuse.
And a damn good one. lol.
Fair enough, but...
I guess maybe you’re here because you love MMA? That’s my main reason, and I think everyone else’s as well.* Relax on the “social life” calls and we can all be friends.
*Besides Subo. He’s just here because he hearts Brock.
BOOSH
MMA Kicks ass. Yup. I love it.
But what’s wrong with “nut-hugging” Lesnar?
He kicks ass, too. Just..in a literal sense. ;)
Anyway….Everyone is saying everything about Carwin/Lesnar. Umm…Let’s wait and see if Carwin gets past Cain first.
Should be funny though if Cain somehow pulls off the upset…
then we’d have a matchup that, if you don’t look at the names directly and just listen to them, it sounds like a typical WWE match :
Brock Lesnar vs. CAIN (Kane) LOL!
You don’t mean that, Tootwrench.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Aug 2, 2009 1:18 AM EDT up reply actions
You’re posting at 12:52. You do not have much of a social life unless you got started early and have a few hookers asleep in you bed right now.
by MMAInFeRioRiTy on Aug 2, 2009 3:08 AM EDT up reply actions
It's much more likely....
…….that instead of the UFC “trying to look good” and “gain credibility” they actually made a great, legit offer, maybe the best offer ever offered to an MMA fighter, and Fedro’s management refused it because they feel they are somehow on equal footing with the UFC.
The best line out of all of this was something like this (not a direct quote) “We are willing to share in 1/2 the risk, and we want to share in 1/2 the profits.”
That’s like me coming up with a REALLY good, microprocessor, something that will be huge in the market for the next 3 to 4 years and taking it to Intel and asking them to make me a 1/2 partner because of it. Even though Intel has built the microprocessor business into what it is today. Where was M1 when the Fertititas were dropping 40 million into this business and seeing ZERO return? Now that the UFC is a giant they want to claim to take on “1/2 the risk” give me a damn break.
i think the opposite theory holds more water
M-1 never had/has any intention of giving up control of the gravy-train fedor to the ufc. If fedor were to sign with the ufc, the risks to the M-1 leeches are far greater than actual risks to the ufc. If he fights cans outside the ufc and an occasional good HW, they keep their control and limit their risks.
The whole requirement of co-promotion was their way of ensuring that fedor will not fight in the ufc. They aren’t stupid, they knew there was no way in hell the ufc would agree to that. As Rome points out, they just want to use the ufc figures in their negotiations with other orgs who will give up more concessions over control. They definitely want to have control over fedor’s opponents- again, limiting risk. I personally think that is what killed the Vitor Belfort fight. Atencio had the verbal agreement, it was ready to go, and Finkelstein gave the veto, saying a sherdog poll didn’t like it. Not that fedor wouldn’t have been the obvious favorite, but very short notice, a fast explosive puncher, is a potential danger with little upside (other than geting paid big for the fight.) I don’t blame the Fink, he is trying to get the best for the leeches, I am just personally biased in that I want to see Lesnar Fedor so that I can bet huge money on Lesnar.
As an aside, I don’t think that fedor would be a big draw in the states if he was not opposite couture or lesnar. Shit, Anderson Silva is phenomenal too and he has poor drawing power. I honestly think that Dana as a fan wanted this fight, and that Dana is hugely confident that Lesnar would win in the first fight. Of course, he doesn’t want fedor in strikeforce, either.
You’re right, it’s only been a couple of days. Hell, Fedor was supposed to be fighting in only a few hours from now.
Things happen very fast in the MMA world. As much as the fans can be angry at Fedor right now, they’ll be quick at forgiving him once he signs with the UFC. In the end, there aren’t that many other options out there for him and he’s gonna have to bite the bullet eventually if he wishes to remain relevant. WAMMA isn’t there to hype the likes of Tim Sylvia and AA anymore.
For my part, I’ll jump back on the Fedor bandwagon the day he signs with the UFC. I’m as much a Fedor fan as I am a UFC fan, but the UFC is where my money goes.
Fedor has a contract with M-1 Global who co-promoted with Affliction, he never had a contract purely with Affliction so he isn’t a free agent. That’s why M-1 claims they have the best fighter in the world because they have him under contract, that’s why M-1 demands co-promotion with the UFC because again they have him under contract.
When Fedor’s contract with M-1 is up then we will have a possibility of him signing with the UFC, because M-1 have clearly shown they are not letting go of Fedor, for any cost.
The UFC’s best chance to get him is to block the only real option he has and that’s with Strikeforce. The UFC could offer Strikeforece some kind of lucrative deal to make it in their best interests not to sign Fedor, then Fedor would have no other avenues left, M-1 couldn’t offer him any fights and then perhaps M-1 would give into the UFC’s demands…
Never underestimate the amount of money marks out there. There are people talking with M-1 right now that are not currently in the game that want to be. Fedor is the ultimate trojan horse, people that don’t know the sport grab him because he’s the best thinking that is all that matters for success, and then his cost kills them.
Semi random, how significant do you think it is that Mark Cuban invested in the UFC this year? Something about that just keeps coming back to my attention.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
it takes him out of the running as a competitor
and a potentially very serious one.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
curious how you know he wont dabble in competeting promotions. He lent Zuffa a bunch of cash. Normally it’s the lender that has stipulations for the borrower not the other way around. I know he wants to be in good graces with Zuffa so HDNet can show more of their footage and maybe get some advertising in at UFC shows. However, if he really wanted to be an equity partner in another promotion I dont see how being a Zuffa bond holder prevents that.
He didn’t lend them anything he bought out the debt from the previous bondholder. Still I would have to wonder if FCC regulations would allow him to be a bond holder and run a direct competitior. It would make for a conflict of interest.
But the question remains
will the FCC ever cover his chin?
Of course, he also could have bought in so that he’d be able to peak at the books, since he still competes with the UFC through HDNet Fights.
Anyone trying to use Fedor as a trojan horse is going to be following a similar plan as Affliction – that is competing with the UFC. You can see where that leads – war with Dana & Co. Promotions don’t tend to last long that way. The UFC would do what they did to Affliction and try their best to make it difficult for the promotion to operate.
Options like these would only be able to find opponents from Strikeforce, but they would need Strikeforce’s permission to use these fighters – something that was revealed when trying to find Fedor an opponent at Trilogy. I think that if the UFC can block opponents coming Fedor’s way – and they have alot of leverage within the industry, i’m sure they could offer Strikeforce deals they couldn’t turn down – that this presents a realistic back-door way of getting Fedor.
Fedor is right
Everybody else is wrong.
by timetosaygoodbye on Aug 1, 2009 9:48 PM EDT reply actions
Honestly...
I heard some people say that Vadim might be shopping. Sounds plausible to me.
Follow me on Twitter @lelandroling
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I’m not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Plain & simple.. The UFC only want’s Fedor because the media keep bringing his name up. His fans (minority in this case) dont even make up 20 % of the market value. We’ve seen this to be the case due to his track record on returns.. His 3 combined PPV’s in the US market didnt even peak over 300K buys combined.. When UFC 100 without him just shattered all previous PPV buymarks with over 1.5 million. Yes it did over 1.5.. Dana has said the PPV buyrate exceeded that mark generously.. This is like beating a dead horse really.. If the man wants to come to the UFC, he will.. IF he doesnt, then he wont.. I dont see how it honestly changes anything for the UFC or it’s built in fan base ??? They have done multiple PPV cards that have exceeded the million mark.. They have expanded the entire industry by themselves. They have a built in farming system with TUF that generates new stars for the sport. The are aggressively pursuing new talent daily and will eventually be the benchmark for the entire sport.. As if they aren’t already.. Fedor is only 1 man.. What has he done to grow the “sport” ?? His record is a mixed bag to most that do know him.. Some say he’s been fed cans and wash outs & not fought the top guys consistently, while others say he’s 30-1 with a technical loss.. So I only ask.. What does he really bring to the table ?? He’s got a couple big fights in the UFC, then what ?? He’ll retire eventually and he’ll be a thing of the past.. Michael Jordan was argued as the greatest basketball player to ever live, but if you honestly look back, Bill Russell had more titles and a more dominate era than any other player in the sport today .. And as such the generations have moved on.. We will all do so with Fedor as well.. He doesn’t define the sport.. The sport is still in the infant stages.. He’s simply a building block for the sport to grow on.. IF he doesn’t come to the UFC, then there will always be doubters, but fundamentally speaking, it wont matter either way, because in the world of sport, there is always room for debate as to who the best really is.. I say Fedor is “one of the best” of this time.. I will never say he is the greatest.. The sport hasnt had enough time to truly evolve and bring in the best athletes from around the world like other sports have.. Give it time to grow and evolve.. This deal dose not define the sport.. So what’s really all the fuss about ??
by MMAuthority on Aug 1, 2009 9:56 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
the fuss is about this
If the UFC signs Fedor now they lock out any future competitors in the US, Japan, Russia or Planet X from being able to claim that they are competing at the same level as the UFC as an MMA promoter. Period.
Its not that Fedor allows any other promotion, real or potential to compete at the same level as the UFC, its that if the UFC gets Fedor, they win. Period.
Things can change very quickly. Lesnar and Couture will both come to the end of their contracts. A major new star could emerge overnight (Mike Tyson was only 18 when he erupted after all). Things can happen if the UFC doesn’t lock up the world’s #1 heavyweight ASAP. They might never have this chance again.
Strikeforce is a far more serious competitor than any they’ve faced previously. They didn’t rush to buy Affliction because they were desperate to promote Ben Rothwell and Paul Daley. they were desperate to prevent Strikeforce from deepening their roster.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
Half of the Strikeforce roster rather be in the UFC. Shields , Lawler , Diaz , Rogers etc. I don’t see strikeforce as nothing more then a blimp on the screen. They just recently started putting on more high profile fights and are still controlled mostly by Showtime. Showtime has denied many fights they have presented. UFC has full control and personal that will back them no matter what. These other company’s dont have that. When the UFC was struggling even the Ferititas wanted to pull the plug but they gave it one last effort and it worked. As soon as these other orgs backers see there money swirling down the drain they look for a way out and there is the UFC to help them out. No org with or without Fedor will ever trump or equal the UFC.
"Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass. I told him a year ago. I pulled it out of him and I beat him over the head with it." Brock Lesnar
A few years ago you could have replaced every mention of “UFC” in your post with “PRIDE” and it would have been equally true.
not in North America.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
I disagree. ALL MMA fans from North America or otherwise were huge on Pride.
It wasnt until TUF that the new breed of fans came on board without first hand knowledge of the Pride era.
"Like a ballet of violence clothed in fine Brazilian silk." ~ MMASuPreMaCy
First off using “all” is a bit silly because you will never see a situation where “all” applies to what people think (even pre-2005 there were plenty of people who were very UFCcentric in their nuthugging). Second pre-TUF North American MMA fans were a rare breed to start with, North American MMA fans that were also heavy internet users and thus exposed to Pride was a really small sub-group. Yes in that group that was North American MMA fans and heavy internet users then it would be the case but that’s a fairly big asterisk to put onto the description.
No.
Not all people who knew of UFC knew of Pride… Some people knew of UFC because of the WWE (Dan Severn, Shamrock and his Lion’s Den matches, etc)… Also, Pride never did too well on PPV in NA (what did they have a few shows)…
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
If Zuffa doesnt sign Fedor he can then go and bankrupt another competitor…
Fedor has a very small cult following. He’s the new Frank Shamrrock only a shit more expensive. How has Frank Shamrock impacted Zuffa?
If Zuffa completely ignored Fedor he would fade away.
Bottom line is Dana has done more to make this guy famous than anyone else. His big mouth got in the way. If he ignored Affliction and kept ignoring Fedor, Fedor would still be doing 30k buys. Dana helped so far, they need to completely ignore him until they sign him.
by Michael Rome on Aug 2, 2009 12:11 AM EDT up reply actions
But look at all the attention he has given to Fedor and Affliction and even then it still amounted to what 100k buys? Whoever signs him is gonna figure out real quick why UFC wont co-promote with him.
You gonna pay him a huge salary and yeah that’s not that bad but then all the money you should be making to recoup your loses half goes to M-1.
For whatever reason people are gonna continue to lose money on this guy. You wanna know why Pride was successful with him? There was no co-promotion. So yeah they paid him but everything they made on the event they kept.
How is he supposed to ignore Fedor?
When everywhere he goes someone is asking him about Fedor? Its not as if Dana brings Fedor up in conversation… Not that I’m disagreeing with you, just saying it’s gotta be hard to ignore Fedor as the mouth of the biggest MMA org in the world.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
Somebody tell me how Fedor is a draw?
Rings:Dead, Pride:Dead, Bodog mma: Dead, Affliction mma: Dead. Sure Rings and Pride deaths were not his fault but Pride did horrible on PPV when they came here. Bodog did horrible PPV numbers and Affliction does ok numbers but not enough to stay in business.
And with Affliction you have to remember Affliction went all out. Sure there were people that ordered Affliction just to see Fedor but the majority of people who did did so because Arlovski, Rothwell, Sylvia, Barnett, Belfort, Lindland, Lil Nog, Babalu etc. were on the cards.
I dont see how even Fedor is gonna draw the masses that Kimbo couldn’t on CBS?
You gotta remember the highest rated fights on CBS were Kimbo and Gina. So the internet sensation and the hot mma chick. Remember Shields or Lawler on CBS there fights were not the biggest draws even though they were probably the most talented.
The idea that Fedor is gonna carry your company has not worked out so far for anyone and weather I’m Dream or Strikeforce or someone new looking to get into mma I would take a hard look before I decide to sign Fedor. He is not the cash cow that people are making him out to be and anyone who decides to sign him is all of a sudden on the wrong side of the UFC which isn’t the best place to be right now.
Sure there were people that ordered Affliction just to see Fedor but the majority of people who did did so because Arlovski, Rothwell, Sylvia, Barnett, Belfort, Lindland, Lil Nog, Babalu etc. were on the cards.
Please provide some evidence for this assertion.
So Frankie you think every person that purchased Banned or Day of Reckoning purchased the event just to see Fedor?
Pride 32 Meltzer reported did 40-50k buys and Bodog fight was reported to do as low as 13-14k. Now Affliction PPV’s it was reported both did around 100k buys.
So if Fedor was the only reason people tuned in to watch Affliction why did they do such bigger numbers than Pride and especially Bodog Fight?
Like I said I think the majority of people ordered Affliction because Affliction went out and got almost every big name available for their events.
using "big name" loosely.
I'm like PacMan fightin you silly kids... throw ya Hatton the ring, and get knocked outlike Ricky did.
lol.
You didn’t say you thought “the majority of people ordered Affliction because Affliction went out and got almost every big name available for their events.” You stated it as a fact. I also never suggested that “every person that purchased Banned or Day of Reckoning purchased the event just to see Fedor.” I simply questioned your assertion that the majority of people who ordered those cards did so to watch fighters other than Fedor. Now maybe you’re right, but I’d still like to see some evidence.
Well my bad if I implied it as fact it is my opinion and who knows maybe I’m wrong.
There is no evidence that is gonna back that up but I just dont see how you go from 13-14k people buying an event to 100k without having more fighters that people want to see.
Did 86k people just look up Fedor online between Bodog and Affliction and say I want to watch this guy fight?
Also I never stated that they didnt want to watch Fedor but its a lot easier to pay 44.95 for a card that has a bunch of ex Pride and ex UFC and ex IFL guys on it .
nice points bigd. I think that reality will set in fairly soon and the UFC’s offer will stand out as being pretty damn attractive. Has Coker mentioned anything about the viability co-promoting with the Russians? He keeps his cards pretty close to his vest. That’s probably the biggest unknown dynamic at this point. He did suggest(in his interview with Loretta Hunt) that Cuban is in fact talking with Fedor. In any event it seems likely that he’ll be fighting in the US pretty damn soon so we’ll get our fix soon. I think a fihgt with a beefed up Overeem is almost as good as a fight with Lesnar anyway.
Question
Rome in your opinion and others can chime in, do you think there’s any possible way that Finkie and the boys look at whats out there, realize the UFC is the best offer and platform for them, and then do away with this co-promotion BS and sign a UFC contract? (Please say yes)
The problem is that the UFC might not be the best choice for what Finkelstein wants out of this. This just isn’t by any definition a standard negotiation and for M-1 co-promotion and non-exclusive contracts are more important than insuring Fedor’s immediate financial gain. It makes for a very complex situation.
What you’re saying is true and confirms to me that the promoter of company such as Vadim isn’t the best at being a manager and has a conflict of interest. A manager is suppose to look out for his fighter’s best interests, yet I believe Vadim is looking out for who his promotion’s (M-1 Global) best interests instead and using Fedor to help spearhead those interests. This is all so frustrating as a fan who justs wants to see the best fight.
by filipinomix2oo0 on Aug 2, 2009 2:17 AM EDT up reply actions
It’s not impossible. We simply don’t know where Fedor is fighting next right now.
But it doesn’t look good.
When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are in a confederacy against him. - Jonathan Swift
by Derek Suboticki on Aug 2, 2009 3:30 AM EDT up reply actions
Yes.
This co-promotion stuff is just a media story as much as the kind of lines Dana throws out. What they really want is a deal that benefits M-1 rather than just Fedor. They also want to shop around.
They’re going to take the best deal they can find. I think that will end up being the UFC, but it’s hard to say. I think Fedor has a distrust of Dana that runs very deep.
Dana and Lorenzo are looking like amateurs in terms of negotiating with Russians. The key when negotiating with pros from such a different culture is to understand their long-term goals and try to orient your strategy accordingly. So many American businessmen go into places like CHina and Russia and fail because they don’t pay attention to things like this and think “getting to yes” will handle all their negotiating issues. The UFC should hire a law firm or consulting company familiar with negotiations in Russia to handle this for them, they clearly can’t do it.
The question then might be, do they want Fedro, or do they just want to look like they want Fedro and are bending over backwards. Probably somewhere in the middle, Dana has certainly gotten some good press out of this and M-1 has gotten some bad fan reactions.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
I like the thought that the UFC might have rushed thing on purpose.
Also if he goes to Strikeforce or another promotion it can only serve to hurt the competitor and/or Fedor.
The most likely challengers out there with Strikeforce are Werdum, Rogers and Overeem.
If Fedor goes over there and beats any or all of them all it will do is take a little shine off whoever he beats, thereby weakening the Strikeforce HW division a bit. I doubt Fedor’s stock will ever be higher than it is now.
On the other hand if one of those guys (hopefully Rogers or Overeem from the UFC’s perspective) manages to pull of the upset then the UFC can turn around and sign that fighter for much less than they offered Fedor and write Fedor off.
I just don’t see the Japanese promotions as a significant threat to the UFC at the higher weight classes. If he goes there it will be for Barnett or other freakshow fights.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
The biggest thing about this whole situation that has gone overlooked & under analyzed is the fact that Fedor is signed to a promotion… Said promotion being M1 Global. He signed with them because, at that present time, they threw big money at him & were also allowing him to fight outside of their promotional banner via the “co-promotional” outlet. I personally believe that M1-Global shot their wad on signing Fedor in the beginning. If most of you have forgotten, M1 jumped in with the backing from Mitchell Maxwell & newly formed (at that time) Sibling Sports LLC. Also at that time Monte Cox was hired as “President” of M1 Global. Remember they had a press conference held about the signing of Fedor and they were going to Co- Promote with all other organizations at that time to bring Fedor to face the best in each org ?? Funny how that little business venture lasted less than 3 months without ever materializing an actual card or venue. In steps “Affliction”. They were a budding financial success from the advertising they received via the UFC & it’s fighters. They essentially ere duped into the same thing as Maxwell in the regards that they could find financial success marketed behind a single fighter. They took the bait and from there it has been ALL downhill. That leads us right back to present time. Fedor is still signed under contract to M1. Regardless of what he says, he cant do much about it until he full fills his original agreement. M1 is basically a shell corp. They’re bleeding money on the pretense that they’ll land that one big fight deal and recoup on the back end of it. They hold zero weight at the bargaining table … So with that said, let Fedor ride off into obscurity .. He made the choices he’s made.. So ultimately it all falls back on him regardless of ho you look at it. His definition of where the sport is right now, is obviously not where popular opinion has the sport at.. He hasn’t done much to define the sport.. He’s 1 fighter, that will at some point lose a fight.. Where will he land from there is the only relevant question ???
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