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How the media is covering Fedor’s signing with Strikeforce
By Zach Arnold | August 3, 2009
- The New York Times: Man considered world’s top fighter rejects his sport’s top brand
- Steve Cofield: An irate Dana White responds from Abu Dhabi
- Josh Gross: Strikeforce establishes itself as major player with Fedor signing
- Bloody Elbow: The consequences of war – the UFC money drain will soon make Strikeforce its primary target
- Franklin McNeil: Fedor could make Strikeforce debut in November
- The Globe and Mail: The heavyweight roster is thin outside of UFC
- Jamie Penick: Strikeforce pairing with M-1 and DREAM is only good for the fans in the short run
On Tuesday morning’s ESPN SportsCenter program, anchor Josh Elliott said the #1 blogged-about story on the US sports blogs is Fedor signing with Strikeforce (29%), more than Plaxico Burress getting indicted in New York on gun charges. However, ESPN (when covering MMA stories in the blog buzz) never usually links to MMA sites. Instead, they go with more “general” sports blogs. Here’s the blog they chose to cover:
This is like turning down an NFL contract to sign with the CFL. The money is with the UFC, the fanbase is with the UFC, the more legit competition is with the UFC… I do not see any upside to Fedor’s decision. I am not saying that Strikeforce pays peanuts, has no viewers, and no good fighters, but it is inferior to the UFC in ALL of those categories.
Elliott went on to say that Fedor should have signed with UFC to fight Brock Lesnar and when asked by co-anchor John Buccigross who runs Strikeforce, Elliott had no clue.
On a slight side-note, Carmichael Dave of KTHK 1140 Hot Talk in Sacramento has responded to us in regards to the way the media covered the Fedor/UFC negotiations last week.
Dave Meltzer on Yahoo Sports:
Fair or not, part of what Emelianenko will be remembered by, is that in 2009, as the sport reaches uncharted popularity levels, he turned down a huge money offer to face the top competition. Whether it’s ludicrous to suggest he’s afraid of Lesnar, fans are asking that question in droves, so it will always be part of the story of his career.
Given what was said on ESPN on Tuesday morning, he’s probably right.
Topics: M-1, Media, MMA, StrikeForce, Zach Arnold | 77 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
And of course there is Dave Meltzer’s latest piece of work on Yahoo Sports, in which he continues to repeat the inflated dollar figures that the UFC leaked out to the Carmichael Dave Show last week, even though Meltzer previously acknowledged that they were leaked figures that the UFC wanted out there.
Also, just a few days after a rambling audio update (part of which Zach transcribed) in which Meltzer implied that Fedor was afraid of facing the best competition in the world, now Meltzer is writing that because so many people online are saying that Fedor is afraid of Brock, “it will always be part of the story of [Fedor’s] career.” Now, HE’S not saying that Fedor is afraid of Brock (even though he stopped just short of doing so in that audio update); he’s just saying that because so many other people are saying it (but not him!), it will be part of Fedor’s legacy. The people who are saying that Fedor is afraid of Brock are probably the same people who were saying that Fedor was terrified of Vitor Belfort, and are likely the same people who wonder where the sun goes every night and how it comes up again the next morning.
On a related note, one of Meltzer’s cohorts (Steve Cofield) portrayed the situation as Strikeforce “stealing” Fedor from the UFC while Dana White was in Abu Dhabi, and Cofield continued to repeat the lie (which Kevin Iole first publicly stated) that Affliction’s return to the UFC fold had anything to do with Scott Coker being in Italy… because, you know, they don’t have Internet access, telephones, or fax machines in Italy…
Fedor accepted the better offer. The way people trying vilify for him for doing so is ridiculous. Fedor doesn’t owe people MMA websites or those that post on their forums anything. Some people talk as if it was his duty to sign for the UFC regardless. Yes the big fight between Lesnar & Fedor is off for now. But man does this really mean Fedor is some sort of ‘criminal’ or ‘coward’ as some people are saying he is. If anything it should be celebrated that there is a non UFC fighter out there who has enough clout to pick and choose his offers and set certain demands.
I would add to Ivan Trembow post that Meltzer was the man who made up the “Fedor was affraid of Tim Sylvia”, when the negociations failed with the UFC a first time, 2 years ago.
I would not give his articles too much credits after that.
The majority of the articles are positive and neutral, but some of them are still blatantly pro UFC and anti Fedor (Grossen , Yahoo). But this has been reduced to his minimal portion. Coker is someone who is respected and viewed as a serious business man. The idea of him collaborating with DREAM in addition is very good for the fans.
I would add now that we have the proof that all the sources who leaked informations in the press were on the UFC side.
How many leaks, anonymous source, “close to deal” rumors have been released when Fedor and his camp negociated with Strikeforce? Zero.
They negociated in the shadow, without a word or almost. That’s how professionnals work. The UFC tried to put too much media pressure and it failed.
“And of course there is Dave Meltzer’s latest piece of work on Yahoo Sports, in which he continues to repeat the inflated dollar figures that the UFC leaked out to the Carmichael Dave Show last week, even though Meltzer previously acknowledged that they were leaked figures that the UFC wanted out there.”
Sorry Ivan, but he wasn’t repeating those figures. To be fair to Meltzer, the leaked Carmichael Dave Show numbers were $5 million guaranteed + PPV cut. Meltzer seems to be working on a formula of $2 million guaranteed + PPV cut, which is similar to the numbers Jonathan Snowden was reporting.
“The people who are saying that Fedor is afraid of Brock are probably the same people who were saying that Fedor was terrified of Vitor Belfort, and are likely the same people who wonder where the sun goes every night and how it comes up again the next morning.”
I’m sure Dana’s telling Dave that Fedor is afraid of Brock. 😉
I’m not really interested in bashing Meltzer here in so far as he ultimately got the contract thing right, even if I think he’s completely offbase by trashing Fedor and saying that he’s ducking guys.
LOL at Ivan criticizing Dave Meltzer. Sorry buddy but hes the best and most trustworthy reporter in MMA, your not a patch on his ass.
For the people saying Fedor took the better deal…. Show me… Seriously, I have yet to see anybody prove it. Give me an example of how Fedor took the better deal.
Financially he didn’t. To please his fans he didn’t. To fight the best competition he didn’t. How did he sign the best contract. If somebody can showcase that to me, I’m really interested in hearing that side of it. Because I’ve heard people say he has taken the best deal without any real proof….
“Fedor accepted the better offer. The way people trying vilify for him for doing so is ridiculous. Fedor doesn’t owe people MMA websites or those that post on their forums anything. Some people talk as if it was his duty to sign for the UFC regardless. Yes the big fight between Lesnar & Fedor is off for now. But man does this really mean Fedor is some sort of ‘criminal’ or ‘coward’ as some people are saying he is. If anything it should be celebrated that there is a non UFC fighter out there who has enough clout to pick and choose his offers and set certain demands.”
Well, he did say he wanted to make his fans happy, and his fans wanted him to go to the UFC.
Not to mention his name doesn’t sell, and the only thing that was of value to him were the hardcore fans. Going against what they wanted only hurts him more.
Not to mention if he was in the UFC and lost, at least they could potentially build him back up. If he loses outside the UFC, bashing season will continue to the very end….
We’re waiting for Coker to flash the contract to Carmichael Dave before we start ranting and raving about it for weeks.
If Dave Meltzer is the best and most trusted MMA reporter out there, that is an indictment on all of the other MMA reporters.
Aside from Meltzer’s lack of writing talent, he got his start sloppily stringing together newsletters about the WWF in his mom’s basement. Never mind the fact that he seriously contemplated MMA being fake when it first came out.
45 Huddle–Strikeforce provided the best deal because they gave Fedor what he wanted. A co-promotion with M-1.
Fedor owns a stake in M-1, so it behooves him to turn that organization into a success. Because if it becomes one, it will provide him with financial sustenance in his post-fight career.
But the details have already been reported. $500,000 from Strikeforce. $500,000 from CBS. And then co-promotion.
Dave Meltzer has been credible in the past, so let’s assume a Lesnar/Fedor PPV does less then UFC 100, but still has solid buyrates thanks to Lesnar’s name.
Fedor Emelianenko would be getting around $4.5 Million from the UFC. But it would all be going directly to him.
Just for Strikeforce to match that number, they would have to pay him his $1 Million plus an additional $3.5 Million in co-promotion. Which means one of their events would have to make $7 Million (after expenses). How likely is that?
And that’s a best case scenario. We all know that co-promotion money is going to M-1, and Fedor is not a majority owner. Which means he won’t be seeing all of that money either.
So here is the simple checklist:
1. Best Money Offer = UFC
2. Please The Fans The Most = UFC
3. Pure Competition = UFC
There is not one single way I have seen (and I’m willing to be proven wrong), that the Strikeforce deal was the best for Fedor Emelianenko. Perhaps best for his manager and M-1, but in no way the best for Fedor.
“45 Huddle–Strikeforce provided the best deal because they gave Fedor what he wanted. A co-promotion with M-1.”
That makes no sense.
A good financial advisor would say take the UFC deal, and then invest the money directly into M-1. Overall, you would have more money to put into M-1 to make it grow. Why? There is more money coming from the UFC.
This is why that reasoning makes no sense. If he took the UFC deal, he could still use his money to fund M-1. In fact, he would have more money to fund M-1 with.
Basically, Fedor can do more for M-1 by taking the UFC deal.
The M-1 logo on his shirt would give more eyes to his brand. The money the UFC gives him would help him fund M-1 more then anything Strikeforce could do.
At the end of the day, co-promotion is about money and exposure. Something the UFC gives more of.
It doesn’t make sense.
Wow, people are really reaching now. Dave Meltzer has been a trusted journalist for over 2 decades, including covering MMA before most of you even knew what MMA was. He has the best sources in the business, and has been featured in the LA times, ESPN, MSNBC, Ect.
Now for all you criticizing him I have one question, whats your resume?
BTW, I get the feeling Fedors handlers avoided the UFC because they knew he’d lose. With the elbows, the cage, and big powerful wrestlers all around the UFC which I think they wanted to avoid that.
45,
If the UFC’s was the superior deal, even as far as M-1 is concerned, then what is your theory about why Fedor signed with Strikeforce?
Meltzer wrote that Fedor was ducking Tim Sylvia in the past.
He is not always right.
Erston
Do you have a source? I never heard that.
“If the UFC’s was the superior deal, even as far as M-1 is concerned, then what is your theory about why Fedor signed with Strikeforce?”
Unlike the people who claim he took the better deal like it is fact, here are two theories (not fact). But I think there is some real weight to these points.
1. Control over picking opponents. That includes a weaker Heavyweight Division in Strikeforce.
2. With any corporation, you follow the flow of money to see what their motivations are. It’s as simple as that. The UFC offered a deal that offered the vast majority of money to flow directly to Fedor Emelianenko. Strikeforce is offering a deal that would have a substantial portion of the money go directly to M-1.
There is a real resistance on Vadim’s part to sign any contract directly to Fedor. That is extremely odd by any sporting standard. Typically it’s the athlete themselves that gets the money.
Not only does M-1 co-promote, but it wouldn’t shock me if the $1 Million isn’t directly to Fedor, but to M-1/Fedor.
Like I said, watch where the money flows…. If the money flowed to Fedor, I wouldn’t be half as suspicious….
The mma media coverage of Fedor saying ‘thanks, but no thanks” to Dana White and him saying “Fawk Fedor!” pretty much says it all.
Class versus no class. And yet, we are told Fedor is afraid to compete in the UFC, M-1 is crazy and will ruin the sport…all Zuffa talking points distributed by a media who seems fascinated with Dana White. Not the real Dana White, but what he wants to project with all of his image grooming.
This has been the sickest episode I have seen in a long time. Fedor resists a near monopoly (not for lack of tying) and takes a better offer from a respectful organization and these writers think they have a vested interest in representing the UFC?
What is wrong with this picture?
The lack of professionalism and editorializing on behalf of Dana White looks more like I am reading Pravda of 20 years ago.
Fedor went to Srikeforce because it was a better deal all the way around. The UFC offer was only made to be leaked. There was never a serious effort on behalf of the UFC to retain Fedor.
You don’t continually treat someone in a duplitous, degrading and deceitful manner when you are attempting to convince them to work for you.
Is this so hard to understand?
Screw the UFC. I am boycotting Uncle Fester’s Circus.
Yes, he’s a very poor writer in the newsletter. He was in high school when he started the Observer in the early 80s, of course it was going to suck.
But he was hardly the only person to question whether the UFC was worked or not. Ken Shamrock said he wasn’t convinced it was a total shoot until the night of the show. The general belief was that this kind of thing would never be allowed to run in America and be totally legit. It was a radical concept to have no holds barred fighting with no gloves, no rounds and outside of a traditional ring. And keep in mind the UFC was coming off of UWF-i which was worked and Pancrase which to this day has the legitimacy of the early shows questioned. Ken Shamrock refused to say if Pancrase was worked but always said UFC was a shoot.
It’s interesting to read article after article and comment after comment about how Fedor is ‘ducking the best in the world’ and won’t fight the best of the best if he’s not with our buddy Dana and the UFC.
But when you break down the possible opponents and examine the UFC’s heavyweight picture, there aren’t THAT many incredible match-ups.
Nogueira – I doubt he wants to get in the ring with Fedor again, especially at this point.
Couture – People were screaming for this fight up until recently, but after what Lesnar did to him, I doubt anyone believes old Randy is a match for Fedor at this point.
Valasquez – While he’s a great *prospect*, it shows the lack of depth in the UFC’s HW division when a 6-0 rookie is being considered for a title shot (5 of his wins being over virtually unknown fighters).
Mir – Making a great comeback, but seemingly not ready for someone of Fedor’s caliber.
Carwin – with a very impressive run so far, he’s getting to the point where a title match, or a fight vs. Fedor, doesn’t seem that ridiculous.
Lesnar – He is suddenly being hailed as the all-time greatest by UFC fanatics, but sports a 3-1 record in the UFC. He lost, beat Heath Herring by Decision, and the stopped middle-aged, retired Couture for the title.
His biggest accomplishment by far was his R2 stoppage of Mir, who looked in top form. This is the obvious ‘money match’ for the UFC, but I don’t know how excited about Lesnar/Fedor I can get until I’ve seen Lesnar score at least 2-3 more impressive wins.
So while the UFC has Carwin and Lesnar as possible decent opponents for Fedor, Strikeforce has two equally good options in Overeem and Rogers. NO, not from a financial perspective, but possibly from a talent perspective.
The advantage the UFC has is that they’ll attract the better prospects over time, and they’ll develop names through TUF. Strikeforce will exhaust 2-3 fights for Fedor, and they’ll likely run dry.
Can you actually criticize a reporter who you cite for your sources 99.9% of the time?
There was no problem with Meltzer’s numbers when you were parroting them for MMAWeekly, was there Ivan?
Here’s an idea, instead of trashing an actual reporter, why don’t you drum up some sources of your own? And by drum up, I don’t mean re-subscribe to the observer.
LOL @ “Meltzer & his Cohorts”, spreading one Zuffa myth at time right Ivan?
Please note the Adam Smith is boycotting UFC events from now on.
Therefore, he posts anything about the UFC, I think it is only fair to keep him to his word and delete his comments.
He also says the Strikeforce contract was better, but just like everybody else who says it, doesn’t provide proof.
Ultimo Santa,
Strikeforce has only 1 other legit top 10 fighter on their roster besides Fedor, and that is Brett Rogers. And even he is unproven.
The UFC has 5 or 6, and 5 of them are ranked right below Fedor. From a rankings perspective, and even a competition perspective, this signing makes no sense.
And like you said as well, the UFC has the young talent. No only have they just signed like 10 prospects, they also have TUF 10 coming up, which will produce 5 more.
And don’t be shocked if they go after more free agents just to dry up any possibility of a good opponent for Fedor.
I’m sorry, but Fedor vs. Werdum does nothing for me. Even if Werdum beats Kyle (who is a Light Heavyweight), he doesn’t have a win against a natural sized Heavyweight (Gonzaga) which happen over a year ago. And then he would get a fight with Fedor? YAWN!!
Fedor will always take the co-promotion deal. That’s the way he’s wired. If XFC offered him a co-promotion deal he’d take it over the UFC
“Can you actually criticize a reporter who you cite for your sources 99.9% of the time?
There was no problem with Meltzer’s numbers when you were parroting them for MMAWeekly, was there Ivan?
Here’s an idea, instead of trashing an actual reporter, why don’t you drum up some sources of your own? And by drum up, I don’t mean re-subscribe to the observer.”
LOL, end of thread. Body_shots via actual logic.
I love how certain posters here love to cite Meltzer as a source when his information can further their agenda. Yet when its positive news about the UFC than hes on the take and unreliable. LOL
Adam Smith,
I find it funny that a tough guy like FE is hurt by some people saying bad things about him. Maybe that is the way to beat him in the ring. Send someone in to the octagon to say “Fuck Fedor” and then show him a bad review, then he will run crying like a little girl.
Personally I don’t care about UFC or M-1 or whatever, I’m just hoping that MMA doesn’t implode before it gets Olympic certification.
I think your irrational love of VF and EF and hatred of DW is kind of disturbing. You should get some help with that.
Oh yea,
the only reason that I’m leery about VF and M-1 is that I’ve had experience doing business in russia, not all of it positive and I would council anyone doing business with russians to be very, very careful. Even other russians say this about their countrymen so I don’t think I’m alone with my prejudice.
I think you’re getting a little too excited about the “5 or 6 top guys” who could fight Fedor. I realize that from a PPV buyrate perspective Mir, Couture, Nogueira or even Kongo looks interesting, but none of these guys are a good match for him.
Overeem has looked sharp as hell lately. I think he could easily present some problems for Fedor, or any one of the UFC’s top guys. Ditto for Rogers.
Aside from that, Strikeforce simply doesn’t have the depth, and likely won’t.
Talent aside, you can’t build a *name* for a fighter anymore outside of the UFC. It’s just not possible. So even if a fighter has an excellent MMA skill-set, a great record, and a string of impressive wins, he’ll be branded a nobody by any fan of ‘ultimate fighting’.
Personally as a paying subscriber to the Observer, I’ve been disappointed at Dave Meltzer’s coverage of Fedor’s UFC negotiations. He may be the best MMA/pro wrestling reporter out there, but he was clearly behind the curve on this story. He was scooped by Jonathan Snowden and Loretta Hunt on the actual guaranteed figures UFC offered Fedor. Maybe Snowden’s and Hunt’s sources were different to Dave’s, but to an outsider such as myself, it seems they got the scoop because they worked much harder to get to the bottom of this story.
Rankings…
1. Fedor
2. Lesnar
3. Mir
4. Nogueira
5. Couture
Fedor can fight 3 of those 4 (not Nogueira). Not to mention the rise of Cain, Carwin, and the 10 prospects that will likely produce at least 2 contenders by the time those fights are done with.
In Strikeforce, there are 3 guys, all ranked below the UFC guys.
And Overeem hasn’t had a high level MMA Heavyweight fight that he has won in over 2 years. We already know he wilts under the pressure. Why is he being so heavily touted again?
I love all this garbage from the UFC/Dana White strokes–spin it any way you want, Fedor is his own man, and chose for himself.
So he’s not gonna fight Lesnar anytime soon…so what? If anything, Fedor has at least shored up Strikeforce, and if they can gain more legitimacy in the heavyweight division (I admit I don’t see it right away), they will become a better competitor.
And as usual, the media dutifully reports every gnashing of Dana’s fangs. I think another reason Fedor signed with Strikeforce is that he’s not gonna let White dictate ANYTHING to him. And that’s probably what makes Dana madder than anything–here’s one fighter he cannot push around.
“So here is the simple checklist:
1. Best Money Offer = UFC
2. Please The Fans The Most = UFC
3. Pure Competition = UFC”
More like a simplistic chacklist. What else is ion that contract that would make Fedor not want to sign it?
“Whether it’s ludicrous to suggest he’s afraid of Lesnar, fans are asking that question in droves, so it will always be part of the story of his career.”
What fans? The internet fans? What they say only matters to them and, they’re apparently a minority and, don’t sell tickets, or PPVs.
What the media says about you does stick, so no matter if Fedor is vindicated for not signing with UFC in the future or not, he’s going to be stuck with the “Fedor didn’t want to fight Lesnar” tag to a lot of people until he actually does. I don’t think this is so damning Fedor can never recover from it, since the insular internet fans and writers are far more important in their minds than they are to the public at large. But just as Royce and Rickson Gracie are stuck with the tag of “when competition caught onto them they disappeared” criticism when you start talking about where they rank in history, Fedor will get tagged with that to a much lesser extent. Or if Zuffa gets really tyranical, history could see Fedor as being wiser than he was given credit for.
“For the people saying Fedor took the better deal…. Show me… Seriously, I have yet to see anybody prove it. Give me an example of how Fedor took the better deal.”
You’ve never seen either deal, just heard about what both sides want you to hear.
Its funny how the UFC gets no criticism for refusing to co-promote a one fight deal for Fedor to fight Brock because its bad business, but when M-1/Fedor refuses to sign a exclusive/restrictive contract that is not in their best interest they are blasted for not doing what is right for the sport.
Dana White makes Don King proud.
Not surprising to see the mainstream media parrot the nonsense that MMA should be formated in a league structure. You can’t blame them since even so called hardcore fans just eat up what ZUFFA tells them to think. Fedor is irrelevant? I wonder where that statement started from…
I’m giving the whole Fedor-M1/Strikeforce deal six months before it slowly starts to crumble. He’ll most probably do one fight for Coker and company, and then bolt for whoever pays him a shitload of money for fighting a former Olympionite, a Sumo or a Pro-Wrestler, because his contract allows him to. A big legal brouhaha will ensue, Fedor will fight nonetheless, and Strikeforce will be without its heavyweight ace for another six months (or does anyone seriously think that Fedor will fight more than twice a year?). Who knows, perhaps he’ll even break his hands again (which isn’t very unlikely to happen, given his medical history) in an “outside” fight, and completely fuck up Strikeforces plans.
I think Fightlinker summed the whole thing up perfectly: “It’s hard not to feel a touch of concern for Strikeforce though … I get the feeling we’re supposed to be celebrating, but instead I feel like I just learned they might have the AIDS.”
Trashing Meltzer is borderline ridiculous. He has been covering mma since most mma fans were little children. He knows the connections between pro wrestling and mma better than anyone, he has sources everywhere throughout the fight and tv industry, and he is a hell of a writer. Just because he doesn’t hate Zuffa doesn’t mean he is teh bad. Frankly, I think what he wrote about this episode tainting Fedor’s legacy is correct. On message boards people are bashing Fedor for taking less money to fight lesser fighters. It seems anathema to legacy-building.
In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that was mailed out late last week (after the first issue that was mailed out on Tuesday), Meltzer initially reported that the UFC’s offer to Fedor was for $5 million per fight PLUS the PPV bonuses.
Translation: Meltzer has zero credibility on anything related to what the UFC has or hasn’t offered Fedor.
45, how can you criticize people for claiming that the Strike Force offer is better when you your self have no idea which offer is better. The truth is w DO NOT KNOW the details of FE, VF, M1, UFC, and SF’s business dealings. We have no idea what the details of the various contracts are and how the money is split. You keep saying that M1 takes all the money and Fedor is just being used. Now, maybe thats true but again you don’t really know. Maybe Fedor has a great deal. maybe he makes 50% of everything that M1 does. Really we have no idea.
So stop pretending that you do.
There are other reasons not to like the signing, and there are other issues, for example competition, that we can make fair judgments about. However money is not really one of them nor are the details of Fedor’s M1 deal. We simply don’t have the information needed.
I feel like some MMA fans have a version of Battered Wives Syndrome…. Think about it, wives can be beaten within an inch of their life and yetthey still return to their husbands because they think he will change or think he is still a good man.
Same principle applies to MMA fans when it comes to a UFC competitor. Each time, the UFC beats up their competition a little worse then the last time. And certain fans continue to defer an root for these smaller organizations that have failed business plans.
How many times is it going to take for some of you people to finally learn? Becoming competition with the UFC…. as well as doing business with either Japan or M-1 makes a company go under. Strikeforce has done all 3. And yet people still defend them and Fedor.
I really really thought after Affliction went under that people would finally learn. I was very wrong.
Some people just like the abuse I think.
What’s wrong with “Dana White is not someone I wish to be entangled with?” I find DW entertaining and interesting, but I sure as hell would not want to be contractually obligated to him.
Spacedog,
You are smarten then your last post. Under no circumstances is it smart for anybody to take their paycheck and put somebody elses name on it. We might contribute to a 401(k) through our pay, but that’s under out own name.
Fedor has literally taken his paycheck and put somebody else’s name on it. Not much more needs to be known then that. Even if he has investments, no person getting good financial advice would put their check into somebody else’s name. And that is what Vadim’s co-promoting is doing. Heck, Fedor could take every cent he makes and put it in m-1, but it makes no sense to transfer that power on payday.
Which means Fedor is either:
1. Very dumb
2. Getting bad financial advice from Vadim
3. Getting half truths from Vadim
4. Doesn’t want to mess with the mafia
Nothing here makes sense. To be blind to that I cannot understand.
The ufc didn’t even bother to air ANY counter programing to “trilogy” arguably the biggest non ufc ppv to date.
In the past they always do counter programing, like a repeat ufc 100 or fightnight or some kind of ufc show, but what happened with the affliction show?
Why no counter programing?
Why no attempt to halt the affliction attack?
DANA KNEW!
It was a scam from the beginning.
when was the last time the ufc signed any russians?
“In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that was mailed out late last week (after the first issue that was mailed out on Tuesday), Meltzer initially reported that the UFC’s offer to Fedor was for $5 million per fight PLUS the PPV bonuses.
Translation: Meltzer has zero credibility on anything related to what the UFC has or hasn’t offered Fedor.”
meltzer reported the news carmichael broke was the same thing that he had heard (and not put out there until the carmichael article exploded), that this was the in formation the ufc wanted “out there” and that this was an attempt by the ufc to ” babyface” themselves and swing the public opinion to their side if fedor didnt sign with them.
translation: the information, in context, doesnt come off damning to metzers credibility at all.
The UFC haters really have reached a new low now they are going after Meltzer smh honestly give it up it’s become past embarrasing at this point it’s just pathetic.
“In the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that was mailed out late last week (after the first issue that was mailed out on Tuesday), Meltzer initially reported that the UFC’s offer to Fedor was for $5 million per fight PLUS the PPV bonuses.
Translation: Meltzer has zero credibility on anything related to what the UFC has or hasn’t offered Fedor.”
Actually he didn’t, either you have no clue or your just lying. Meltzer never said the the number floating around were fact, he said they were rumors. Your desire to discredit Meltzer is sad, just face the facts you’ll never be the reporter he is.
I would also like to point out that the New York Fucking Times is reporting this story. Not bad for an “unknown” Russian fighter.
For 45, again, I agree that simply signing your check away or putting someone else’s name on your pay check makes no sense. But we don’t know if that is what Fedor is doing. He might be getting one check in his name and another in M1’s name for “co-promotional” duties or he might have an other thing going entirely. The point is we are not really privy to any of the information and thus should reserve judgment.
of course this is the interwebz so random judgment making is the name of the game.
I love all of these people saying “Fedor did..” or “Fedor didn’t..”
While Fedor is a big boy, to think he really had much of a say in the dotted line on any of these is beyond crass. Fedor lives a rather humble life for a man that everybody shouts about having the highest demands.
Fedor only really made about 300k from his Affliction fights, and with the size of the crew he travels with, you have to wonder what his take home is.
Basically, what I’m saying is, Fedor puts his faith and his career in his management’s hands. Right or wrong on his point, the final decision might not involve him as intensely as everybody is claiming.
“45 Huddle Says:
I feel like some MMA fans have a version of Battered Wives Syndrome…. “
That is because you are an unrepentant fanboy who only appears to be interested in the online bickering aspect of MMA. Some of us actually want to see more top level MMA fights and more opportunities for fighters to realize their potential.
When it comes to commentary from the fanboys, they could swap “UFC” and “Strikeforce” out for “PS3” and “360” and jump right into a mindless poo-flinging videogame debate.
Strikeforce strives to deliver the best fights they possibly can, and the hardcore UFC faithful are pathetically calling for their demise because they “are messing with the UFC”.
Does anyone actually enjoy MMA as a sport anymore, or is it just an excuse to play armchair promoter?
“Some of us actually want to see more top level MMA fights and more opportunities for fighters to realize their potential.”
Top level MMA almost always happens in the UFC. Trying to get two top level guys outside of the UFC to fight is nearly impossible.
And who has given more opportunities to fighters then Zuffa?
“Does anyone actually enjoy MMA as a sport anymore, or is it just an excuse to play armchair promoter?”
I love it as a sport. The only thing that puts a sour taste in my mouth is the yearly promoter who tries to compete with the UFC. It’s obvious they will fail, and all they end up doing is putting on a few decent (not great) fights, and keep fans away from seeing even better match-ups. Like having Mousasi & Shields in the UFC would is better then them in Strikeforce since neither has competition at their true weight classes.
The winner of Mousasi/Babalu literally has no legit challenger. And Shields had to move up a weight class because he is already out of challengers.
As a fan, that stinks. That is why I am so vocal when it happens. Some short sighted fans think it is great. I’ve seen this stuff happen since the 1990’s. It gets old quickly.