Kudos

I probably should have stayed away from the pro-wrestling comparison. What I was trying to say is that if Fedor had built his legacy in the UFC as opposed to Pride, he would have been an easy PPV draw if he left the UFC for another promotion. Then again…maybe he would never have been able to leave the UFC with the way their contracts are set up.

Instead Fedor had built his legacy in Japan, outside of the American fanbase. It would be like a famous Japanese Pro Wrestler trying to sell pro wrestling ppvs in the American market during the 90’s. (sorry I’m not that familiar with the Japanese pro wrestling scene..only Japanese wrestler I know is the Great Muta, but I think you should get my point.) This hurts his drawing power and ability to sell ppvs in the United States.

Strikeforce’s ability to promote top level talent will be tested the next few months, especially without access to prior fight footage.

Great post, but I just thought that I should point out that that scenario didn’t save Affliction nor cause UFC to skip a beat. In fact I think their HW class has grown after getting AA and Sylvia out of the way.

Fedor is prefering to swim in shallower waters and ride the former glory and uncontested mystique train ala barnett at this point IMO.

Rogers and Overeem are on the lower end of that scale IMO. Maybe someone else will defect? Who knows? I don’t and neither do you. In the meantime, I guess I’ll watch Fedor fight on a network I don’t already have other than, well….

The rest of the incredibly predictable response I’ll let Ivan Trembow reply to or something.

But on the other hand they might know exactly what they are doing and Fedor might well be totally happy with it. Fedor is rich, Fedor has total control over his career, and Fedor can pursue other options like the EA sport video game. Additionally 45 and others take it as gospel that Fedor’s stake in M1 is a worthless sham but what if its not? Quite often it is the random secondary investments that pay off in the long term. Like a gym or a fight promotion. Or a video game. I do believe that George Forman made more $$ off his grill than he ever did fighting.

Also Fedor has this huge value as long as he is winning. By getting to pick his fights and have more control over the direction his career goes, that is to say staying away from the UFC, Fedor can continue to cash huge checks. So again, maybe its not such a bad idea for Fedor to stay away from the UFC and maybe his managers are not in fact screwing him.

I notice that a lot of other fighters are quite happy being independent. there are advantages to being able to do whatever you want. Matt Lindland and , Nick Diaz come to mind.

Of course none of this really matters. As a fan I just want to see Fedor Zulu Brock.

If Fedor keeps winning (not certain, but fairly likely given the much weaker Strikeforce heavyweight division), I don’t see this being a foolhardy move, as the UFC money will always be on the table.

Seems like a questionable decision by Strikeforce, but long term they need more star power to be able to draw on PPV and get on CBS. Hopefully the large price tag Fedor comes with won’t backfire on them like it did for Bodog and Affliction.

In any case let me just say this:
Fedor is the GOAT, and a hell of a fighter.
That said I do think he will have a hell of a time competing with the new breed of super heavy weight. While I would consider him the favorite in any fight at HW I think that he is better suited for LHW in the new era of MMA. For whatever reason the Eastern Europeans seem to consider cutting to be beneath them and I have a feeling this will catch up to Fedor. I really hope it does not, but there it is.

If Fedor dropped to LHW it would also open up so many awesome match ups, it would be a total fan dream.

As for Strikeforces HW’s, I love how Lesnar, Cain and Carwin are suddenly considered better seasoned and more legit fighters than Werdum, Overreem, and Rogers. I believe that Cain is 6-0 with his best win coming over busted ass Kongo. Rogers career has progressed along the same lines and AA is a bigger win than Kongo. Werdum has better wins in his career than Carwin and more experience (although I think Carwin could well have moer upside and in fact eb the next HW champ) Lesnar might well be the pick of the litter but I want to see him fight a big ass experienced striker on the way up or at the top of his game. Somebody like Overreem.

Basically those three guys are totally legit, just as legit as the UFC’s Hw’s. Of course the UFC has a deeper talent pool and will very likely have the next big thing (next that is after Lesnar) but it is not as if Fedor won’t have any legit fights outside of the UFC. And of course there is always Barnett.

1. They will counter program. This includes if Strikeforce tries to put on a PPV, the UFC will put on on the same day with a Lesnar, Ortiz, Couture, or Rampage.

2. The UFC will start poaching Strikeforce’s talent.

3. The UFC will start signing up a few Heavyweights outside of both organizations as a way to throw fuel to the fire that Fedor doesn’t have anybody to fight.

Watch, remember…. That will be exactly what is happening in 6 months.

Not to mention that every organization who has co-promoted with M-1 has failed. And every organization that has gone up against the UFC is out of business. This might have been the worst move for Scott Coker. He just put a bullseye on his back. That isn’t a UFC vs. Strikeforce thing… That’s how the UFC has done business since TUF1 started. They are ruthless businessmen.

“Either way, Fedor is on my TV in HD for the future.”

And not fighting one of his next top 5 challengers.

“I think the closest thing to compare would be Hulk Hogan leaving the WWF for WCW in the 90’s, and the success he brought to WCW. The only difference however, is that Hulk Hogan had built up his name in the WWF first before bolting to the rival promotion, and Fedor is still relatively unknown.”

Not even a legit comparison. Hulk Hogan made Pro Wrestling. Fedor isn’t even known the majority of fans.

Alan,

I think it’s pretty predictable that anything helps anything outside of the UFC you will cheer for. For me, not seeing Fedor fight his next 5 legit challengers (based on the rankings) is ducking competition.

And Showtime has never been a big PPV entity since the Mike Tyson days. It is highly unlikely they will have the muscle to make a profit on a show that features a guy who does no interviews, speaks no english, and doesn’t look tough. I’ve even said he would show no difference in PPV buyrates if he fought Lesnar. He just is a non-factor.