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The activist media campaign against Fedor
By Zach Arnold | July 30, 2009
I haven’t said much on the whole Fedor “will he or won’t he?” story in regards to whether or not he will go to UFC. I’ve always felt that it will never happen, so why get antsy about it? I think Fedor’s camp will be perfectly happy with having the mystique of their guy being ‘the one that got away’ from UFC.
However, there seems to be a lot of media types who unfortunately are acting more like political activists than actual writers and reporters. What a shock, I know.
On various message boards and web sites (and a couple of radio outlets), we’re now lead to believe ‘rumored’ numbers like Fedor being offered $30 million dollars by UFC, and yet there’s no online ‘fingerprints’ from UFC’s behalf for it. It’s the David Axelrod graduate school of marketing here, but it also helps to have willing participants ready and able to carry your water. (Carmichael Dave is on KHTK in Sacramento and Dana White is a frequent guest.) Have you noticed how the campaign of information and misinformation online is working to discredit Fedor and try to paint him in a bad light? Look, we know he’s isolated and nothing is going to change and whatever happens for the rest of his career, it will be on him in regards to why he didn’t fight in UFC. If that offends you, then it offends you. Obviously he seems happy with his current business arrangements, so let him go off and do whatever he is going to do.
However, this idea that web sites and blogs should participate in an explicit active role of ‘being used’ for spread information/misinformation in regards to what UFC is ‘allegedly’ offering to Fedor’s camp is silly. It plays right into Dana White’s hands. Hey, if the MMA web sites say anything negative about him, he has ammunition to not give them media credentials for live events. And if the web sites start astroturfing in order to generate good press for UFC, well he has his cake and can eat it too.
One of the media tactics that UFC has used in the past with great success, on their own accord and/or through various media members, is that they will float a news item and do it so strongly that by the time there’s evidence to contradict the initial claim, it’s already too late because the majority of people have already bought into what UFC (or the media writer) has said. UFC has managed to use the speed and repetitiveness of news cycles, combined with media laziness, to craft the message they want the public to absorb. You always see this with ‘PPV buyrate trending estimates’ or, the best example, being the Zuffa Myth. It has been said that UFC invented rules and cleaned up MMA so many times in the press that even if you try to correct the record, only a small percentage of media consumers will figure the initial claim is bogus or spin – the majority of media consumers and writers just end up parroting what UFC said in the first place. In fact, this rapid response claim tactic is what UFC does best — and they have willing, anxious participants in the media who are ready to write it and carry water at any time. If you were in UFC’s shoes as a promoter and have a bunch of willing writers willing to carry your message unchallenged, you’d do the same thing. Can’t blame them. In this case, blame the messengers.
The amazing thing in all of this flurry of activity within the last 24 hours is just seeing how many people in the media are so willing to do whatever it takes to get Fedor into UFC. A perfect example of this is right here.
If anyone from M-1 is reading this, allow me to give you a heads up. The more news of these terms spread, the more the MMA fanbase (hardcore and casual) are going to turn on you in what I can guarantee will be pure viciousness in its backlash. Perhaps that is of little concern to you and your motives, but it is an inevitability.
Why the hell would Fedor or his camp care about what writers say about him? Seriously. They’re not the ones paying him $1.5 million USD per fight; promoters are. But I have to admit — Fedor’s camp has opened himself up to this line of attack when they sent out that goofy semi-press release stating that they wanted Brett Rogers instead of Vitor Belfort because of what they saw on a web site.
“Pure viciousness?”
So the same Fedor fans who are being encouraged to get upset by various web sites because he won’t sign with UFC are just suddenly going to stop watching the guy fight, especially if he fights Josh Barnett in Japan on NYE? Whatever.
I’m more than willing to be a pawn in this negotiations if it means we see Fedor vs. Brock in the UFC.
Let me stress that if you are a fan and you are adamant about doing whatever it takes to drumbeat support for Fedor in UFC, that’s your right. You’re a fan; you’re not a writer and you’re not trying to pass yourself off as a professional. Too many people on various web sites and blogs want ‘respect’ and want to be treated like a professional ‘journalist’, yet act in an entirely different manner. Perhaps Fedor is flushing down some cash down the toilet for not signing with UFC, but the longer this story progresses the more it seems that various UFC boosters are willing to flush their credibility down the toilet as well.
It’s one thing to be an ‘activist’ if you are trying to root out, say, steroids or the mafia from the fight game. It’s another thing to become an activist and to huff and puff when a fighter doesn’t want to sign with your favorite fight promotion.
Addendum: Couple of arguments already against what I’ve written here…
a) I’m not on anyone’s side here. Re-read the article and you’ll see that I’m not siding with Fedor. I don’t care if he’s in the UFC or not. I’m not an activist on this issue and neither should other writers who want to be taken seriously, either.
b) I’m amazed at what people take away from certain articles as opposed to what the whole point of the articles were in the first place. Case in point – the BJ Penn article here yesterday with his quotes about the media ended up turning into… you guessed it… a re-hash flame war debate on Penn vs. GSP, which wasn’t the point of the article. Now with the article about media activism in trying to pressure Fedor to sign with UFC based on generating a negative campaign, people start arguing about… why Fedor is a clown and a bad guy for not signing with UFC.
Topics: M-1, Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 93 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I could not have said it any better. Is there any question left that these “journalists” have emotional (and perceived future financial) attachments to the UFC primarily?
Seriously, no one in the UFC makes $5 million guaranteed. Not even close. But everyone flips the fuck out like that’s what they really offered Fedor? LOL. Rubes.
Or, the Zuffa Myth Myth, that Zuffa is the entity that perpetuates the myth. I continue to believe that people are giving the media too much credit in this matter. There are precious few journalists left, and of the reporters, 90% of them are rewriters who look up an article from someone else and reprint it with a few new quotes. Get the story wrong once, and everyone down the line gets it wrong.
Calling out “estimates” is kind of weird to me too. They’re estimates, they’re expected to be wrong. The numbers serve no useful purpose to the public anyway. It’s information for investors and fighters, and UFC has no good reason to overestimate those numbers in public when the fighters are going to look at the number and think “I’ve been cheated” later.
Other than the mentally ill, people don’t just lie for the hell of it, and I don’t see a reason for UFC to lie on either of these matters.
Got a short memory there on UFC pushing how well PPVs are going to sell. We hear one thing right after a PPV in terms of buys and then the real number comes in a month or two later and it’s… surprise… lower. 🙂 Guess which number fans know about in the end?
And for your “Zuffa Myth Myth” comment — as aptly noted in the post, the media is plenty lazy, but UFC has done their fair share on this too.
Other than the mentally ill, people don’t just lie for the hell of it, and I don’t see a reason for UFC to lie on either of these matters.
What was that after UFC 99 then?
Look, the UFC feels that they can depend on the media to post their version of events everywhere right now. That’s obvious. BloodyElbow isn’t going to give any counter offer or talk from M-1 or Vadim a second of positive thought. Maybe they don’t deserve it? But then the UFC doesn’t deserve absolute credibility either, and they’ve demonstrated that god knows how many times.
My guess is that Carmichael was told this by the best 100% source out there -Dana White. So much of it is hilarious too: Its contracted that Fedor/Lesnar would be the biggest PPV ever? LOL! What, is Zuffa gonna buy the show for 500,000 people just in case? 5 Mil a fight? Well, sure…if the money wasn’t coming on the downside, or wasn’t guaranteed, or wasn’t tied into the percentages on PPVs. What do you think the possibilities of that is?
Hilarious. All of it.
I cant believe the mass outcry to Fedor not being in the UFC. I dont understand why people seem to get so emotional about it taking it so personally. I’m a huge PBF fan when he retired fights v Cotto, Moseley, Pacman were out of the window. Did I take it personal and decide that PBF deserves all the hate. Hell no!!
Better yet, liger: Imagine people demanding Floyd sign to Top Rank and then touting rumors from the promoter about pay and clauses only. Completely ridiculous, right? Not in the MMA Blogosphere.
And Floyd Mayweather got paid $20 million guaranteed to wrestle at WrestleMania last year!
The MMA media need to realize that Dana White is a worker. To quote Paul Heyman – one of the best workers of them all, they should assume everything he says or stems from company sources is a lie and seek the truth to verify or disprove their claims, before giving credence to them. Fedor being offered $5 million per fight plus a PPV cut is absurd, unless Dana White has completely lost his mind with his recent success.
So let me get this straight…
Fedor is offered the most money in MMA history.
Fedor is guaranteed to get more exposure in America then ever before.
Fedor’s new exposure will even allow him to show off the M-1 logo.
Fedor then goes to the media with a “press conference” and answers no questions. Actually, they avoid every single one of them.
And yet you expect anybody… Fan or journalist to be on his side?
Bwahahahaha…. Best laugh of 2009 for me!!
There is obviously an alterior motive for Vadim. This is why he won’t bring Fedor to the table. He is giving him funny math and fears that Zuffa will do a quick 10 minute lesson to educate him on what tactics his manager is using to screw him out of millions.
When you get the best offer a sport has ever made, you take it. If you continue to complain after that… You lose your credibilty, bargaining power, and legacy. And that is what the media is feeding on. Try telling yourself it is anything else, and you are over thinking it or just not making any sense.
^You’ve basically proven Zach’s point.
The UFC has floated a rumor that those are the terms of the offer, without (if i understand the facts as they stand) ever coming out and saying it themselves. If it’s BS they can just shoulder shrug and say it’s someone who didn’t know what they’re talking about.
Point beinng – it appears that not one single “journalist” has attempted to verify this rumor and its just being assumed and reported as truth…and its veracity is growing as “truth” as it continues in the echo chamber of mma news.
45 is already going around making arguments and calling into question others credibility based on being armed with “facts” from a rumor being repeated as cold hard truth.
I don’t think I made one point clear enough…
They blatantly wasted the medias time yesterday. They gave short notice for a press conference. They acted like they would take questions but they didn’t answer one of them.
When you treat the media like they did, there is going to be backlash (unless you are Loretta Hunt and are too dumb to realize you just got your time wasted).
If baseball writers were subjected to that, that palyer would be ripped to shreds the next day on eery website and in every newspaper. You don’t waste peoples time with co-promotion BS that doesn’t even make sense. And the straw that broke the camals back was what Zuffa released.
There is a long documented history in baseball that some palyer who treated the media nicer (Mantle) got a free pass while players who treated like garbage got crapper on (Bonds). There are human emotions involved. And right now Fedor and Vadim are on most peoples last nerve.
If anything, some of the media has not been tough enough on them.
Its not so much that I believe everything that is reported that is pro-ufc, because I don’t.
I’m also not a MMA media member.
However, I would like to see the sport become legitimate, and I desire to see a clear champion in each weight class. Having the “best” heavyweight fighter compete in the “best” promotion only helps MMA gain credibility as a sport in the eyes of the mainstream media and the casual fan.
MMA is not human cockfighting, or human dog fighting. The mainstream media doesn’t give mixed martial arts the credit it deserves.
The way I see it, many members of the MMA media are tired of seeing MMA be treated as an unwanted stepchild by the general sports media, and a major fight such as Brock vs. Fedor would draw so much attention, and money, that even ancient sports media members such as Bob Ryan would have to pay attention.
The UFC has the rights to most of Fedor’s fight footage, and have the ability to market Fedor like no other promotion in the US.
It appears, and I don’t know for sure, that Vadim is holding up a blockbuster deal and opportunity for the growth of the sport of MMA in his own best interests. This only hinders what so many MMA media members, and die hard fans, have been trying to protray to the casual fan and ignorant observer, that MMA is a legitimate and credible sport.
The way I see it…the activist media campaign isn’t necessarily against Fedor, but his incompetent and self serving management.
This is campaign for the growth and acceptance of Mixed Martial Arts.
I hope journalists continue to point out the ridiculousness of Fedor’s management and decision making so far, and on the flip side I hope journalists report on why Fedor shouldn’t sign with the UFC, and why Fedor’s management is truly doing what is in his own best interests.
However, I haven’t read a single MMA article defending the actions of Fedor’s management so far.
Carmichael said he had a credible source. Why doesntthat work for him? It’s a two sided coin with you people. An unnamed credible source only works for you it it anti Zuffa…
He has a radio show to protect. He isn’t going to just put out bogus info without checking it first. And he basically said he was very cautious about putting out info on his radio show.
One last post on this topic and then I’m done discussing it.
If there is an audio file of Carmichaels show, go listen to it. At one point he slips and says he has seen the contract. Then he tries to go back on what he said, but it was obvious that he had seen it.
It makes it even more obvious that Zuffa felt like they were giving a more then fair offer and decided to let him see it to have him release the information. With that said, it is highly unlikely that White change the contract before hoeing it to Carmichael. Therefore, the information is legit. To deny this is just MMA fans typical MO of looking to hate on everything Zuffa does.
Therefore, the information is very very likely to be true. And when you combine that information along with the fact that Fedor wasted the media’s time…. And of course he is goin to get brutalized. The media was waiting to bash on Fedor. Zuffa just provided the hammer.
So when stuff is floated out there against the UFC, it is ok for the online folks to jump in??
How often is Dana and co taken to task by the online media? That is ok, but if the writing is something in favor of the UFC there is a problem?
Looking online, the backlash started after the M1 media call and picked up steam as the night went on. Not just writers but on the forums as well.
You seem to suggest that you are one of the few free thinkers of the MMA online community. I think that is an insult to many of the folks that work hard writing about MMA.
CD said he has verified some of the numbers with the Fedor camp. Maybe he is just lying, he certainly does not have any legit journalism in his past so I can see why he would fuck around with the truth to make Dana happy.
You often do a fine job, but your self-righteous act gets old.
you are our ombudsman
I’m not a pawn for anyone when I write articles, and neither should other writers in the MMA media who want ‘respectability’ and to be treated like ‘journalists’ instead of jock sniffers looking for free media credentials and goodies.
This is not purely an issue about anonymous sources. This is an issue about people readily admitting that they are starting a negative campaign, that they will be willing and active ‘pawns’ for a promoter so they can get their proverbial ‘crack’ in order to see a fight happen for their favorite promotion.
I would hope writers would have more self-respect than to lower themselves to publicly saying they want to be ‘pawns’ to push an agenda that benefits a promoter by negatively going after a fighter, but perhaps that’s not meant to be.
I often hear people play the ‘self-righteous’ card against me, including my friend Ryan (Fightlinker) when I wrote that article about out-of-competition drug testing and how the media should be giving Keith Kizer more heat over it. Look — if people can’t call a spade a spade and if they can’t tell the truth and confront people who are playing politics on important issues in the business, then they don’t deserve respect from their readers. I feel more embarrassed than anything else that media types are so caught up with the Fedor/UFC story that they have publicly admitted that they will do whatever it takes to get their favorite fighter signed up to their favorite promotion.
I’m sick of Fedor’s Brett Favreism.
There is absolutely no way Fedor was offered $5-$6 mil guaranteed a fight. Anybody who believes that is a total idiot. At best the idea floated that if pay-per-views were big sellers, he’d get bonuses and DVD royalties that would come out to that much. But as base pay? You’ve got to be kidding me. Think about the uprising from fighters if that happened. Imagine being one of the TUF alumni, wanting more money after being stuck in that lousy TUF contract and hearing Zuffa plead poverty and the need to spend what they make on “expanding internationally.” Then you hear Fedor is going to make guaranteed $30 million under a 5 fight deal. You would blow a gasket and every single fighter in the UFC would be on the phone to their lawyers wanting a contract restructoring.
And it’s also funny the same writers who got mileage complaining about how cheap Dana White is, how he will get by on paying the bare minimum as long as he can will willingly set a new precident for fighter salaries on a guy who some of which also claim will never draw any money. This is insanely stupid. Shame on all of you for buying into it. And interestingly my cached word is “WORKED”, because that’s what you’re getting.
“I would hope writers would have more self-respect than to lower themselves to publicly saying they want to be ‘pawns’ to push an agenda that benefits a promoter by negatively going after a fighter, but perhaps that’s not meant to be.”
They are not pushing a promoters agenda. They are not lowering themselves These people are fans of the sport. They have looked at the facts. They have seen what Zuffa has offered. It is MORE then fair if not overly generous.
They think Fedor’s manager is being unreasonable and standing in the way from not only Fedor going into the UFC, but also Fedor/Brock. And the backlash then occcurs. And rightfully so.
In no other sport would fans defend the actions by Vadim and Fedor. Dana White is paying a manager EXTRA because he knows that’s the only way to get Fedor.
Zuffa has done their part. They are MORE then reasonable. So to think the media is just pushing the UFC agenda is laughable at best….
Fedor is the joke here. And if you put these facts out to any casual MMA fan, they would have laughed at you for bashing the media for taking the UFC’s side.
Yes, if there was more proof than some guy making claims from a company that is very anti-media.
It’s amazing to me how the summer of 2009 has become the age where Zuffa mysteriously thawed their icy relationship of the past 3 and 1/2 years with the media. What was the catalyst? The Hunt-incident?
Now suddenly the media has intimate access to the UFC, good enough to give them business advice according to some, and a company who once boasted about paying the majority of their contracts in private bonuses specifically to keep the media away from how they pay fighters suddenly is open enough to show a radio host an entire contract? It makes no sense. And I don’t even know the legality of it, if it’s a pending deal isn’t that confidential? All the leaked contract info from other sports is usually hearsay from anonymous sources in the organization, not inviting some random guy to swing by the office and read it over.
“They have looked at the facts. They have seen what Zuffa has offered. It is MORE then fair if not overly generous.”
What facts? Luke Thomas hasn’t seen the contract Zuffa offered Fedor. He doesn’t know for certain what the facts of the situation are. He’s just taking someone else’s rumors at face value. A proper journalist (like Dave Meltzer who admits that he doesn’t know whether the $5 million figure is a real number or not) wouldn’t give such credence to these ridiculous figures without verifying them independently himself. Odds are good that in a week or two’s time, it will be reported by Dave Meltzer or someone else that those numbers were BS, as Dana doesn’t want a dozen headline fighters being grumpy, demanding that their contract be renegotiated and asking for similar multi million dollar guarantees.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Luke’s comment about being a willing pawn for UFC shows a reckless disregard for the truth. That comment implies that he so badly wants to see Brock vs. Fedor in UFC, that he would happily float or give credence to rumors that he knows or suspects to be untrue, because the end justifies the means.
my anti spam word was ….worked
the UFC has “worked” over the MMA media with one simple call to their favorite Sac town DJ
Are you kidding me? 5 mil a fight, plus a cut of the PPV and DVD sales
if, this offer is true (lol) what would the other 199 fighters on the UFC roster have to say about this deal? A Silva, SP, Lesnar I’m looking at you
The reaction to this is just as hilarious. Could you imagine Sal Paolantonio writing an opinion piece saying he was gonna do anything he could as an ESPN journalist to prevent Michael Vick from being signed to an NFL team, then attempting to defend it and his legitimacy as an objective observer of the sport of football? What a joke.
But hey, it got a bunch of internet people (who I seem to remember being insignificant and would watch anything anyways) enraged and posting. Doesn’t matter what’s true or reasonable as long as the ad revenue is up.
You’re right. And I hope this gets thrown up in the face of all the “MMA journalists” who want to be taken seriously and get their press passes. Journalists are supposed to be objective, to report the facts as they are. If they want to editorialize, then they’re simply columnists, not journalists. Chewing out M-1 because your personal opinion is they should take a sweet deal is clearly editorializing.
And it’s also a side-effect of this bizarre powertrip MMA writers have been on. They’re in this insular bubble where they’re thinking about MMA 24/7 and the only feedback they’re getting is from their hardcore fan reader fanbase showering them with importance. They concentrate on that and don’t realize 98% of people who are UFC fans don’t read MMA sites, and if they do they don’t take it as seriously as MMA writers want to believe. They’re just such marks for themselves they can’t see it.
Another truth: public opinion means nothing to people in power. It’s like somebody thinking they can go on TV and say “President Obama should cut back on his health care plans” and thinking President Obama is going to say “You know what, that guy is right. Let’s stop this.” M-1 clearly don’t care about your opinion, Dana White clearly doesn’t care about your opinion. If you launched a “Fedor Must Sign With the UFC” petition tomorrow and got 10 million signatures, they still wouldn’t care about your opinion.
Alan,
You stated:
Could you imagine Sal Paolantonio writing an opinion piece saying he was gonna do anything he could as an ESPN journalist to prevent Michael Vick from being signed to an NFL team, then attempting to defend it and his legitimacy as an objective observer of the sport of football?
This comparison doesn’t work. The NFL is the top “professional football” league in the world. The UFC is the top “professional MMA” league in the world.
If Sal Palantonio were to write an opinion piece as to why Michael Vick shouldn’t sign with the CFL it wouldn’t be questioned.
Actually, when Brandon Jennings signed with a European team instead of entering the NBA draft or attend an NCAA school, many sports writers did write opinion pieces as to why this was a bad move.
Simply put, and I can’t summarize this anymore:
I want to see Fedor sign with the UFC because it will lend credibility to the sport. I want to see the best fight the best. The last thing I want to see is MMA turn into boxing, where the best rarely fight the best, and you have a hundred weight classes with a hundred belts.
I think the best thing for MMA would be:
1) One major promotion or league
2) A fighter’s union
-Side note:
http://www.bloodyelbow.com has a very good article up on as to why Fedor shouldn’t sign with the UFC.
I have no problem with Fedor not fighting in the UFC. We constantly read stories about how heavy handed Zuffa can be in negotiating fighters, especially when they have the upper hand. Now they have a fighter in Fedor with real negotiating power who will only sign on his terms, and he’s being crucified for it.
He has every right to say no. If Zuffa wants him bad enough, they will give in. If not, then Fedor will just sign with another promoter.
This comparison doesn’t work.
It does, actually. The point I’m making isn’t one about the level the UFC is on, but about the objectivity of people who are claiming to be in the business of MMA news. Of course, he’ll argue he’s not, just like he argues BE/SBN doesn’t have rankings.
At least with Brandon Jennings we had some confidence as to what the contracts available were. With Fedor, there’s not even the pretense of that. Leland Rolling was off his rocker yesterday about the $5 million dollar payoffs being left behind by Fedor yesterday without a single demand for more proof. Today he demands proof before he believes that Fedor will be paid significantly more in guaranteed money than any other fighter currently in the UFC. That says it all to me.
It’s official…
Fight Opinion is to MMA as Moon Landing Deniers are to NASA….
Unreal. Baseless theories and crazy scenarios play through your heads. All lack something called reality.
Unbelievable….
William, you missed his point. He wasn’t trying to get a direct comparison, he was talking about how silly it looks for so-called journalists to editorialize. It doesn’t matter what they’re writing about, if you think you’re a reporter but then throw in your personal opinions then you’re not reporting facts anymore.
Like when you saw NFL reporters covering Bret Favre’s endless retirement decision, they didn’t write “I don’t think Bret should return to the NFL because he looked awful with the Jets.” No, they report what Favre’s camp says, what the Vikings camp was saying, what the NFL spokespeople were saying, and left it to the reader to get an opinion. Obviously the writer would have had their own opinion, but they kept it to themselves. That isn’t happening in the articles Zach was mentioning.
Nice troll-deflect attempt, 45. But it fails miserably. Unless there was video footage of Fedor sitting in an office with Dana reading over his contract and then saying “Thanks, but no thanks” and FO was questioning if this was CGI edited in Arizona, we are not a bunch of Joe Rogan’s.
“Zuffa has done their part. They are MORE then reasonable.”
I’m torn on this one.
I have no evidence (and neither does 45, or anyone else) that the UFC has offered Fedor anything close to $6M per fight, but even if they offered half of that he’d be insane to turn it down.
On the other hand, now that Affliction is buried I can’t believe that Strikeforce, Dream or Sengoku would offer (or *could* offer) Fedor anywhere close to even $1M, which is his “base price” from what I recall.
Maybe he’s holding out for the NYE Fedor vs. Barnett superfight in Japan? Maybe they think Strikeforce will throw caution to the wind and give him some insane offer and co-promote with M-1?
Fighters have a VERY limited career, and it can end in an instant. You can’t begrudge Fedor for going where the money is.
But for reals people, give it up on the Fedor bashing. He’s not ‘ducking’ anyone…remember before his fight vs. Sylvia how many Fight Opinioners, and Sherdoggers, were putting their money on Big Tim? BEFORE that, remember how many claimed Fedor DUCKED Sylvia because me was afraid?
I’m still not seeing Alan’s point, maybe it will come to me.
Read any sports article on the web or in print, opinions are always sprinkled throughout. The days of the media not sprinkling their opinion in any piece are long gone, especially in sports.
Sal Pal gives his opinion as to whether a player is a good fit for a team or not.
Why can’t the mma media do the same for a given fighter? Especially for a fighter who considers himself the best in the world but has yet to fight for the biggest promotion/league?
I really think it is justifiable for a MMA media member to give his opinion as to whether Fedor signing or not signing with the UFC is a good thing or not.
To say that some MMA websites are only doing this for credentials to UFC events is disheartening to read.
IF this alleged contract that Fedor was offered is true, and Fedor still doesn’t sign, I’m sorry, but I will have to take it into consideration when making my own judgment as to who the best heavyweight fighter is, and it won’t reflect positively on Fedor.
However, very good point on the fact that we do NOT know if this offer was true or not.
But, I see nothing wrong with members of MMA media writing articles with the hopes of Fedor signing with the UFC.
Just as I see nothing wrong when a member of the media writes an article that is negative to the UFC.
The fact is, if Fedor does not sign with the UFC again, with contract terms that are fair for most fighters,…he will lost a lot of credibility amongst casual sports fans, casual mma fans, and even hardcore mma fans.
Count myself as one of those hardcore mma fans.
“If anything, some of the media has not been tough enough on them.”
Of course, some statements are just flat-out retarded.
A source of Jonathan Snowden’s told him that UFC’s offer of $30 million over 6 fights was NOT guaranteed.
http://ringpsychology.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/dont-believe-the-ufc-spin-the-real-details-on-fedors-offer/
Sal Pal gives his opinion as to whether a player is a good fit for a team or not.
Sal, when he’s reporting from a camp, will generally point it to sources; i.e. “Players and staff within the club feel that the player may be a poor fit for the club.” I have never seen him or any other decent, well regarded reporter get out there on a reporting piece and say “The Cowboys have signed ________, an awful, lazy player with a predilection for partying before playing.” Columnists do that. Reporters don’t. But like I said, the natural and totally expected response is “we aren’t reporters, we’re bloggers, and also, we got a lot of hits.”
[…] Zach Arnold thinks anyone sharing the latest deal offered to Fedor is unwittingly a UFC pawn: On various message boards and web sites (and a couple of radio outlets), we’re now lead to believe ‘rumored’ numbers like Fedor being offered $30 million dollars by UFC, and yet there’s no online ‘fingerprints’ from UFC’s behalf for it. It’s the David Axelrod graduate school of marketing here, but it also helps to have willing participants ready and able to carry your water. (Carmichael Dave is on KHTK in Sacramento and Dana White is a frequent guest.) Have you noticed how the campaign of information and misinformation online is working to discredit Fedor and try to paint him in a bad light? […]
And another update from Snowden:
http://ringpsychology.wordpress.com/2009/07/30/fedor-update-less-than-2-million-guaranteed/#more-696
So, apparently it wasn’t in the 2-3 million dollar range. Still very high, clearly. Not nearly what everyone thinks it is or was.
So, so, so, so much hypocrisy.
Zach Arnold is the kind of guy who gets upset when you call a spade a spade, just because you don’t have the mathematical formula proving the spade’s spadeishness.
Except when he doesn’t like the spade. Then that spade is gonna get it.
The Carmichael Dave post was so obviously put out there by Zuffa to sway popular opinion against Fedor. Even just the wording, saying shit like “The UFC also relented on allowing Fedor to compete in combat sambo.” That makes it seem like they gave into EVERYTHING except the co-promotion thing. Awesome if true, but can’t be real.
Also, when was this contract presented? A day or two ago? Was it presented in Russian? Does Fedor have several lawyers with him? Huge decisions where you’re signing away years of your life can’t be made on a whim. I’d give it a couple weeks before everyone jumps all over Fedor & the Fink. Everyone is acting exactly how they did in the Cro Cop leaving after UFC 99, then ended up with egg on their face. Let it play out.
M-1 is definitely going to play this offer against other offers for leverage. They won’t get anything close to it then will probably end up signing at some point. The crazy thing is, I really think this is the apex of the deal. UFC knows they have a SUPER FIGHT on their hands between Brock & Fedor. With both those guys on top, I think they don’t mind shelling out big bucks for Fedor. If Fedor loses outside, of course all his bargaining power is gone. I also think he loses a little bit if Brock loses too. Fedor vs Carwin/Cain/Kongo/Nog 4/Cro Cop 2/Mir just don’t have the same luster.
So, so, so, so much hypocrisy.
Zach Arnold is the kind of guy who gets upset when you call a spade a spade, just because you don’t have the mathematical formula proving the spade’s spadeishness.
Except when he doesn’t like the spade. Then that spade is gonna get it.
LOLOL…what is the “spade” in this case? Please spell that out for us. Please make it be something other than “Fedor needs to sign with the UFC because it validates me and my interest in some fashion as a fan!”
“Carmichael said he had a credible source. Why doesntthat work for him? It’s a two sided coin with you people. An unnamed credible source only works for you it it anti Zuffa…”
Weren’t you the one jumping down Loretta’s throat for using an anonymous source?
This argument would hold water if it wasn’t for the fact that the same media has been responsible for the Fedor myth.
They are the one’s who kept him as the #1 ranked HW even though he took 3 years off from fighting top 10 HW’s and was fighting MW’s and freak show fights.
They are the one’s proclaiming him the best ever, even though his Pride counterparts have all been dismantled in the UFC by supposed lesser fighters.
You want to talk about myth’s start with Fedor, then maybe i’ll pay attention to the rest of this article. But I don’t see you writting pieces as to why a guy who isn’t a draw, has put several mma org’s out of business and won’t step foot in a cage should garner any of this much attention.
Go troll somewhere else.
Good work Zach. More excellent ‘truth in journalism’. I can always count on you to get out the straight line on hot issues.
I guess you can count me in as a ‘Moon landing denier’ as well. I love to research beyond what the media tells me and learn the truth in what is really going on.
Fight Opinion is the ‘Van Allen belts’of MMA media – keeping it real.
I enjoyed reading Zach’s article and then seeing it go so far above 45 Huddle’s head that he actually provides perfect examples of what ZA is talking about.
I think he has a point… if Dana White or one of his approved media surrogates like Carmichael puts information out there, we should just take it as divine truth. Anything less would be “anti-Zuffa”.
lol at 45 Huddle reading that article by Zach and having the basic response of, “But he was offered X amount because Carmichael Dave said so!” You literally could not have done a better job of proving Zach’s point?
Also, you know what else Carmichael Dave said on his radio show? That he doesn’t have all of the facts about the situation and that it could be that he’s being used as a pawn in the negotiations.
Also, the information from someone who actually IS a credible source, who wrote what is widely regarded as the best book about MMA (Jonathan Snowden), is that the guarantee per fight offered by the UFC was less than the guarantee per fight in the Affliction contract (roughly $1.5 million). But don’t let that stop you from being a willing pawn in Zuffa’s negotiations.
What does this demonstrate? That the numbers Zuffa leaked out, which were then spread by their willing pawns, were false.
As I said yesterday, what’s ironic about this is that dollar figures have never been what’s holding up the Zuffa/Fedor negotiations.
It just happens to be the quickest and easiest way to create an explosion of people online saying, “OMG! He turned down $5 million per fight!” as if that’s true, and as if the dollar figure is even what the two sides can’t agree on.
I’m still interested to learn if UFC contracts have contractual privacy clauses. If they do and this was a real contract, this idiot slipping and saying by accident he saw the contract would put UFC in a little bit of trouble. His stupidness would be the new “Elite paid me to stand with Kimbo. Ooops, did I say that?”
Still doubtful it’s real, though.
Meltzer in todays new Observer confirms that the UFC told him the story that Carmichael put out there.
It was also written yesterday. Given that Snowden, Helwani, and Smith are all saying the same thing, I think its pretty clear that there was no $30 million dollar contract. Makes you wonder about those buyrate figures, doesn’t it?
What I find ironic in all this is that while on one hand, a large majority of fans think that fighters are underpaid; on the other hand, a lot of people also seem to think that Fedor is not well within his rights to negotiate however he wants to gain the most favorable terms for himself or fight wherever he feels like fighting.
Silly rabbits, if you want fighters to earn more money, you should be encouraging ALL the popular fighters to approach negotiating with Zuffa the way Fedor’s agents have.
Btw, great article Zach.
Alan, are you suggesting we should be skeptical of PPV “trending estimates” that seemingly all from a single person who is paid by the same entity that sells the PPVs?