Fighters.com and MMA Gospel Radio are proud to announce a partnership that'll bring you more of the best mixed martial arts content. ...

CBS Senior Executive Vice President Kelly Kahl compared Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) to Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods Tuesday on a media conference call promoting Emelianenko's matchup versus fifth-ranked “Grim” Brett Rogers (10-0) at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates 33 miles northwest of Chicago November 7. ...

Former IFL welterweight "Pe de Chumbo" Delson Heleno (14-5) has joined team USA East of the M-1 Challenge team competition, M-1 Global announced Tuesday. Heleno is scheduled to fight "Negao" Fabio Nascimento (19-9) at M-1 Challenge in Rostov 26 September. Heleno tapped "The Evolution" Tyler Stinson (14-5) in a triangle choke at Art of Fighting in Tampa 22 August. "Negao" tapped Marat Ilaev (0-1) in an armbar at M-1 Challenge 17 in Seoul 4 July. M-1 Challenge will be streamed live from Rostov 26 September at M-1Global.com. ...

According to Fighters.com's source inside M-1 Global, the UFC and M-1 Global "did not agree at all yesterday" when the competing international MMA promotions met about bringing Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (29-1) into the Octagon to fight UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar (4-1).

In a statement released Sunday, M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelstein challenged, "This is the moment of truth that the UFC has talked about. Fedor and I are here in the States. If they want to come out and fly here, we are ready to conduct negotiations. Of course it still doesn’t imply we are ready to accept any conditions they’ll throw at us. We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global."

It's the co-promotion between the UFC and M-1 Global that has been a sticking point between the two promotions. The same arrangement caused tension between Affliction and M-1 Global representatives.
...

Aleksander Emelianenko (12-3) told Sports.ru Tuesday that he will rematch with Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (19-5) at Affliction: Day of Reckoning 24 January. “There is already an agreement that on the show organized by Affliction and M-1 Global 24 January, I will have a rematch with former UFC Champion Josh Barnett,” Emelianenko said. However, Fighters.com has learned Barnett’s most likely opponent for Day of Reckoning, and it’s not Aleks.  Fighters.com thinks it’s Aleks’s wishful thinking. Emelianenko was scheduled to fight at Affliction’s debut event in July but was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission at the last minute. ...

Mike Whitehead (21-6) will headline the eighth installment of the fight series M-1 Challenge taking place 29 October in Kansas City, MO.  No opponent was announced. The show will be put on by M-1 Global in cooperation with Affliction and Kansas City-based Titan Entertainment. “Mike Whitehead has come home to Missouri to fight in the M-1 Challenge.  This is an exciting opportunity for the fight fans here to not only see a true MMA superstar like Mike Whitehead in action but also all of this amazing international talent in one place,” Titan President Joe Kelly said in a statement. Whitehead last fought at Affliction in July, losing by unanimous decision to “Babalu” Renato Sobral (29-8). Teams participating in the thirteen-bout card are Japan, Spain, Korea, and France. ...

M-1 Global officially announced a closer partnership with Affliction Saturday. "M-1 Global and Affliction keep strengthening the ties in MMA," a post at M-1's website read.  "Officially from now on all the M-1 Challenge events will be organized in association with Affliction." Affliction's debut, Banned in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July, was in association with M-1 Global, which allowed Fighters.com's Heavyweight Champion "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (28-1) to appear. Affliction's day job is designing, marketing, and manufacturing apparel.  A shirt has been created to promote the closer partnership. ...

Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked heavyweight “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) will fight twice more this year after his appearance versus third-ranked "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4) at Affliction: Banned on 19 July. Emelianenko will fight at Affliction’s second show in October, and again on New Year’s Eve in Japan. Emelianenko’s manager and M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelstein made the announcement in an interview at M-1 Mix Fight published Tuesday. No opponent was named for the October show, but “most likely [the New Year’s Eve event]’s going to be the M-1 Challenge Finale and Fedor will compete in a superfight, possibly with the winner of Fighting Fedor but maybe with another top fighter,” said Finkelstein. Fighting Fedor is a reality series in which sixteen fighters from around the world compete in St. Petersburg for the opportunity to face Emelianenko in the ring. ...

M-1 Global President and manager of Fighters.com's sixth-ranked heavyweight "Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) Vadim Finkelstein announced on M-1 Mix Fight's website Sunday, "We plan to arrange two bouts between [Randy Couture] and Fedor: first to be held in the cage in the USA and the second at the ring in Japan." Second-ranked heavyweight "The Natural" Randy Couture is awaiting a court decision in his legal battle with the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, LLC, to be released from his contract to fight Emelianenko. However, fighting two fights is unlikely for the 44-year old UFC Hall of Famer. "I've never heard anything about them doing two fights and I'm fairly certain that [Couture] just wants to do one more," said a reliable source at Xtreme Couture, adding, "I think [Finkelstein] just pulled that out of thin air." ...

Despite "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko's (27-1) official website claim that he has signed a contract to fight Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia (24-4), the fight is not yet official. Emelianenko, Fighters.com's fifth-ranked heavyweight, must repay the $1.5 million signing bonus to the group that formed M-1 Global in October 2007 before he is officially released from the agreement he made with M-1 Global. That M-1 Global group has since formed Adrenaline MMA.  Andrenaline MMA's Vice-President Brian Patton said today, "[Emelianenko and his management] have only paid part of [the debt] and are not released yet." ...

I've corresponded with an executive carry-over to Adrenaline MMA, Vice-President Brian Patton, about the Sylvia steal and his new promotion debuting 14 June in Chicago. Last Friday, former M-1 Global CEO Monte Cox announced he and the American M-1 team would part ways with Global to form Adrenaline MMA.  He also announced he had negotiated "Maine-iac" Tim Sylvia's (24-4) early release from the UFC and signed Fighters.com's third-ranked heavyweight to a non-exclusive contract along with former IFL star heavyweight Ben Rothwell (29-5). Cox manages both Sylvia and Rothwell; and, I asked Patton whether Cox had a conflict of interest acting as both manager negotiating contracts and promoter signing the two top heavies to contracts. "I do not believe there is an ethical [conflict of] interest in anything Monte has done," Patton contended.  "As more information is released, I believe you will come to the same conclusion, but I cannot comment further." Both Sylvia and Rothwell have been ecstatic about their new deals; but, Rothwell at least is aware of the potential conflict, if only because everyone else is wary. Rothwell told CagePotato.com, "What will happen is I’ll probably be represented by someone else now and Monte will be the CEO of this new company, just to avoid the conflict of interest problem that people keep talking about.  I don’t want to deal with that.  As of right now he can be my manager, but that will probably change." Rothwell and Sylvia are both Miletich fighters, training together in Davenport; but, Patton said, "Ben and Tim - they could fight down the road." Sylvia had a fight left on his UFC contract; but, UFC President Dana White was evidently immediately receptive to his two-time champion's release. "I think the UFC received the request well.  It is my understanding the deal was made pretty quickly with the UFC," Patton said. Cox concocted the plan to bring Sylvia into his promotion after M-1 Global's original fighter, "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko (27-1), asked for his release from the promotion, which had yet to organize its first event. Patton said, "[Cox] began talking to Tim after the Fedor's request had been processed.  I believe they approached the UFC in just the past two weeks.  I believe it was last Wednesday or Thursday when it was official." Sylvia called out Fighters.com's fifth-ranked heavyweight, Emelianenko, on "Inside MMA" last Friday; and, Patton said, "There have been discussions since [Sylvia signed with Adrenaline MMA] of the possibility of Fedor and Tim fighting. Neither the UFC or M-1 Mixfight replied to my requests for confirmation of Patton's claims. ...

We've created a monster! Today, ProElite Live Events President Gary Shaw confirmed, "[Two-million dollars per fight] is what [Fedor Emelianenko (27-1)] asked for on several meetings." The news comes on the heels of M-1 Global's release of Emelianenko, after which former M-1 Global CEO Monte Cox told MMA Weekly, "It would not have been profitable to move forward with Emelianenko under the current situation." April begins the thirty-second month since Emelianenko has risked his chops versus a top ten ranked heavyweight mixed martial artist. The Russian has fought just once in the Red, White, and Blue, and broke no PPV records for PRIDE 32. Yet, Emelianenko and his management have determined he's worth four times more than the next most lucrative MMA contract known.  ("Iceman" Chuck Liddell (21-5) reportedly makes $500,000 per scrap, win, lose, or draw.) I've confirmed with a reliable source that ProElite is offering Emelianenko $300,000 for his first fight and $400,000 for each fight thereafter if Emelianenko wins the fight before, in addition to a PPV bonus for the final two fights of a proposed four-fight deal. How can Emelianenko's request be so far from ProElite's offer, assuming ProElite is serious about signing Emelianenko? It's our fault.  If Emelianenko never fights another legitimate contender, it's the fault of blind allegiance and nostalgia among long-time MMA fans. Despite his lack of competition in two-and-a-half years, two popular MMA websites, Sherdog and MMA Weekly, continue to rank Emelianenko atop the field. Even the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts, the self-appointed objective mediator of MMA, ranks Emelianenko first among heavies. I used to contribute to the rankings of a popular mixed martial arts website that continued to rank Emelianenko first in his division as the fighter fell lower on the rankings I submitted. After "Cro Cop" Mirko Filipovic (23-6-2), Emelianenko's last ranked "W", got mauled in Manchester by then-unranked "Napao" Gabriel Gonzaga (8-3), I dropped Emelianenko as low as seventh. When that website's rankings were revealed that month, Emelianenko still topped the mountain of heavyweights. I pointed out to the editor, "I know how many people are ranking besides me.  I ranked Emelianenko seventh.  Even if everyone else ranked him first, my seventh place ranking would've dropped him from the cumulative rankings' top spot." I wasn't asked to contribute to the next month's rankings... UFC President Dan White has claimed, "[Emelianenko] is not even top five." He's almost right!  I rank him fifth.  Anything higher is unfair to the top heavyweights regularly testing their medal against other top heavyweights. If rankings were a prediction of what might happen in match-ups, Emelianenko would rank first because I think he's that talented.  Rankings, however, reflect what has happened with a predilection towards the most recent. His last outing versus "Techno Goliath" Hong Man Choi (1-1) proved that no matter how freakishly large a kickboxer stands, he's outmatched on the ground versus a sambo champion.  Fine, and Emelianenko has no obligation to cater to objective MMA enthusiasts; but, neither do we have to continue ranking him atop the division with no empirical evidence. However, the world of dollars is much more objective than that of MMA rankings. Emelianenko's management has an obligation to drain every dollar out of a potential deal for Emelianenko; but, they also have the obligation of protecting their fighter's legacy. No one will pay $2 million per fight for Emelianenko because, as Cox explained, the money isn't there. The hype is!  But, even among Emelianenko stalwarts, the innate desire to see Emelianenko fight a serious fight is beginning to bleed a bit of objectivity onto their brains. The time has come to kill the monster we've created and encourage Emelianenko to sign a reasonable contract to fight top competition. If Emelianenko chooses to spend his remaining years wrestling circus freaks, that's his decision; but, that's not quality MMA and not worthy of our attention as writers, fighters, and fans. ...

Because of a Ryan Hockensmith article published 6 March at ESPN The Magazine's website, it's been a foregone conclusion for nearly a fortnight that Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) would "divorce" M-1 Global. "Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent," Apy Echteld, one of Emelianenko's agents, told Hockensmith. But, hold on!  There's the inconvenience of an iron-clad contract in the way.  MMA fans should be smarter after the Contract Law 101 course we've all taken since "The Natural" Randy Couture (16-8) "resigned" from his Zuffa LLC contract in October 2007. Hockensmith reported, "A source close to the situation previously told The Magazine: M-1 Global and Emelianenko will part ways some time in the next week." Yet, next week has come and gone now. M-1 Global Vice President Brian Patton told me hours ago, "Our relationship [with Emelianenko]...is still unresolved, which means we are all still together." Recall it was an agent who advised Couture to "resign" from his Zuffa LLC contract.  Now, again, recall how well that's worked out.  The word "clusterfuck" comes to mind. Couture and Zuffa LLC have had one court matchup to date, regarding Couture's participation in the IFL. Zuffa 1, Couture 0. Emelianenko may well receive his release from M-1 Global eventually, and Emelianenko's management's involvement in M-1 Global may precipitate that; but, it won't be because of his agent's declaration to ESPN The Magazine.  That's what agents do; but, that's not how contracts work.  Just ask Randy Couture. ...