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The media whining about Fedor
By Zach Arnold | January 4, 2008
For the last month, you’ve probably seen countless articles online from various MMA media writers whining and complaining about Fedor Emelianenko’s career direction.
You know about the boilerplate rhetoric — he’s afraid of fighting the best competition, his reputation is taking a hit, etc.
You couldn’t find a better paragraph summarizing the gripes of the MMA hardcores than what Dave Doyle wrote on Friday night:
The more Emelianenko sullies his reputation by fighting cream puffs, the less his long-awaited showdown with Couture will mean, regardless of which promotion hosts the event, if it ever happens. A match with Josh Barnett, the only world-class caliber free agent heavyweight, is the only match that could turn around opinion at this point.
The guy is not sullying his reputation one bit. He just took what was likely a seven-figure payday to headline an event in Japan and have his match aired on free-to-air Japanese TV (Tokyo Broadcasting System).
Fedor won his fight. He got paid a lot of money. This industry is business & entertainment first and sport second. Always has been and always will be.
The hardcore fans can’t have it both ways. You can’t sit and complain about the credibility of fighters while ignoring the crediblity of the employers that the fighters work for. Entrusting DSE or K-1 to run an operation based on pure sporting principles is silly. It’s easy to rail against Fedor for taking the freak-show booking, but nobody wants to lay a finger on DSE for being back in action behind the scenes as long as they keep providing fans with the proverbial drug. The same hardcore fans online whining about Fedor and his fight selections are the same individuals who mark out for the backers of PRIDE and convicted criminals like Kazuyoshi Ishii being in charge of the fight scene.
Funny that the ‘prostitutes’ get yelled at while the ‘pimps’ continue to get a free ride in MMA media circles.
Conventional wisdom, at this point, with hardcore fans is that if you aren’t not fighting in UFC, you’re not fighting the best competition. Take a look at the heavyweight scene in 2008 – Josh Barnett and UFC simply aren’t going to work together. Neither is Fedor or Couture with UFC. Nogueira and Sylvia are the top two heavyweight ‘aces’ for UFC right now. Cro Cop is back on the road to redemption. Mark Hunt is basically isolated at this point. So, how would Fedor fighting in UFC be representative of him facing ‘the best competition’ in the world at this point?
In other words, can you really blame Fedor for taking the easy payday in Japan (his primary market of value)? Furthermore, do you honestly and truly believe that this is a man who turns down certain opponents? I don’t know about you, but the fact that Vadim Finkelstein is close to Vladimir Putin would give me enough reason to think that Fedor is not calling the final shots as far as who he is booked against.
The tunnel-vision on display with some of the hardcore fans amazes me. There’s a reason Kid Yamamoto is not going to fight in the WEC, and it’s not because he’s ‘scared’ of Urijah Faber or the best competition in the world at 145-155 pounds. The main reason is because Yamamoto can make six-figures USD/per fight in Japan and draw big TV ratings, which in turn leads to sponsorship deals and other business opportunities.
Opportunities that no online MMA media Top 10 list could ever provide.
Topics: Japan, M-1, Media, MMA, PRIDE, UFC, Zach Arnold | 98 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
The complainers are technically correct, in the “Sport first” mentality, Fedor can’t be ranked #1 heavyweight in the world as it is right now…but my stance has always been, okay, you can’t rank him #1 right now…but there’s absolutely no way he’s not #1 of all time. I don’t even think you could say he isn’t at this point without coming off as a big goof. Fedor’s only been put in trouble a handful of times, and each time it was basically a fluke move or attack. No one has ever managed to have even a sustained moral victory over Fedor. The second he begins to feel he’s in danger, he flips into another mode and smashes whoever put him in danger. See Mark Hunt. See Fujita. They came the closest, but Fedor survived and then mauled them.
My position will be even more enforced if Nogueria beats Sylvia, because let us not forget that Fedor beat Nogueria twice. Nogueria’s style hasn’t changed, and neither has Fedor. That result wouldn’t be any different. Fedor has now beat two giants in Schilt and Choi, and at the very least Schilt has more stand up talent. That fight would go exactly like those did.
The problem with your argument, Zach, is that Fedor has frequently taken fights that don’t mean the most business. Was Zulu an opponent that drew any interest? Was Mark Hunt, coming off a quick loss? What about Matt Lindland?
It isn’t just that Fedor is taking fights that mean business over fights that are the toughest challenges. It’s that he’s taking carefully selected easy fights designed to retain his reputation while not presenting any real danger of losing. His opponent list reads “soft opponents,” not “money opponents.”
I of course very much share your philosophy in viewing MMA as a business. But I think it’s silly to dismiss the notion that athletes are going to be judged on the basis of what they accomplish, rather than how much money they make. Alex Rodriguez has made the most money in baseball, but he hasn’t won championships. And when people criticize him for that, I think a sportswriter who responds “well, you don’t realize it’s all about the business, not the sport, and he’s making the most he can so he’s coming out on top” wouldn’t win too many converts.
If Fedor wants to continue fighting one-dimensional opponents with glaring weaknesses, fine. But he’s lost the respect of a lot of people, including me, by purposefully ducking meaningful competition.
Zach, I commend your effort to bring this to the attention of many fans. Unfortunately, it seems like people ignore this view. I’ve stated it quite a few times in talking with other writers. People just won’t accept it.
The Yamamoto quote is perfectly accurate. He’s one of the biggest draws, and young Japanese women even tune in to see him fight. Why would he leave such huge money opportunity and popularity? He wouldn’t.
I’m glad you’ve pointed this out. I’ve felt this way for a while, but it’s nice to see a reputable source (i.e. not me) is pointing this out too.
If Fedor were even in the UFC, which seems to be the biggest criticism, who would he really even be fighting that he hasn’t beat (Sylvia is really the only person when you think about it)?
Plus ppl (or at least the hardcores) know that Japan loves things other than pure best vs. best (i.e. freakshow), so to expect anything different, especially on the NYE show where ratings is king, is simply silly. It’s easy to critcize a fighter for not taking a fight at $150,000 (like Silva did for Liddell) and taking a fight for $1M (like Fedor) and call them a pussy. When there’s a lot more to the dynamic than either side would like to admit.
Great article. My point exactly. These closet freaks KNOW that they utterly enjoyed the freakshow fight and did have a flash of worry that Fedor would be annihilated by such an MMA-inexperienced bloke like HMC. HMC was in half-gaurd and NEVER tried to mount Fedor, not that he could have easily mounted but I did not see much effort.
Fedor is the main man. He could retire right now and I will still watch every single fight, highlight, interview, and training seminar over and over because he is that amazing. Sylvia would most likely get dominated by Fedor’s superb hand/foot work or just get his arm broken, AGAIN!! I like Sylvia and wish him luck against the exceptional Minotauro!
THANK YOU ZACH!! Again, the total fanboys won’t accept this viewpoint. I will use the same quote for Fedor as I did for Kurt Angle when he jumped ship to TNA wrestling:
He is a grown-ass man, and Fedor knows what’s best for Fedor. He can make his own decisions in life.
And I’m glad I’m not the only one who alluded to the fact that Fedor probably doesn’t care what Sherdog, MMAWeekly, etc. think of him, or what he is ranked at. Does Fedor even know these entities even exist? Until these websites give out title belts (like Ring Magazine) the rankings mean JACK and SHIT. And since Sherdog has a TON of advertisements on their website, and were even shown in the K-1 videogame that came out for the PS2 in the States (it’s how I found out about Sherdog) I’m sure Sherdog has the money to give out title belts to fighters, especially that MMA (the sport in general) has how many weight classes? Five? Six?
And as I said in another thread, Fedor is probably just padding his pension and 401K. Good for him, he deserves it.
Wow. So in your eyes Zach, MMA is a form of pro-wrestling, nothing more, nothing less. No wonder you share a different point of view from the mainstream, sports-oriented writers out there. This explains the constant (and not all that relevant) Vince McMahon comparisons, the carny words in security words, and the failure to bring up parallels MMA has with other sports. Because no matter what direction MMA goes in, it will always be pro-wrestling in your eyes.
This also explains the hostility against Zuffa, because if the sport is irrelevant, then Zuffa is nothing than a collection of dirty tricks, greed, and vulgarities. No other entity has done more to brand MMA as a sport in the public consciousness than Zuffa, and if sport is unimportant, so is Zuffa’s virtues (however limited they may be).
Not really, business is a bitch. But what you’re stating is that the only thing worth praising or criticizing is a fighter’s business acumen. But fighters are not businessmen, they’re sportsmen. Their worth as a sportsmen occurs within the ring (or cage), and only there.
You do realize in sport, being designated as the #1 in the world is a high standard that must be proven constantly. World cups, grand prixs, NBA finals, Superbowls, etc, they happen regularly and always pit the best in the world. When that doesn’t happen, there’s constant hand-wringing as to who is (see NCAA football). Well, if MMA is a sport, the same standard must apply.
Saying he ducked certain fighters is perhaps unfair, and any attack on his character is unwarranted. But his credibility as #1 heavyweight in the world is fair game. And that is being rightfully questioned.
“The same hardcore fans online whining about Fedor and his fight selections are the same individuals who mark out for the backers of PRIDE and convicted criminals like Kazuyoshi Ishii being in charge of the fight scene.”
Do you have any sort of proof of this? I’ve always though that many different groups of hardcores spout different sets of opinions, but the people who read the opinions mix up the groups, unless the opinions are directly contradictory (pro-UFC/anti-UFC).
Of course Fedor is a businessman! If he was a true sportsman, he wouldn’t be in MMA, would he? MMA, pro wrestling, boxing, and pretty much all combat sports that aren’t run by the government nor are national sports (Sumo, Savate, Sambo, Judo, etc.) or are in amatuer league are entertainment first, sport second. You are naive and even a mark if you believe otherwise. And as I said before (and Zach alluded to) does Fedor even care about some arbitrary rankings of some websites? I doubt it. Hell, I wouldn’t care if I was Fedor. Have any of you ever made business decisions in your lives by going by what others who are NOT your family and NOT your friends ever told you to do? NO! You would probably tell them to fuck off, and mind their own businesses. Fedor has every right to take easy fights for more money. He deserves it. And I know for a FACT that every single one of you would make similar decisions. Hell, I would.
Now please don’t take my post the wrong way. I am NOT a Fedor nuthugger, I am NOT starting a parade for his decisions in his career. But I won’t be losing any sleep over the fact that Fedor doesn’t like the deal Zuffa offered to him.
For a number of reasons Zach, this is a very good article. Personally, I just enjoyed seeing Fedor fight. And I think that size is an important factor in a fight, and that alone made it worth watching.
“This industry is business & entertainment first and sport second. Always has been and always will be.”
Agreed 100%. Why is Ken Shamrock in the UFC HOF? How did Matt Hughes turn himself into a draw? What drew UFC’s biggest tv rating of all time? How did Franklin turn into a star?
If Arlovski doesn’t re-sign with the UFC, Fedor’s best competition is outside of that org: Barnett, Randy, Arlovski, Sergei.
Also, many MMA fans need to get off their high horse. Hackney vs Yarborough ruled in ’94, and it still rules in ’08. I’m not saying I want a card full of that shit, but one outta eight ain’t bad.
Finally, competition is good. If there is only one successful organization in MMA, gear up for great main events such as Rashad vs Bisping…vying for the chance to be “top 5.”
Yeah Fedor is a businessman. Yeah DSE are shady fuckers.
Fedor shouldn’t be number 1 rated in the world. Hardly anyone in the US or UK knows who he is. Fedor probably doesn’t care but the general public like fighters who do care. That’s why in the UK Calzaghe and Hatton both have huge followings – they have/had unblemished records and step outside their weight divisions (which they have cleaned up) to prove themselves instead of sitting over here in England mopping up easy money with few risks with stadium fights.
UFC would have paid Fedor a big pay day for a Couture fight – it would have come with risks and the need for him to get himself over to carry PPV rates for fights against other heavyweights but he could have taken the challenge.
He didn’t which is a rational choice in many ways. But it means he is merely a footnote in the mainstream fan view of the history of UFC outside Russia and Japan. That’s a shame because at least in the UK mainstream fans are far more likely to take foreign (whether they are American, Russian etc) fighters to their hearts than in boxing for instance.
Just to clarify the above – I wasn’t saying Fedor shouldn’t be number 1 because he’s not well known. He’s not number 1 because he hasn’t fought any top ranked fighters for years. Which is directly related to why he is a footnote outside Japan and Russia.
“What drew UFC’s biggest tv rating of all time?”
Henderson vs Jackson surely?
And this is exactly why Zuffa doesn’t cater to the hardcore fans. And don’t fool yourself, you are in the same boat as the people at the Sherdog Forums. A never happy bunch. They will be haters to the end.
Continue to try and justify Fedor. The guy has ducked fights in the past. Bob Sapp specifically. And he was trying to duck Tim Sylvia in the UFC. Whether that is his managerment or not, it doesn’t really matter. Team Fedor as a whole is turning him into a freak show. The guy refuses to fight top competition. There is a huge difference between a big payday and just ducking talent for multiple years.
Lastly, you people love this article, but it is filled with a lot of bullcrap.
1. Zack has no proof of how much Fedor was paid. None at all. All speculation at this point. Nor does he have proof that another offer wasn’t on the table for more money with a better opponent.
2. As for the Entertainment/Business First attitude. The arguement has more holes then block of swiss cheese. The Japanese model is broken. Zach has touched on this. So has Dave Meltzer. They cater to the freakshow. And at the end of the day, the Japanese publics interest goes away faster. This shows with the decline of ratings. Just like Japanese Pro Wrestling, it is highly likely that MMA in Japan is regulated to lesser shows within 2 years. So what exactly is Fedor doing for the sport? What is he doing for the industry? All he is doing is helping it lead to its demise in Japan by taking these fights. We all know this. The UFC model will have a better chance to endure. If it was really business first, he would have made the smart choice and signed with the UFC.
3. The Kid Yamamoto example is garbage. Kid is a legit draw in Japan, so there is no reason for him to come state side. Fedor is not a draw in Japan. It was HMC who was. Heck, even Gomi is likely to be coming to the UFC, so that should tell you about what he wants to do with his fighting career.
All I ask is if you want to bash me (which people typically do), keep it at a topic level. I have no problem disucssing this point by point. But lately, I have been making valid points, and I get no actual reply to my answers. Just “45 Huddle is a UFC Schill”, and yet they leave the topics alone because they can’t refute them.
Fedor is entitled do whatever he wants, I have no problem with that.
But at some point, his standing as the top HW has to go. You can’t keep calling him the best if he is not going to face top, or even decent, opponents.
>> This industry is business &
>> entertainment first and sport second.
>> Always has been and always will be.
To the extent that this is true, it’s a problem.
Zach, you can convince us to admit MMA’s historical connection to fake wrestling, but you can’t convince us that MMA “always has been and always will be” akin to fake wrestling.
funny how david at yahoo changed his
comments on fedor. last night he wrote
that fedor had already beat josh barnett
and that a rematch would be boring. I left
a comment in the blog pointing out the mistake and they changed their comments
and erased mine. Are these people actually
mma fans?
I agree that there is a really good chance we will see Takanomi Gomi in the UFC. Kid Yamamoto would be a very intresting addition if added to the WEC.
I would like to see if they can go after Gegard Mousasi or Tatsuya Kawajiri next. Both Pride vets with great upside.
Well said Zach!
Agreed Zach. The internet MMA community makes such a big deal about Fedor “not fighting the best competition.” These fans are incredibly selfish. Fighters are not supposed to be puppets that do everything “for the good of the fans”. Fighters have to do what is in their self-interest and Fedor is more pleased with his M-1 Global contract than what the UFC offered him.
These obnoxious fans need to leave Fedor alone. I doubt he cares about whether he’s the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world or not on MMAweekly or Sherdog. MMA fans are some of the most fickle in the sport. They act as if fighters are their court jesters who have no other purpose but to be their bread and circus. These guys are making a career out of what they love to do and in the short career of a mixed martial artist, is it wrong to cash in when you can?
There seems to be a heavy pro-promoter bias and an anti-fighter bias (see the Fedor, Couture, Kid, etc. stuff on the net) in the internet MMA community. Promoters are “gods” who make the fights happen and fighters are just some octagon jesters who get punched in the face for our entertainment (and this disqualifies them from having self-control over their career direction in the view of these fickle MMA “fans”).
I don’t think every fighter would take the easy money over the hard fight. There are some fighters who value their legacy and are actually concerned about what their fans think of them (although I doubt any of them particularly care what the media thinks).
Do you really think GSP would run off to M1 if it meant 500k per and a steady dose of cans to crush? I’m not so sure. He’s well-regarded as one of the best fighters to ever grace the cage, and he knows it.
I’m not saying he’d necessarily be wrong from a business standpoint if he did take off. But he’d be alienating almost his entire base of fan support, and he’d know it. Whether or not that kind of thinking played into Fedor’s decision is relevant, even if the market is different.
For one more example, I’ll use Wanderlei Silva. He took $150k a fight from Zuffa to fight badasses when M-1 would have loved to pay him just as much if not more to fight Aaron Crossens. The man loves his fans and he dearly loves his legacy. He understood quite clearly that after PRIDE died, he’d only have one arena in which he could cement his great fighter status.
So business and sport cross paths more often than not in MMA. Most fighters aren’t stupid enough to think that they can fight nobodies their whole careers and still have a career or even make a lot of money. The big market is the UFC, and the UFC has the most competitive weight divisions. Competitive weight classes make competitive fights, which is what drives the business of this sport in the first place: us, the fans, paying hard currency to watch these people.
Business decisions and sporting decisions aren’t always the same for fighters in MMA, but they often are.
You’re absolutely right Zach. All those mainstream media tools are only saying what the UFC wants them to say. Dave Doyle should actually watch a couple of MMA fights before writing about the sport.
Fedor as nothing to prove to himself anymore, he couldn’t worry less about what some UFC Fan Boys fans that started following the sport with the TUF series think about him.
If the UFC wants the best, it has to put up, why would Fedor be roling over himself to fight the Sylvias and Kongos of the world?
He could quit right now, and would be consider in my book one of the greatest fighters of all time.
So bottom line, all these people can trash talk him all they want (calling Fedor a pussy, shit, how pathetic can one get?) I’m sure he wont loose any sleep because of it.
GSP and Wanderlei Silva are signed to the UFC because no other promotion would ever match UFC’s offer. These two also have a reputation stateside to uphold. Silva-Liddell was hyped for ages and GSP is becoming a strong marketable talent in the UFC. If they sign with M-1 Global and fight cans until the promotion goes under (which is a possibility), where will they fight then? They’d have to go crawling back to the UFC, likely making less than they did in the past. Fedor has no such reputation to uphold stateside. Aside from PRIDE Otakus or the internet mma community. He never had name value in America. The average UFC consumer has no idea who he is aside from hearing his name mentioned on a PPV.
Also M-1 Global may have Fedor but who else do they have? I’m under the impression that the organization revolves around Fedor and the rest of the roster will consist of much less expensive talent when they have their first show. So they probably wouldn’t bother to bring in a GSP or Wanderlei Silva type of name anyway. Maybe they’ll bring in Barnett for a superfight with Fedor but the boxing model where the undercard doesn’t matter sucks. Pedro Rizzo is more likely though and of course we know that he isn’t a big name fighter.
First, I have to laugh at anybody who thinks that either GSP or Silva got paid what was reported by the NSAC. They are getting paid much more then this. Melzter has even made a point of saying that on his website in the last few days when discussing Max Kellerman talking about how a UFC fighter was underpaid for only making $150,000.
Sorry, but I have never heard of a SERIOUS athlete who doesn’t want to be tested by the best in the world. Imagine Derek Jeter saying he wouldn’t want to face the best on his way to a World Series. Or Federor saying he wants lesser competition to win Wimbeldon. Only in MMA would it’s fans be so obnoxious that they would even attempt to justify a fighter not fighting high level competition for over two years, and only 1 high level fight in the last 3 years.
The facts are simple. Fedor has only fought 2 of the current top 10 fighters. Look at the other #1 fighters. Rampage has fought 4 of them (6 total fights) and is scheduled to fight a 5th fighter from the top 10. So basically, excluding him, he has fought over 50% of the top competition.
Anderson Silva has fought 3. He is scheduled to fight Henderson, who is still Top 10, only at LHW. GSP has fought 4 fighters, 5 if you count Penn who is ranked as a LW. Gomi has fought 3.
So Fedor still has a lot to prove in my book. And for people to hide behind BS ideas that it is for money completely lose site of everything sports are about. And that just isn’t an American Idea of Sports. That is a WORLDWIDE concept of sports. That fighting the best is the most important. That competing against the best is the most important. And even a country like Russia, where they would create these superpower Olympic Teams… That was also the main idea.
Fedor ducking competition has everything to do with him and his manager riding a gravey train for the longest possible, because everybody knows nobody stays unbeaten for long while fighting top competition in MMA. That is just the reality of it.
And just to add to my last point… Riding that gravey train is absolutely unacceptable.
Huddle: How come you do all this talk about real athletes wanting to fight the best, but discount Fedor’s apparent wish to FIGHT THE BEST IN HIS SPORT, which happens to be SAMBO. For all we know, he may have rejected the UFC deal due to the very motivation you accuse him of not having. I totally agree that his status as the nr1 HW in MMA is in limbo at best, but the ducking fights-bs and one sided view at his possible motivations for not signing with UFC are way out there imo.
Nice work, Zach. It’s going to be another legendary thread!
MMA is a sport in America. MMA is a spectacle in Japan. Fedor will get fights that favor him and will get referees that favor him. I like the sport aspect of MMA, many marks, including Zach prefers the pro wrestling aspect of it where heroes are built up to be a legend, regardless of their merits. If they’re not good enough, manufacture their prowess ala Cro Cop. Give athelete A 10 cans to crush and give athlete B 10 cans to crush, then pit them against each other.
If they may lose, cheat for them. Take a look at Yarenoka! and K-1’s New Year Eve event as an example. Kid would’ve been DQ in America. Misaki’s fight could’ve been stopped in America because he was almost KOed and was pounded on for a good 15-20 seconds before he recovered his senses. The ref gave him all the opportunities to recover. When Akiyama was knocked down, an illegal kick was followed on and the referee stopped the fight right away. That was within 3 seconds! The bias over there is ridiculous. It borders on cheating.
And sportsmanship? Forget about it. You think the fans in the US would be fine with a victorious fighter berating a defeated fighter after a dubious win? Yeah, I prefer my MMA as a sport. Thank you very much.
I guess you don’t watch ANY professional sports then 45?
How many athletes have opportunities to play on competitive/elite teams with the opportunity to win their respective championships, but sign a deal worth MORE money with some non-competitive team and then just wade through their contract until a contract year, play hard that year – lather, rinse, repeat.
To say that athletes in other sports arent doing it for the money is such a fantasy. Go watch some basketball and come back to me with your lame analagous differences.
I’ve never attempted to devalue Zuffa as a promoter of MMA based on whether or not their matches are real or fixed. I’ve just argued all along that they’re no different than other promoters in the business, so the halo around UFC as always being ‘sport first’ is something I’ve been mystified by.
Whether it’s MMA, boxing, wrestling, or any other format of combat, promoters are promoting fights. May be different rules and customs, but generally-speaking promoting fights to the casual public means an emphasis on entertainment. Why should a fighter take a $14,000 USD payday for a fight instead of a $1 million USD payday?
Randy Couture is a good businessman with his gyms. Bas Rutten is a good businessman. I’m not suggesting at all that the only thing a fighter should be praised for is business acumen, but to criticize fighters for taking the bigger payday and accuse them of ‘ducking’ opponents or not wanting to be #1 in their sport always confounded me.
Kind of like how New York Yankee fans constantly rip into Alex Rodriguez, yet cheer him like the second coming of God when he re-inked a 10-year deal with them. “He’s not a true Yankee” is all you ever heard about him, while he was cashing in $25-27 million USD a year.
Is there some sort of UEFA-style body that I’m missing here?
Right now, the top 10 rankings lists at this point consist of various web site polls. They’re not even open to reader voting (unlike, say, http://www.mmahq.net.)
“This industry is business & entertainment first and sport second. Always has been and always will be.”
Zach: I agree with you 100% on that quote. Some say that focusing on business and entertainment first and sport second makes MMA into WWE but that’s not the case. Pro Wrestling is athletic entertainment. It shouldn’t even be considered sports entertainment because it’s not a sport. There are shows at the circus that involve athleticism but they aren’t sports.
MMA on the other hand is a shoot, not a work. But the main goal of an MMA promotion is to make money. Fans pay to watch MMA to be entertained. So the primary focuses on MMA promotion should be business and entertainment. In Japan, freakshow fights means money. In America, Brock Lesnar is brought in because he draws money (maybe not as much as the UFC estimates but you get my point). Guys who win but are too conservative and unexciting (the types who are content to get a decision rather than try to finish a fight) are not going to be too successful for this business. That’s how it is. In PRIDE, they gave out yellow cards (10% purse) for lack of activity and stalling. PRIDE understood the entertainment value and in general I felt more entertained and satisfied as a fan watching the PRIDE product than the UFC product.
I see a lot of writers and fans say that the UFC should be more sportive like the MLB, NFL, NBA, etc. but the business structure of these leagues is very different from a promotion. Sports teams play to win because if they don’t win, they will lose out on playoff/championship revenue and the fans will buy less tickets. Each sports team has their own owner. In an MMA promotion on the other hand, how does an MMA promotion “win”? By drawing money. And how do you draw money? By putting on entertaining matches.
As for the Fedor/Choi bashing: From my experience, it seems to be mostly internet UFC fans that bashed Fedor for fighting Choi, not internet PRIDE fans. The internet mma community stopped being so heavily Pro-PRIDE in 2006. The IMC is mostly Pro-UFC now that PRIDE is no longer top dog and the internet PRIDE fans were the ones most likely defending the Fedor-Choi fight and gushing over the Yarennoka! event. If a PRIDE fan would make a huge deal about a Fedor-Choi freakshow, you’d have to seriously question if they really are a PRIDE fan. Fedor-Zulu anyone in Shockwave 2005 anyone? Freakshows are nothing new and we’ve had to sit through a lot of freakshows back when PRIDE was around. Those who bash Fedor these days are mostly internet UFC fans who know who Fedor is (whereas more casual UFC fans don’t).
Huddle: I’m not even going to bother getting into the Fedor stuff with you since I know that we’ll just be going in circles. You and I have different perspectives with regards to fighters. You may see fighters as Octagon Jesters who get punched in the face for a living and thus have no right to do anything but please the fans. I think differently. We’ll leave it at that.
As for GSP and Wanderlei, you’re right that the reported income by NSAC doesn’t necessarily reflect all that they were paid. For UFC fighters, they get paid a base purse, a win bonus purse and (if they have enough name value) a clause where they get a percentage of the PPV revenue. UFC fighters can also receive bonuses (fight of/knockout of/sub of the night). We do know that GSP made $160,000 in purse money and an additional $50,000 for sub of the night. As for Wanderlei, we know he made $150,000 base pay and an additional $50,000 for fight of the night. So they made at least $210k and $200k respectively, which would be difficult enough to match in the MMA market place. As for whether they get more of this, we don’t know for sure. Has GSP or Wanderlei went public about receiving a PPV percentage in their contract? If so then they’d be making more. Likely a heck of a lot more depending on the PPV percentage.
Liddell, Couture and Ortiz all make PPV percentages. I think Hughes does as well. I heard that Hughes made a $1 million bonus for beating Royce and I’d imagine this is a PPV bonus written into his contract. UFC 60 had very high buy rates so it would make sense. Dana has said that he doesn’t pay what’s outside of a fighter’s contract when he lambasted Couture for suggesting there was an “off-the-books bonus.”
For the top stars, PPV revenue is where the real money is. Randy Couture makes $250k in base pay per fight but earned about $2.7 million or so from his two fights in the UFC because of his $500,000 signing bonus (Dana said they won’t be giving out these anymore after the Couture incident) and the impressive PPV revenue generated by a big draw like Couture. Chuck Liddell makes $500k base pay but with the PPV percentage, his pay is significantly higher than Couture’s.
Are you seriously questioning that Fedor is not the best at what he does? That’s the crux of what his argument boils down to – do you think he’s faced the best fighters in the world and do you think he can still get the job done?
To me, the answers to those questions is ‘yes.’ Other than Barnett, he’s faced a ton of high-level competition and made good money at it. His market value is in Japan, so of course he’s going to fight over there.
To top it off, Fedor fought in a pretty uneven and unstable environment in PRIDE where guys clearly seemed to be on one drug or another. I’m not saying it was a good environment at all, but certainly he faced competition that took any advantages possible to negate his chances of winning — and he still won every time.
For the sake of argument, look at who UFC has — Herring, Nogueira, Mirko, Gonzaga, Werdum, Sylvia. It’s not as if Fedor fighting in UFC wouldn’t result in a lot of re-matches he had against guys with in PRIDE (just this time around there would be drug testing and Unified rules).
If Fedor was a tomato can and was a guy who had a constant history of ducking fighters, then the arguments and complaints against him would be valid. However, he’s beaten a ton of big-name fighters, made a lot of money doing it, and has market value in Japan. His reputation is ‘not sullied’ at all in this business.
Oh boy. Super mizark 45 Huddle is here! At least UFC apologists like cyphron and others understand the business side of MMA, even if they don’t want to accept it. 45, if sports was about the great and hard competition, then why do athletes in non-combat sports sit out for half a season for something small like a sprained ankle, whereas many fighters would fight with a BROKEN ankle? Competition my ass! You want hard competition, watch high school, college, and semi-pro games. Part of being a professional is doing what you are doing while making money. I agree that Fedor’s status as number one heavyweight in the world is in jeopardy, but as I and other stated, does he care what some internet sites say about him? MMA is a business, as is pro wrestling, boxing, etc. get OVER IT! Stop putting fighters on a pedestal all ready! And what’s so unnaceptable about riding a gravy train? Making boatloads of money while fighting tomato cans? Why not? It worked for rickson Gracie, why can’t it work for others?
45, were you one of the fans at old ECW shows who used to chant “you sold out!” at wrestlers who decided to want to make a paycheck by going to (back then) WWF or WCW, (or even FMW in the case of Sabu) instead of wrestling for such “great” wrestling fans?
The Gaijin has a pretty good point. Sportswriters have been ripping on the NBA for years now because there are so many people playing like bums. One need look no farther than the Lakers, who have had some moderate success but are in general an overpaid bunch of has-beens and never-will-bes, except for Kobe who is an assassin.
America’s most popular and profitable sports are team sports. A lot of pros that play on terrible teams operate on cruise control, no doubt about it. Look at the Timberwolves, or the Tampa Bay Lightning, or the Arizona Cardinals, or whoever you want to. One guy on any of those teams isn’t going to say to himself “I’m going to be the best in the world” or “I have something to prove” because the vagaries of team play really frustrate those kinds of attempts at greatness.
So 45, when you say that MMA fighters don’t have anything to think about other than fighting the best competition, you’re making a brash generalization. MMA is not yet a money machine – yet – so when the money presents itself, you have to consider what the fighter perceives as his best interest.
What seems to be obvious is that it totally depends on the fighter and the situation. Circumstance dictates a lot of what happens in this sport, especially with competing promotions. Not every fighter is going to see that fighting the best competition is the best thing for him, and you have to appreciate the context in which the fighter is making that decision.
45, the fight world is not a black and white one. I think the criticism levied at the UFC on this site and at some others is mostly constructive. The black and white world that you see would truly be be ideal. So we should push for uniformity and fairness in competition. But until he circumstances exist that encourage all fighters to make the decision to fight the best, we have to examine circumstances that fighters currently find themselves in.
In any case, your claims that Fedor ducked the best are based entirely on speculation and heresay. It’s not that anyone here necessarily disagrees with you on that point alone, but you got to be able to appreciate why he went to M-1. If you’re going to ignore the context and situations in which fighters make those kind of decisions, you’re being an irresponsible fanatic.
Fedor might have “crazy” reps. That’s probably got some truth to it. And it’s probably partially hyperbole. But we know for a fact that Dana & Co. were crude and bullish in their dealings with the Russian. If you’re going to refuse to take anything like that into consideration, you’re crossing the line from a educated critic of the sport to a mindless consumer of a company’s product, like a NASCAR fan rooting for Earnhardt cause he’s got a Budweiser logo on his car.
The Gaijn,
For your example to work, a football player would have to sign with the Canadian Football League. Basically eliminating himself from top level competition. Signing with a lesser team for more money doesn’t mean an athlete doesn’t want to be tested against the best. Sometimes they are part of the rebuilding process. Sometimes it is a better city for their family. But by playing for the NFL in general, they are still saying they want to compete against the top level of competition that is available in their sport. See the difference?
JThue,
1. Sambo is an amateur sport. And not even amateur like the olympics. It is just amateur all around. Not even a high level of athlete competes in that sport.
2. Fedor ducking fights is not BS. It was heavily talked about in 2003 when he refused to fight Bob Sapp. Meltzer, who is more credible then anybody else, said there was worry about him fighting Sylvia. Those rumors on two different times aren’t BS. Especially from the sources they come from.
Zack,
Sorry, but you need to follow the Yankees a little better. A-Rod was cheered all year in 2007. At least at home he was. He was a standout performer. Nothing to boo him about. This is why fans cheered his signing. When he played poorly (by A-Rod standards), fans would be booing his current contract.
Lastly, no matter what sport you are looking at, there is a level of entertainment value that is shown. MLB uses this to promote better ratings for Yankees/Red Sox games, despite the fact that it is common knowledge that most of the Red Sox & Yankees players like each other. However, Zack constantly takes concepts and distorts them. Yes, the UFC uses entertainment, but it is better to look at the spectrum in which they use it….
For example, I would say MLB & NFL are sold as 95% sport and 5% entertainment. At the end of the day, winning alone means everything.
The UFC is 70% sport and 30% entertainment. Winning means a lot, but selling a card will help a fighter get a title shot quicker. But still, winning is important. And the UFC still gives chances to boring fighters like Okami, Sherk, & Machida.
Japanese MMA is 20% sport and 80% entertainment. If a fighter is boring, you never hear from him again. That has only happened in the UFC on two occassions. That is Phillip Miller and Matt Lindland. In Japan, there are countless times when this happens. Fighters such as Sherk & Okami were never invited back to Japan because they were too boring. So what happens is that the pool of talent at the top is a distorted view of what really is top talent, because they are only pulling from ‘exciting’ fighters. Additionally, they have a judging system in place that lets them choose ANYBODY as the victor.
So yes, the UFC does sell entertainment. So does Japan. But there is a huge difference in how that is promoter. To even say that there are the same levels of entertainment being promoted is just wrong.
Are you seriously questioning that Fedor is not the best at what he does? That’s the crux of what his argument boils down to – do you think he’s faced the best fighters in the world and do you think he can still get the job done?
That’s not what I’m saying. The fact of the matter is that I don’t know any more. He is good, that’s for sure. But how good is he?
I believe he’s faced the best that Pride has given him. But how good were those Pride fighters? What I do know is that he has NOT faced top competition in the last few years. He’s fought fighters who were either too old (Coleman), too small (Lindland) or big freaks (Zulu, Choi), or fighters who were tailored made for him (Hunt, Choi). His two greatest wins were against Nogueira and Cro Cop. And I applaud him for that. But we already know that Cro Cop isn’t as good as he’s made out to be. And Nogueira hasn’t exactly lit the UFC on fire. We will find out soon how good Big Nog really is when he faces Tim Sylvia.
Why has Fedor never faced Barnett when there were plenty of opportunities for him to do that in Pride? Why did his management requested that they get to pick who they fight in the UFC?
These are the things that are troublesome. I am not claiming that Fedor is not good. In fact, he’s a very, very good fighter. Is he the best? Based on his actions, his management’s actions, and the opponent’s he hand picked recently, I would say definitely no.
Until he proves me wrong. The problem is that we will never know. Fedor and his management has made it a virtually impossible now. He will never fight the top heavyweights in the world now.
But the main goal of an MMA promotion is to make money. Fans pay to watch MMA to be entertained.
Fans pay to be entertained in all sports. Money makes the world go around. That doesn’t make a sport any less of a sport.
Otherwise, the only sports that are pure sport are amateur and Olympic sports.
Super mizark 45 Huddle is here! At least UFC apologists like cyphron and others understand the business side of MMA, even if they don’t want to accept it.
Nice try, Chuck. The fact that we disagree with you doesn’t make us UFC apologist. It may seem incredible to you, but I do criticize the UFC. I watch all MMA that I can get my hands on, not just the UFC. I also keep an open mind at all time watching it, not letting myself get suckered into their sleight of hand tricks.
As for the UFC being more sportive than entertainment, it depends how you look at it. Both PRIDE and the UFC have skilled competitors. PRIDE may have their freakshow matches but the UFC has the TUF kids and Brock Lesnar. You know that Lesnar wouldn’t have been readily brought into the UFC and being offered the money he’s getting if it wasn’t for his WWE career and reputation. His NCAA wrestling credentials are impressive and he has potential but his claim to fame is WWE. That screams freakshow but I’m not insecure about the freakshow label like UFC fanboys are. Freakshows sell.
No b/c your comparisons work on a wonky level since it’s an individual vs. team sport.
It’s more like Gil Meche signing for $55M with the KC Royals, where there is ZERO pressure to win and no media scrutiny over what he does or Joe Johnson taking the money and running to the Atlanta Hawks. These guys could play their asses off and be part of a winning team or they can go collect max contracts on a mediocre/horrid team and not have to worry about performing.
As for the CFL comparison – your “non-elite” level of competition at the “CFL level” is Hunt, Sergei, Barnett, Couture, Antonio Silva etc. which is hardly much less “elite” than the current UFC HW ranks.
Where’s the difference?
Your other attempts to belitte peoples arguments are hilarious:
– Not even a high level of athlete competes in sambo? How the fuck do you know? Other than of course your own personal opinion which as history shows, we are supposed to take as being fact.
– Fans cheered A-Rod but booed his “contract”???????? hahahahaha
– If “winning alone means everything”, please tell me why the Florida Marlins aren’t one of the richest franchises in the MLB after winning two World Series in the last 10 years. They have always been a poorly profitable team, WIN OR LOSE.
– Meltzer reporting “There is concern in Fedor’s camp of fighting Sylvia in his first fight [because Sylvia is known as a BORING and chickenshit fighter who fights with the express purpose of getting to a decision – not b/c they are worried he’d beat him]”…means Fedor ducks fighters.
Lastly, I really have to call Zack’s BS on one last critical point.
He says:
“The guy is not sullying his reputation one bit. He just took what was likely a seven-figure payday to headline an event in Japan and have his match aired on free-to-air Japanese TV (Tokyo Broadcasting System). Fedor won his fight. He got paid a lot of money. This industry is business & entertainment first and sport second. Always has been and always will be. The hardcore fans can’t have it both ways. You can’t sit and complain about the credibility of fighters while ignoring the crediblity of the employers that the fighters work for.”
Sorry, but Hardcore fans can have their cake AND eat it too. From all accounts, Fedor Emelianenko would have made between $1 Million to $2 Million per fight in the UFC. Additionally, he would have had the ability to face top competition.
So don’t feed anybody this garbage that he was doing it for the payday. Zuffa was willing to vastly overpay him based on the North American market, and yet he CHOSE EASIER COMPETITION. Nothing more, nothing less. Either way, the money was there. It was the competition that he didn’t want. Yes, he will claim it was this Zuffa clause or that Zuffa clause. But that is just his manager’s way out of preserving his paycheck. And at the end of the day, if a fighter is preserving his paycheck more then his fighting status, that is when he has become irrelevant and really shouldn’t be mentioned again until he fights top level fighters. Plain and simple.
Huddle, the CFL analogy is broken. The NFL has for decades been the dominant league and offers the most lucrative contracts by leaps and bounds. The UFC is nowhere near as established, nor is MMA. Being an NFL player immediately exposes you to hundreds of millions of people and just about limitless opportunities for stardom.
You could ask any old lady who Payton Manning is, and she’d have some kind of idea. Again, you’re just failing to appreciate any part of Fedor’s decision. The UFC is just not the NFL yet. M-1 at least has some kind of audience and could offer Fedor an acceptable contract.
Moreover, rumors are rumors. Relying on rumors is acceptable if the rumor is well-sourced, but forging iron-clad opinions based on whiffs of truth is intellectually bankrupt.
“Fans pay to be entertained in all sports. Money makes the world go around. That doesn’t make a sport any less of a sport.
Otherwise, the only sports that are pure sport are amateur and Olympic sports.”
The structure of sports leagues and promotions are completely different. In sports leagues, a sports team has to win above everything else because if they don’t win, fans will be less loyal to the team and buy less tickets and the team won’t play in playoff or championship matches, which would mean a big loss of revenue for the team. They have also changed rules in sports (more recently, the NHL) in order to make the sport product more entertaining as well. But yeah, bottom line, in a sports team, winning means money. Each sports team has their own set of owners.
In an MMA promotion on the other hand, you have one owner and a bunch of contracted fighters. The structure is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from a sports league. Completely different. How does an MMA promotion “win”? By having big draws and exciting matches. Stop saying that MMA should be more like a so-called “pure sport” like sports leagues where the business model is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Unless you have a united mma league with Team UFC, Team EliteXC, Team K-1, etc. where they compete with eachother and have a playoffs/championship in the end, big draws + entertainment > sportive element.
“I believe he’s faced the best that Pride has given him. But how good were those Pride fighters? What I do know is that he has NOT faced top competition in the last few years. He’s fought fighters who were either too old (Coleman), too small (Lindland) or big freaks (Zulu, Choi), or fighters who were tailored made for him (Hunt, Choi). His two greatest wins were against Nogueira and Cro Cop. And I applaud him for that. But we already know that Cro Cop isn’t as good as he’s made out to be. And Nogueira hasn’t exactly lit the UFC on fire. We will find out soon how good Big Nog really is when he faces Tim Sylvia.
Why has Fedor never faced Barnett when there were plenty of opportunities for him to do that in Pride? Why did his management requested that they get to pick who they fight in the UFC?”
Chuck Liddell was fed a steady diet of grapplers that were tailor made for his excellent takedown defence and far superior striking. Does that mean he’s not a great fighter? No, he’s proved he’s good but for business sake it was of great interest to have him stay champ for as long as possible.
Rich Franklin was fed fodder in order to build up his title reign (i.e. Quarry) and his subsequent run back to the title. Does that mean he’s not a great fighter?
Josh Barnett WAS offered the opportunity to fight Fedor at Shockwave but turned it down b/c he didn’t feel he was prepared to fight him, thus the Hunt fight. So if Barnett turned down the fight, why is Fedor critcized for it not happeneing?
If Gil Meche wants to make the Hall of Fame, he still needs to hit off of top level pitchers. It’s not like his team doesn’t compete against Johan Santana a few times a year. So it really doesn’t matter what team he plays for. He still has to hit off of Major League level players to make proper at-bats.
And I don’t know of any Yankee fan who was against the newest A-Rod contract. I live in Yankee Country, and all the fans I know supported the Yankees decision on signing him. The general sense is that he is arrogant pr*ck but is worth every penny.
As for Sambo… Somebody a while back posted video of the Sambo competitions in Russia. It was pathetic at best.
Dave2,
You kind of prove my point about people confusing the entertainment or freakshow elements between Japan and the UFC. Yes, the UFC has some. But their freakshow is a former NCAA Wrestling Champion who is taking MMA seriously. Japan’s freakshow is Zulu who doesn’t have an ounce of MMA ability in either striking or grappling. Huge difference. Not to mention the number of occurances is vastly different.
Liddell was given the top ranked LHW’s in the UFC at the time. There was never once when somebody could say he ducked a top level challenger.
Franklin beat Tanner who was near the top of the weight class at the time. Quarry was there only because no other challengers existed.
Sure, Zulu is just useless talent wise. Not going to argue against that. It could be argued that PRIDE emphasized more entertainment over sport than the UFC did. But when people talk about Fedor/Choi, this doesn’t stand. Fedor beat Choi but Choi has a sportive background himself. Choi beat Schilt and Mighty Mo in K-1 so he’s quite a successful K-1 kickboxer. Choi may not be the Brock Lesnar of kickboxing but Choi has success as a kickboxer nonetheless. He also has a Ssireum wrestling background. So if people are going to call Fedor/Choi a freakshow, I don’t see why Mir/Lesnar isn’t one too. Choi was in Yarennoka because of his reputation as a giant K-1 fighter and Brock is in the UFC as a co main event and paid lots of money because of his reputation as a WWE superstar.
Watch UFC 79 again and you’ll see Goldberg refer to Brock as a “WWE superstar”. If that isn’t a freakshow, I don’t know what is. If Brock didn’t have the WWE name, he would be paying his dues at the smaller shows somewhere most likely for much lower pay.
Mr. Arnold, at his greatest, showing why this is the place to be those who are ‘marks’ for the truth.
BTW, why does anyone give 45 Huddle any credence – we know 45’s stance and his complete denial of anything that varies from it. This person is either a Zuffa employee (Dana) or Kevin Iole; or a slightly more cognizant ‘Donny’.
Chuck Liddell was fed a steady diet of grapplers that were tailor made for his excellent takedown defence and far superior striking. Does that mean he’s not a great fighter? No, he’s proved he’s good but for business sake it was of great interest to have him stay champ for as long as possible.
Rich Franklin was fed fodder in order to build up his title reign (i.e. Quarry) and his subsequent run back to the title. Does that mean he’s not a great fighter?
I never said Fedor is not a great fighter. I don’t believe he is best fighter in the world as most have him ranked. Not because of some bias I have against him, but because he hasn’t fought any one of note recently. I would love to change my opinion of this. I am still a fan of his.
Also, you’ve made my point about fighting top competition. I have always thought Chuck was overrated for fighting tailored made opponents who can’t strike. Before UFC 79, I firmly believed that Silva would destroy him. If Chuck didn’t face the new breed of fighters (some from Pride, and some from TUF which a lot of the posters seem to criticize. TUF is legitimate no matter what they think), the UFC fans would still believe he’s some unbeatable god. The same goes with Franklin. The same goes with Fedor. Competition is what makes you the best. You have to earn that distinction based on your present fights and not on your past performances.
So if people are going to call Fedor/Choi a freakshow, I don’t see why Mir/Lesnar isn’t one too. Choi was in Yarennoka because of his reputation as a giant K-1 fighter and Brock is in the UFC as a co main event and paid lots of money because of his reputation as a WWE superstar.
I’ll tell you the differences. MIR is a former shell of his championship form. Lesnar is a legitimate athlete who took took a job as an entertainer. However, Lesnar is training for one year before his fight with MIR. He’s also demolish the first opponent he’s faced.
Fedor is supposedly the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world. Choi is tumored fighter who just fought two weeks ago (and got demolished, mind you). Plus, he’s handicapped by not being able to utilize his full power. He’s fighting in an MMA match without the help of a ground game, without the help of knee strikes, and without a 3 month rest like Fedor (make that 1 year rest). Plus, the guy has a cancerous growth in his brain!
Sport is about competition. If you can’t make something competitive, then it’s just a freak show.
http://bats.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/alex-rodriguez/2007/04/02/
How soon Yankees fans forget.
===
The MMA heavyweights as a sum total are in disarray at this time. If things continue, the division may go the way of the Super Heavyweights, and end up entirely irrelevant. There aren’t enough fighters of quality in any one place for them to fight each other, and the few who are respected by the community seem to be doing their best to put themselves in legal and promotional limbo, effectively avoiding any successful resolution of the problem.
Among the second rank, the division consists of fighters who are largely one-dimensional, relying primarily on their original fighting disciplines as strengths, making their matchups little more than a janken battle.
I don’t blame any of the fighters individually for what they’ve done to cause this state of affairs to emerge. Barnett is just last decade’s Brock Lesnar, a talent who can no longer stand being in one place long enough to even pick up his paycheck. Fedor’s a company man who is sticking with the people who have made him extremely rich while all along taking the lion’s share for themselves. Couture seems to have been conquered by the growth of his own ego and the onset of mid-life ennui.
Let’s just give it up, the division is all but finished. Enjoy seeing the big guys that are left in action while you can, because this is the last days for 206+.
“I’ll tell you the differences. MIR is a former shell of his championship form. Lesnar is a legitimate athlete who took took a job as an entertainer. However, Lesnar is training for one year before his fight with MIR. He’s also demolish the first opponent he’s faced.”
Don’t even compare Frank Mir to Min Soo Kim. I can’t believe that Brock Lesnar is being touted as the favorite to beat Frank Mir. No one knows just how good Brock is aside from his wrestling and the fact that he can beat up on a can from K-1 HERO’s. Don’t be surprised if Mir pulls the so-called “upset” and subs Lesnar in the 1st round.
”
Fedor is supposedly the greatest heavyweight fighter in the world. Choi is tumored fighter who just fought two weeks ago (and got demolished, mind you). Plus, he’s handicapped by not being able to utilize his full power. He’s fighting in an MMA match without the help of a ground game, without the help of knee strikes, and without a 3 month rest like Fedor (make that 1 year rest). Plus, the guy has a cancerous growth in his brain!”
Whether Fedor is the greatest heavyweight in the world or not, you seem to believe he is not. 😀 Choi beat Schilt and Mighty Mo in K-1. If you’re going to boast about Brock’s Amateur wrestling background, don’t belittle Choi’s accomplishments as a kickboxer. As for knee strikes, that’s only on the ground. In PRIDE, knee strikes on the ground can be banned if there is a considerable weight difference between the opponents (33 pounds to be exact).
It’s a shame they didn’t give Choi enough time to prepare though. It’s not like Fedor or anyone else had a lot of time either though. Fedor was expected to fight in February/March so he probably wasn’t preparing in the way that he would for a fight yet. Then the Russians put him in that Yarennoka! card about 6 weeks before. If Choi learned sub defense, he’d have potential in MMA.
He also needs to get rid of that tumor in his pituitary gland if he still has it. Those tumors eventually cause death.
But why blame this match on Fedor? I think it should be clear as day that Fedor isn’t the one calling the shots. I think Fedor’s manager, which Zach hinted at, is taking advantage of him. Don’t put the blame on Fedor for taking this match. You can put the blame on DSE for booking the match or on Vadim Finkelstein (whom is close to Vladimir Putin). Vadim seems like a dodgy character. Didn’t he screw Bas Boon out of a deal back in the day?
”
Sport is about competition. If you can’t make something competitive, then it’s just a freak show.”
You haven’t seen one-sided squashes in sports like boxing, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, FIFA, etc. ? Not all matches are competitive.
At the end of the day, fans who get bored out of their mind watching Lindland, Okami, Sherk, etc. (I like and have sympathy for these guys but it’s true that the fans aren’t thrilled to watch them fight) are not going to invest in the product or watch it on TV. These guys don’t draw money. The UFC relies on other names to draw money. That’s why Brock Lesnar is already getting paid more than these guys without having to pay his dues in MMA and you know it. That’s the business. Brock deserves to get paid more than these guys despite being unproven because he draws the money.
Great article!