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Report: Fedor will fight for BoDog
By Zach Arnold | December 2, 2006
By Zach Arnold
On October 25th, I wrote an intriguing post about the possibility of Emelianenko Fedor signing to fight for the BodogFight group in Russia. Read the link first to catch up on all the politics involved. Then read this carefully to get a complete understanding.
While the news was taken with a grain of salt by virtually everyone, Bodog ratcheted up their campaign against PRIDE by making fun of PRIDE VP Sotaro Shinoda. Shinoda supposedly appeared in Costa Rica to check on what was happening with MFC and Bodog for the tapings that were taking place on the island. Fedor appeared, along with the rest of the Red Devil Fight Club and MFC management.
A couple of days ago, word became public that Fedor was going to appear at the Bodog 12/2 Vancouver PPV event. Late tonight, there is a report that Bodog has signed Fedor to fight Jeff Monson on March 3rd in Russia. The report states that after his fight with Mark Hunt on 12/31 in Saitama, Fedor will be a freelancer.
If the report is true, it matches up with the claims that MFC management members were making in an Japanese magazine interview a couple of months ago. PRIDE could see their Heavyweight champion (if he doesn’t lose to Hunt on 12/31 in Saitama) walk away from the promotion with the belt.
Topics: All Topics, BoDog, Media, MMA, PRIDE, Zach Arnold | 32 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
This doesn’t pass the sniff test. If Pride only has one fight left with Fedor under contract, wouldn’t they wait until CroCop is ready to go and match him with Fedor. The odds that Cop could beat Fedor are higher than Hunt’s odds.
Fedor’s Holland manger, Apy Echteld, clearly states that Fedor’s management aims at single-fight deals with PRIDE. Here’s the comment.
You need to play connect-the-dots with this story, which is why I pointed out all of the links in the post. MFC is working with BoDog. MFC is maintained by Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor’s boss and Red Devil owner. Clearly there was a reason that PRIDE was interested in what was happening with Red Devil and Bodog, and now they have good reason to be. If Bodog runs in Russia, it’s under the MFC banner and it makes sense on that level as well.
As for Sakakibara and PRIDE… I don’t know if they took a gamble here and are hoping Hunt knocks him out or what the PRIDE game plan is. I wouldn’t be surprised if PRIDE got caught off-guard and didn’t think Fedor would actually work with Bodog.
Fedor is the #1 P4P fighter in the world. And he knows it.
He is clearly one of the most competitive fighters in the world, who prides himself on beating the very best time and time again.
Does anyone honestly think that a guy like that would lower himself to fight Jeff Monson, who just lost to Tim Sylvia???? That is the most ludicrous thing I’ve ever heard.
And who else is Fedor going to fight in Bodog (MFC)??? Pride has every single top heavyweight in their ranks, and none of them (save Aleks) is looking to jump ship.
This simply does not stand to reason. Even fighting Tim Sylvia would be insulting to Fedor and every one of his fans, so do you really think he is going to fight Jeff Monson??? That is a lose-lose situation for him…period.
And even if Fedor does fight a fight for Bodog in Russia, what is he going to do after that??? Nothing??? He knows that Crocop is the #1 contender. Is he just going to walk away with the Pride belt and fade into oblivion fighting the likes of Jeff Monson??? Fedor has waaaay too much pride to let that happen (no pun intended). Even if he does lower himself for one fight (to fight in front of his countrymen), unless he retires, he will be back fighting in Pride against the top dogs….GUARANTEED.
Fedor fought as PRIDE Heavyweight champion on NYE in 2003 for Inoki’s Kobe Wing Stadium show. Against sacrificial lamb Yuji Nagata.
So the answer to your question is clearly a “yes.”
Fedor does what his bosses tell him to do. Period.
It was the NYE 2003 wars that ended up causing a lot of heartburn for a lot of power brokers in the business, and Fedor is now once again at what will end up being a big story regarding promotional warfare.
We have no specific idea as to what fighters are under what deals, other than I suspect that Josh Barnett has at least a few fights left. We know that BoDog has plenty of money to throw around, so would it surprise me if they started making inroads to try to get Nogueira? Not at all.
Money talks and we’re going to see a lot of guys walk soon.
“He is clearly one of the most competitive fighters in the world, who prides himself on beating the very best time and time again”
Where were Fedor’s pride and competitive nature when he worked Zulu, TK, Ogawa and Coleman in Pride? Maybe he had enough of Pride and wants to test himself against real fighters, like Monson.
Sam: This whole deal DOES make sense. Several interviews Fedor has stated he wanted to see MMA grow in Russia (which apprantly it is next to non existant) and now with Bodog it looks like he can get that wish AND be the star of the show. He knows that the BEST competition is in PRIDE but to be honest he has been so dominant he can PROBABLY care less. Does he want to fight Cro-cop? Sure. Could Cro-cop pop up in Bodog? Yes. Would that make Bodog IN RUSSIA the hottest thing in MMA…HELL YES.
IMO PRIDE totally got taken suprise and didnt think Fedor would work for Bodog. Bodog is probably not paying nearly as much money as PRIDE is but as mentioned earlier Fedor is loyal to his management and will do what they tell him to do…no questions asked.
Im just a little pissed we wont see Fedor/Mirko in LV in Feb….sad.
Fedor fought Nagata three years ago, with no intention of relinquishing his belt or leaving Pride.
He fought Zulu as a New Years Eve freakshow, again with no intention of leaving Pride or relinquishing his belt. It was only a few months after his war with Mirko…and he had a broken thumb.
His fight against Ogawa was the finals of a tournament…genius.
His fight against TK was only for pride…he had a bullshit “loss” to him that he was avenging. Another obvious one.
His fight against Coleman was his first in America, against an American legend who created the fighting style that he has perfected. While I do agree that this was a silly, useless rematch…it was his first fight in almost a year and a more difficult fight against a top contender would have been just been stupid for him to take.
Mind you, every single one of those fights happened in the midst of his many other fights against the worlds very very very very best fighters. No fighter in history, in any combat sport, has ever fought without tuneup fights, and lower level fights in between world championship elite contests. NO ONE.
And none of these fights, in any way, diminished his standing as the best P4P fighter in the world. Leaving Pride with his world title and fighting nobodies (or even Nogueira…AGAIN) in Bodog, would mean nothing for his career or his legacy. And he is smart enough to know it.
And sure Zach, Bodog has lots of money, but we have barely seen any elite fighers on any of their cards…especially heavyweights. Bodog has ZERO drawing power as a promotion, and zero appeal. I doubt it will even make a dent in the american market. This upcoming PPV’s numbers will surely be plain evidence of that.
And bl, what exactly makes Monson a “real fighter” more than Mark Coleman or Tsuyoshi Kohsaka??? His losses to Tom Sauer, David Dodd, Chuck Liddell, Tim Sylvia and Forrest Griffen? Check out Mark’s record and TK’s record and take your foot out of your mouth.
A couple of years ago, I know that Fedor was making at least $300,000-$350,000 USD a fight. I’m sure he isn’t working for substantially less now. If anything, more.
He’s made a lot of money. And given the way Calvin Ayre throws around money, I suspect compensation is probably the least of Fedor’s concerns for working in Bodog.
I’m not saying that Bodog is a serious contender at all — at this moment. But a couple of weeks ago on our radio show (when we did pretender or contender), I stated that Bodog would be a contender based solely on the fact that Ayre has a ton of cash at his disposal. That’s it. I’m not saying that he personally has any savvy when it comes to MMA, but he did put MFC in charge and there are a few decent people associated with that project. So do I think Bodog is a lost cause… no. The jury is still out.
We haven’t seen a player in MMA with as much cash at their disposal as Bodog. Not K-1. Not PRIDE. Nobody.
WOW….huge news if this turns out to be true. I guess it could be a financial windfall for Fedor now that other org’s seem to be ratcheting up the market and raiding talent.
Who would have thought that PRIDE FC would be the org. getting raided though?!?!?! (Well at least up until about 18 months ago).
Im not suprised PRIDE is getting raided. Sadly its the sure sign that the mighty have fallen. They are losing talent on both sides (fighters and announcers) and soon they are going to lose alot of money from doing shows around the world.
If I was PRIDE I would do my hardest to try and make sure the Bodog/Fedor relationship doesnt affect the PRIDE/Fedor relationship becuase honestly…as great as Mirko would be as achamp….NOT having beat Fedor for the belt, will really hurt his image.
Sam Scaff is not very smart.
Jeff Monson?
Jeff Monson?
JEFF MONSON!
In the 1990s (the golden era of pro-wrestling in Japan), it was proved very possible that you could run big events and draw without television. Difficult? Sure. But you could draw comfortably (like Tenryu w/ WAR, Takada with UWF-Inter, etc.) without television.
Now everything is changing in Japan fast. There just isn’t enough hardcore fans to survive long-term without a big TV slot. New Japan has seen it first hand (as their show is now on at 3 AM every Sat. night on TV-Asahi, and in some markets it’s pre-empted). It’s very, very difficult no matter how much power you have had in the past (like PRIDE did), without a substantial TV deal Japan is not a safe place to promote. Without TV, it would be laughable to see what kind of shape K-1 would be in.
The bigger picture here is that should Bodog provide the goods on Fedor, it shows an image of PRIDE no longer being on top of the mountain in terms of security (money, image, etc.) They need some friendly companies who can help them out fast and solidify problems before things get out of hand.
Where in the report does it state Fedor will be a “freelancer”? Can you read?
There were rumors spreading that Fedor’s manager was listening to high bids on “his fighter” before your self-called “intriguing” report.
Your interpretation of Bodog “humiliating”the Pride vp is comical; a comically facile interpretation. Is Bodog making a play for Fedor? Ah, yeah. Who isn’t?
Is Bodog likewise making a play for Pride? Most likely. Consider (if capable), the Pride logo is bigger and more valuable than ever. The Pride logo is linked to DSE, but these are two different faces (which you never seem to observe; why is that?). Pride and DSE are not the same thing, anymore than Zuffa and the UFC are.
It just seems like you rely heavily on “business theory” rather than observing brute facts. I guess everyone is chained to conceptionalizing in some fashion.
Unless Bodog makes a major push to be a top promotion, them having Fedor is disastorous for MMA. There can be an almost limitless amount of minor league/feeder shows. But the sport needs two top dogs, maybe three at the most, and that’s it. MMA is in real danger of becoming modern day boxing where the top fighters are contractually kept from fighting each other. I hope that doesn’t happen.
badape.
i think the statement “With one bout remaining on his Dream Stage Entertainment contract,” from the original report would indicate free agent status post-NYE.
You can nitpick about Zach’s use of the term freelancer vs. the term free agent, but you well understood the meaning. After NYE Fedor is free to go where he chooses.
Finally, I believe you greatly overestimate the value of the Pride logo at this point. Bodog’s play, the same as the UFC’s, is to vulture the tasty remains while Pride is weakened and should Pride go down for good.
Forget about the Logo. I’m talking about signifigance of championships.
Right now the Pride HW belt is the most meaningful Belt in MMA. After that you have the UFC Welterweight and Pride Middleweight belts.
The UFC LHW belt is after that and it’s a big step down in relevance before you come to any of the other weight classes and promotions around the world. It would be ashame to lose two of the most important belts in MMA and the legacies that go with them.
Well I see this as being good for the sport possibly. We could be heading to a new generation of independent fighters making fights wherever like in boxing. Yeah boxing has it’s problems but the pro-wrestling model really creates HUGE obstacles for the the absolute best fights. Maybe Fedor is sending out a message to the Wanderleis and Liddels out there: if you are the best you can fight wherever you want because the sport has grown to that point.
It’s also great for russian MMA. Now let’s see Bodog BUY pride, no more yakuza, tons of cash and the best fighters!
mr. roadblock, the logo comments were directed at badape.
In addition, and again, I think the ‘value’ of championship belts is being greatly overestimated here. MMA has not been established as a sport long enough, nor have titles been treated reverently enough, for championships to have meaningful legacies and to really resonate with the fans. IMO, the major legacies of the Pride belts is a history of non-defense(that hopefully will change with Pride’s announcement of a title fight per card) and being treated as after-thoughts.
It is not the title that is important, not the title that sells, it is how the divisions have been built up with talent and stars have been made in these powerful weightclass divisions.
The major loss if Pride goes down is the concentration of world-class talent the organization has possessed.
The title definitely sells in the UFC welterweight division.
Zach:
Seems like everyone (including myself) owes some apologies for saying you were overestimating the dire straits that PRIDE seems to actually be in. I didn’t realize lack of free tv would kill them so badly and so quickly!! But losing your HW champ like that – wow…I wonder if they will try to unlevel the playing field so that Hunt has a legit shot to take the belt off him before he leaves (*joking*)….
Zach, what do you think of the possibility of a partnership b/w PRIDE and BoDog?? To me that would almost seem like a no brainer. A heavily establish worldwide organization with a built in hardcore fanbase and a ridiculous roster of talent + an upstart with TONNES of money who wants to make a big splash. IF somehow they can convince Calvin this is a good idea – I think it would be a real match made in heaven.
Not only could they have a toehold in the US, but they could go ahead with their Brazilian, Crotian and Russian shows and have a real heated battle with UFC on American soil.
(I’m probably fantasizing people being able to put away the big egos – but to me it’s a golden opportunity for both)
Showtime Television creating a new place for fights.
Bodog throwing around money and getting Fedor.
Some fans are happy about this. I am pissed. The sport is splintering way too much. This is boxing all over again. This is the beginning of the end of the sport.
I understand that my comments seem weird. And I don’t think it will happen over night. However, this is a scarey thing for the sport. It brings us down a path that is unwanted.
Mike, you really think it does?
I think the money & time the UFC devoted in popularizing Matt Hughes sells in the WW division. I think GSP, in addition to be an amazing fighter and popular for his performances, gets the rub from going over Hughes in spectacular fashion. I think the young talent(Diego, Kos) made known by UFC investment in putting them on TUF, sells the WW division.
IMO, you could have Jon Fitch beat GSP now, and GSP vs. Hughes III would bury a championship fight between Fitch vs. Diego in buyrate, because within the UFC fighters are what sell.
If I’m not mistaken Mirko has single fight deals with Pride, so it’s possible he might want to follow Fedor to Bodog if Fedor’s deal is permanent. After all Mirko appears to be near the end of his career, so his desire to beat Fedor might override any loyalty he has to Pride.
[…] Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion has posted some good info regarding Fedor Emelianenko’s possible departure from Pride to Bodog. […]
Man, I hate MMA fans sometimes. How many times do people have to say “there is no way this is going to happen”, only for it to happen, before they stop being so god damn sure of themselves?
This is certainly very interesting short term but I am getting pretty fed up with the dilution of talent from all these orgs. It’s fine if they all start doing a Lindland and not signing with anyone though – that would kinda mean we have 3 big orgs, UFC, Pride and Freelance.
Anyway I’m just watching Bodog – it’s OK so far apart from that silly bint they just had one “Bodog Recording artist, silly tart Naked” or whatever she was called.
The report states that after his fight with Hunt, he’s a free man. Hence a freelancer.
How else am I supposed to look at Bodog? I can’t look at their product right now (other than the online shows). All I can look at is that they are throwing around a lot of money.
Maybe you can say that. In the case of MFC, it’s clear that they look at Russia as the next big foreign market. While the country does have quite an interesting business climate right now (unemployment is anywhere from 20 ~ 30%), there is still potential for an enormous amount of money to be made with Red Devil fighters on their home turf.
Just to make one point — Vadim Finkelstein is already rich (he’s Fedor’s boss). Bodog, of course, is filthy rich in cash. So the issue of money is not a problem for these guys. I’m not going to be naive and say that in the future, corruption couldn’t become a problem (i.e. dealing with local Governments, sanctioning, etc.), but it’s certainly less of a factor given the bankroll these men have.
In the past, I’ve talked about how I think HERO’s is triangulating with Bodog and MFC on Fedor. I believe if anyone is to benefit, it would be HERO’s. However, at this point the MFC crew does have Fedor and the PRIDE belt, so PRIDE is at the mercy of their demands. Without the TV money, however, I don’t know how they can compete in a bidding war for Fedor. Tokyo Broadcasting would surely put up some money to help out in a bidding war if they thought they could land the PRIDE Heavyweight champion. I’d say 75/25 that it helps HEROs instead of PRIDE.
I talked about this on our radio show this week, but I think PRIDE needed to run in Brazil when the iron was hot. They should have done it a couple of years ago. With that stated, PRIDE needs to run there sooner rather than later. They need to do it now and be aggressive. They have access to a ton of Brazilian talent. The last thing they need is to see UFC start picking up more Brazilian talent and make more alliances with some of those fight teams. While the money in Brazil may not be as substantial as America or Japan, it’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Bodog… it’s possible that they could run in Brazil because of some of the connections they already have in place. That is a distinct possiblity for them, with or without any ties to PRIDE.
The politics surrounding Mirko and PRIDE are fascinating. His Japanese agent is Ken Imai, who used to be a top dog at K-1. Imai is very good when it comes to running a network of shows globally. That’s what I think PRIDE is aiming at now to try to save their operations (instead of running in the hostile Japanese market). They need Imai’s political support in order to make a dent internatonally, and of course Mirko is a key part of this.
Mirko is a wildcard. If he decides to retire or bail to another promotion, Imai may not have the power to stop him to do it. Then all hell officially breaks loose.
With all that money that Bodog has, it would be great to see them use it to find a better opponent than Monson. What about Arlovski? Is his contract with the ufc up? I have always thought those two would make a good fight.
Eh Arvloski has proven he has an glass chin, granted Fedor isnt the KO artist but I can see him easily pounding the shit out of Arvloski for two good round.
[…] If you need to catch up on the story read more at FightOpinion.com. […]
Arlovski has one more UFC fight. December 30th vs Pe De Pano. If he loses he will likely be a free agent.
There’s a simple solution for Pride to get out of this mess. Wrap Mark Hunt’s hands in plaster of Paris before the New Year’s Eve fight.
While it is huge news, I don’t think it will mean the end of PRIDE as we know it. After all it’s just a one fight deal with Bodog and I’m sure PRIDE, as financially shaken as they may be, will go to their utmost limits to keep Fedor under contract. The only short-term loss for DSE is that Fedor vs. Cro Cop II is most likely off the 2/24 Las Vegas card. It seems though that they must have known that for a long time as Wanderlei Silva has been announced as headliner of the show a couple of weeks ago…