Fighters.com's August Heavyweight Rankings: UFC Dishonest About Fedor Emelianenko's Demands
By: Chad Edward Posted On: August 3, 2009 at 10:45amIn an analysis posted Friday, Yahoo!Sports MMA and boxing writer Kevin Iole spouted the UFC line, “If the UFC was in the business of giving 50 percent of its company away every time it tried to sign an elite fighter, it would have been in worse shape a lot sooner than Chrysler.” The article should’ve ended with a full disclusore that Yahoo!Sports and the UFC have a business partnership because Iole’s cozy nest in the UFC tree has affected his usually uncomprimised reporting.
M-1 Global isn’t asking for 50 percent of the UFC in exchange for Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko‘s (29-1) viscerally craved debut inside the Octagon.
Fighters.com isn’t sure whether that’s UFC spin strategized to pressure Emelianenko to surrender his co-promotion demand by persuading fans he’s unreasonable or a genuine misunderstanding by White about what Emelianenko is demanding.
M-1 Global isn’t demanding any ownership stake in the UFC at all. To present their demands in such a way is either disingenuous or ignorant of White and Iole. Their demands are only on revenues derived from particular events and merchandise featuring Emelianenko.
Iole wrote, “The demand was kind of like an owner in the Continental Basketball Association demanding 50 percent ownership in an NBA team before allowing his player to sign.”
That’s a dishonest analogy. A better analogy is an actor who earns enough fame to carry movies on name recognition alone. Said actor creates a production company to increase their share of revenues from films they perform in. They have slim functional role in the film’s production and promotion, but are given an honorary “Executive Producer” credit and their production company’s logo appears on the film’s marketing.
Fighters.com isn’t arguing that Emelianenko’s demands are reasonable or deserved, just explaining what M-1 Global is actually demanding as opposed to what the UFC is claiming they’re demanding.
Fighters.com has confirmed that Emelianenko has three offers he’s seriously considering, among them the UFC’s and Strikeforce’s. But, Emelianenko’s most likely adversary in Strikeforce, “Grim” Brett Rogers (8-0), who notched up a spot to fourth this month, isn’t banking on a showdown with the world’s best heavyweight.
Rogers’s manager, Mike Reilly, told Fighters.com about a potential fight with Emelianenko, “We have really heard nothing of the sort. We are planning on fighting in October. No idea who. Doesn’t even matter at this point.”
UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1), who rose to the second slot this month after pummeling now third-ranked Frank Mir (12-4) at UFC 100 in Las Vegas 11 July, probably isn’t banking on a fight versus Emelianenko either. He told Jim Rome last month that he’d like several more fights before challenging Emelianenko. If Emelianenko doesn’t sign with the UFC, Lesnar will fight the winner of sixth-ranked Shane Carwin (10-0) versus Cain Velasquez (6-0) to take place at UFC 104 in Los Angeles 24 October.
Mir will take on Velasquez’s seconds against Cheick Kongo (14-5-1) at UFC 107 in December, Kongo confirmed to Fighters.com.
This month in Portland at UFC 102, battle-hardened vets fourth-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1) and eighth-ranked “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-9) will battle to determine who becomes a threshold for rising prospects and who has a glimmer of hope for another title run, though Couture has hinted at returning to light heavyweight win or lose.
Next on the top ten heavyweight agenda, seventh-ranked “Cigano” Junior dos Santos (8-1) will fight one-time feared heavyweight “Crop Cop” Mirko Filipovic (25-7-2) at UFC 103 in Dallas 19 September.
After testing positive for 2a-methyl-5a-androstan-3a-ol-17-one, an anabolic steroid, and causing the cancellation of Affliction M-1 Global’s Trilogy, ninth-ranked “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (20-5) will probably return to Sengoku in Japan. Barnett was never enthusiastic about fighting Emelianenko, whom he considers a friend, at Trilogy; and, Fighters.com wonders if testing positive isn’t some kind of subconcious self-fulfilled will of Barnett’s. For the record, Barnett denies using steroids, the the California State Athletic Commission confirmed Barnett’s B sample also tested positive.
Finally, tenth-ranked “Pitbull” Andrei Arlovski (14-7) is a man without a promotion since Affliction cut him and UFC President Dana White recently remarked that he has no interest in signing Arlovski.
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Comments
How on earth is Arlovski ranked 10th ?
M-1 wanted 50-50 in the PPV cut , that sounds pretty unreasonable to me since they have already taken down two other major fight companies.
Fedor is scared about losing his legacy, even if Brock only has a 30% chance, Fedor is hiding.
That’s not exactly what M-1 wanted, though they did want a bigger piece of the action than is standard in UFC contracts.
Chad,
I don’t think the UFC actually ever said anything about contract specifics, at least in terms of hard numbers. So don’t blame them. Could they have leaked info to Iole and other? Perhaps, but we can’t say for sure. But specific numbers aside, bottom line is, we know that the people who manage Fedor and run M1 are a bunch of douche bags. Seriously. They’re not even worth SEMI-defending. If they don’t eventually sign w/ UFC in the next few weeks, I truly hope that Fedor fades away in mediocrity. Do I say that because I live inside the butt of UFC? No, but it’s a fact that the VAST majority of the worlds strongest fighters are contracted w/ the UFC. That’s where Fedor should be fighting. If he only beats hasbeens and nobodys, that proves nothing. Does Dana White have scum bag potential? Sure. Has he been a scumbag in the past top Fedor and M1? Probably. And is he doing almost everything he can (within reason) to get Fedor to sign w/ the UFC? i think it’s safe to assume that yes, he is.
I’m not defending anyone and you can read elsewhere on this site where I’ve said there’s really only one legitimate place for Fedor to fight and that’s in the UFC. I’m just tired of hearing everyong say that Fedor and Vadim are demanding 50% of the UFC. They’re not. And, yes, Dana White made that implication in the same way Iole did during the media conference call last Friday. I didn’t say Iole was fed anything, but his analysis was so similar to Dana White’s talking points from Friday’s call, he was obviously influenced by it without checking the facts with M-1 Global. It’s all moot now. Fedor signed with Strikeforce about 10 minutes after I posted this.
Yeah, I saw that literally right after I finished posting. Oh well. Whatever… I have Showtime. I’ll tune into the Strikeforce fights, like I always do anyway, and root for the underdog each time out. I know Dana White can be hard to deal with… and maybe he deserves this… but I can’t help it, at this point I hope Strikeforce somehow just goes belly up directly because of this signing (although, I don’t think that will happen).
Fedor has a share in M-1 Global until he gets free of that company he will never fight in the UFC. How can M-1 global expect to creat a deal with the UFC. As The Guy has already stated at the top they have taken down 2 other organisation. The UFC has covered themselves by not letting another company in and taking away profits. Dana is hard to deal with but look at the UFC now. Dana has been one of the reasons why the UFC is become a mainstream sport. He is opening it to new fans and countrys and why would he sign with m-1 global with the track record.
I would love to see Fedor come to UFC to fight the best and prove he’s the best. At the same time I don’t blame Dana White for protecting everything he’s worked so hard for. Does it put any curiousity in your mind why at Fedor’s rise and height in Pride they went belly up? Makes me wonder whose truly greedy Fedor or those who manage him.
The reason for Fedor’s decision comes down this: what he would have to give up to sign a contract with UFC simply is not worth what he would gain. If it was worth it, he would have signed. So obviously what he has now but would have to do without means more to him than what UFC has offered. Simple as that. And besides, Fedor doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, & us fans know it.
This article and the above posts are indicative of illiteracy in America and general educational levels of MMA fans. The writer and the posters are all ignorant when it comes to understanding how businesses work.
We have no idea about M-1′s offer to the UFC, but we could take educated guesses.
1) M-1 did NOT ask for 50% membership stake in Zuffa LLC in exchange for letting Fedor fight in the UFC. THIS IS CRAZY!!!
2) What M-1 potentially wanted a joint venture. A form of partnership whereby M-1 and UFC would take profit shares in co-promoted events. The venue could be the octagon. But it has to be UFC & M-1 event. M-1 would pocket money for its fighters: Fedor, Mousasi, Baby Fedor, Aleks, and Zentsov, and UFC would pocket money for Lesnar, Shogun, Antoni Hardonk, Dos Santos, Justin McCully. The profit will not be split 50/50. It would be more like 70/30 (UFC getting 70). M-1 will then pay its fighters salary. Fedor would get $300k. Then M-1 would distribute the rest as profit to Vladim and Fedor, potentially $3 million each. THIS IS HOW CO-PROMOTION WORKS!
3) Fedor is NOT afraid of fighting Brock. He is in love with money. He would fight Brock only if he can get paid $3million. UFC in no way will pay Fedor $3million. UFC probably offered $600k~$1million. This was NOT enough for Fedor.
4) Jay Houston above is the most sensible of all you illiterate morons.
Here are my rankings for the heavyweights in the world.
1. Shane Carwin: this guy combine sheer power, agility, and strength for a guy his size and is gonna go down undefeated
2. Cain Valasquez: He’s a worrior and eventhough he has not faught the likes of Shane, and brock I believe that he’s so far impress me and others he’s gonna be a tough matchup for anyone
3. Brock Lesnar: Only because he’s the heavyweight champ. If he fight Carwin he has Zero chance of retaining his title
4. Junior Santos: Strong boxing skills, stregth and all around good fighter
5. Fedor Emilinko: The man has not fought anyone and yet he’s being regard as the best pound for pound, overated and has no chance against my top 4 on this list