Did Fedor Emelianenko Help Kill Strikeforce? Former Strikeforce Head And I Agree... Yes, He Probably Did

What an interesting year it’s been for Strikeforce. As an MMA promotion, they’ve truly experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows. From entering 2011 bigger and better than ever to being bought by the UFC… what a wild ride it’s been. And of course, many fans and insiders have debated what allowed the UFC to maneuver in and purchase their biggest competitor. One notable sticking point has been the failures of Fedor Emelianenko, who Strikeforce signed to a massive (and massively expensive) deal and has since lost three fights in a row. In a recent interview, a notable former Strikeforce executive appears to share this sentiment. Here are all the details.

In a new interview with Sherdog, the former Strikeforce Director of Communications, a man by the name of Mike Afromowitz, had this to say regarding the situation: “I think [signing Fedor Emelianenko] was a deal that made it very difficult to be profitable from… You know, what’s funny is somebody said to me not too long ago, ‘You are never going to make money with Fedor.’… I think maybe it wasn’t the right move, but everybody wanted it at the time. And when we did it, it sure felt good. But it could have been part of the undoing.”

Now, as a major Fedor Emelianenko fan, this is some tough news to swallow. But as a realist, I have to admit that Fedor Emelianenko’s high-profile failures may have contributed to Strikeforce’s decline.

As tough as this is to say, maybe Dana White was right when he said that building your company around Fedor Emelianenko was like building your company around Kimbo Slice.

Now, before you pick up the pickaxes and torches, hear me out for just one second. What I mean by that is this: when you make a signing as huge as a Fedor Emelianenko or a Kimbo Slice, when you take one fighter and try to market him as the face of your promotion and one of the best fighters in the world… it doesn’t matter who that fighter is, they have to deliver results.

Strikeforce was much smarter than Elite XC, I’ll say that right now. Strikeforce chose Fedor Emelianenko, they chose one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time who, at the time, was basically unbeaten in the eyes of virtually all hardcore MMA fans. Elite XC chose Kimbo Slice, who had gained popularity through a series of street fighting videos on YouTube. Fedor Emelianenko was a much smarter signing, but like it or not, the reality is that when Strikeforce signed Fedor Emelianenko and when Elite XC signed Kimbo Slice, both were “make or break” deals.

And both deals ended up crashing and burning.

Was Fedor Emelianenko the only reason Strikeforce failed? I don’t think so. The lack of star talent in many of their divisions certainly didn’t help, their Middleweight Champion defecting certainly didn’t help, the infamous “Nashville” brawl that got them kicked off of CBS certainly didn’t help, many of their titles remaining stagnant and undefended certainly didn’t help. As much fun as I had and continue to have watching Strikeforce, I can freely and fully admit that it wasn’t perfect.

But I think it’s time we all realize that Fedor’s failures played a significant role in the death of Strikeforce. As tough as that is to admit, it’s really the reality of the situation.