Is Fedor Emelianenko's Management Damaging His Image While Lining Their Pockets?

The business of the mixed martial arts has been the focal point for many critics and purists who believe that the "entertainment" side of the sport has caused us to forget that we should be seeking out the best fighters in the world, not the most exciting and "fun" match-ups. Unfortunately, promoters aren't always the culprits of deterring that formula from coming to fruition. Managers, other fighters, steroids, and battles over monetary compensation for a fighter's status in the MMA world all come into play as well, and for Strikeforce -- these issues could culminate into an annoying little subplot of greed that takes the greatest heavyweight of all-time out of the mix.

Things seemed to be going smoothly for Scott Coker leading into 2010. Strikeforce was able to put on a solid show with Fedor Emelianenko knocking out Brett Rogers in epic fashion in a surprisingly hard fought battle for the "The Last Emperor". Overeem was still receiving a lot of criticism from fans for not defending his belt, but it looks like he has actually come through on his word that he would fight for Strikeforce in the Spring as he's now rumored to be battling Rogers on the May 15th card.

Sounds like this is going according to plan, right? Fedor vs. Werdum and Overeem vs. Rogers would likely set up a championship clash between Overeem and Fedor for sometime late in 2010... which is what most people felt was the progression since Strikeforce wanted to get both men some face time in order to hype the fight down the road. Unfortunately, Fedor's manager, Vadim Finkelstein, is looking for a bigger payday and a better opponent:

"I personally think that Alistair Overeem did not reach the desired level to challenge Fedor. He beat a lot of no-name opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. Overeem defeated Paul Buentello and then disappeared from the United States for more than two year, which is simply ridiculous. Also, pay attention that Werdum beat Overeem when they were fighting in Pride, four years ago."

"We do not fight for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Strikeforce are our partner, and any titles whether it is UFC, Strikeforce, WAMMA, Dream… they are just medals. Fedor is above these things. We are interested in the level of our opponent and his popularity among the audience."

"Exactly. We are more interested in fighting Josh Barnett, who is currently disqualified until September. When he returns from his suspension and if he tests clean, we might consider fighting him.

I'm one of the biggest Fedor fans out there. He was instrumental along with Wanderlei Silva in bringing me into this sport. But his management is becoming increasingly active in how I view Fedor, which shouldn't be the case at all.

Vadim is right in one aspect of his argument. Overeem hasn't beat any top talent in the past couple of years that would merit him a vote in the top ten heavyweight rankings. In fact, I'd challenge anyone to actually sit down and formulate any argument that puts Overeem in the top ten using any criteria besides maybe... top ten horse meat eaters.

UPDATE: The unconfirmed "steroid bully" translation is actually coming out as "generally ridiculous" or "ridiculous" to the line in question. Hat tip to BE Reader Michael for the translation below:

"I personally think Overeem has not reached the level of fighting Fedor just yet. It's partially caused by the fact he has no victories over top-ranked heavyweights in MMA plus his relative anonymity with casual MMA fans in the US. He fought just once in Strikeforce and then disappeared for over 2 years now. It's not enough to hold an event that would attract broad American audience's attraction. Werdum has recently fought 3 times under Strikeforce  where the Dutchman just once by beating Buentello and disappearing. It's ridiculous. Moreover, Werdum beat him back in 2006 in Pride already."

Luckily, Fedor is still in negotiations to fight on the May card alongside Overeem and Rogers against fellow PRIDE veteran Fabricio Werdum. An added bonus of Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva is also scheduled to take place on the card. Three big name heavyweight MMA battles on one major event should spell success for Strikeforce, but the coming months will be the major test.

Will Strikeforce and Showtime shell out more money for Fedor? It's tough to say. I would imagine they'd be willing to do so if Fedor impressively finishes Werdum and creates more buzz around his name to a North American audience. Overeem's hulking size and the American obsession with Herculean-like physiques should garner him some interest as well, and that will skyrocket with a destructive win over Rogers. The set-up for that showdown should easily entice the backers of Strikeforce to shell out the dough.

I imagine Vadim's comments are intended to stir the pot and create a potential reason to not signing an agreement to fight Overeem if both men win their fights in May. Fedor will move on to battle Barnett in DREAM for a big payday while Overeem will call out Fedor, fight K-1, and demolish sub par competition. By the end of the year, we might see that fight happen, but Fedor will either break his hand, avoid a championship battle at all costs to avoid a championship clause, or Overeem will get hurt. Either way, I don't see this fight ever happening. 

Some will say that Vadim and Fedor are ducking Overeem while others will believe this is only a ploy to get more money out of Strikeforce's backers. These comments are, however, becoming tiring to the hardcore fans who have stood by Fedor for so many years. This definitely can't be good for his image.