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From the Vancouver Sun 7/31/09
Fedor turns down richest MMA contract ever, but UFC is buzzing with new recruits and TV deals
By Chris Parry
Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian fighter widely believed to be the world's best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist, has turned down the richest contract ever offered to an MMA fighter in a move that has UFC President Dana White fuming.
"I don't want to say anything bad about this guy," he told reporters Friday. "Listen, I went out there and tried to make this thing happen; I did everything I could possibly do. They didn't want to do it. For whatever reason, they didn't want to sign a deal with the UFC."
The widely reported -and disputed - offer said to have been made to Emelianenko includes a five-fight $30 million deal, an instant title shot at UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, the opportunity to display logos of his manager's competing MMA promotion, M-1 Global, on the fighter and in the Octagon, a cut of pay-per-view earnings, and the freedom to compete in Sambo martial arts tournaments outside the UFC.
In short, the offer reportedly made to Emelianenko is the richest deal in the history of mixed martial arts by a factor of about five - but it wasn't enough.
The sticking point? The fighter's manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, wants to co-promote UFC events, and if that isn't acceptable to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Fedor won't fight.
"Let me ask you a question; let's be honest here," White told reporters. "These guys are going to come in and co-promote? How the hell are they going to co-promote anything? We've built this entire frigging industry."
"It's basically them coming in and saying, 'Hey, we've got this guy and some people might say he's the best heavyweight in the world. So for that, we want half of your business.' Yeah, okay. That shit probably works in Russia -- not here."
White went on to compare the proposal to Brett Favre telling an NFL team, "I'll sign for you but I own half the team."
"We came to the table willing to give up just about anything, except the co-promotion," White said. "We offered him the most amazing deal. I guarantee you he will not be offered another deal like this in mixed martial arts."
"We gave on everything. He can go fight Sambo every Thursday night if he wants... But we're not giving up half our business."
Sambo is a combat sport and self-defense system developed in the Soviet Union that combines judo, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
Finkelchtein, meanwhile, is denying such an offer was made to his fighter, telling the press, "It is unfortunate that so much incorrect information has been leaked to the public. It is M-1's preference not to negotiate in public and we are unsure why people claim that Fedor and M-1 turned down a six-fight, (US)$30-million contract to fight in the UFC when no such offer was ever made."
M-1 Global CEO Joost Raimond told MMA website Sherdog.com the length of any proposed deal was never agreed upon, and the amount per fight was less than half that reported.
"It's unfortunate because these type of tactics will not help ensure that M-1's talks with the UFC are fruitful,” Finkelstein said. “M-1 Global is still interested in continuing to negotiate with the UFC and while we are fielding offers from other major promotions; nothing has been decided."
A spokesman for M-1 dismissed reports that negotiations with the UFC were over but made no mention of where they might go from here.
As for White, he's leaving the door open - kinda.
"If they want to do a deal, we'll do it right now. But the Fertitta brothers have gaming licenses. You can't just have someone come from overseas and work with them. There has to be background checks and all sorts of crazy shit. Co-promotion is never going to happen."
While the Emelianenko situation is an open wound with the UFC, there's still plenty of big news coming out of the organization, first and foremost being the return of Tito Ortiz to the UFC family.
Ortiz and White had feuded publicly for several years, but a warming of relations came at UFC 100 when a mutual friend brought the two parties together. The former light heavyweight champion still holds the record for the longest reign as champion, and says he wants his title back.
"I'm excited to be fighting again in the biggest show in the world," said Ortiz, deflecting talk of a possible deal with the competing promotion of Strikeforce.
"Who would I fight in Strikeforce? Babalu [Sobral]? I'd crush his face. Ken Shamrock? Then I'd be responsible for the first death in MMA. Fedor at catchweight? .... I need to be where the best competition in the world is."
White says he wants to see Ortiz fight former heavyweight champ Mark Coleman in November.
Also newly signed to the UFC come former Affliction fighters Vitor Belfort, Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Dan Lauzon and Rafaello Oliveira. Mark Hominick, L.C. Davis and Javier Vazquez will join the WEC feeder promotion.
White also announced a new TV deal with ESPN - in the UK. The new branch of the 'world leader' in sports TV starts with a free viewing of UFC 101 on August 8 in high-definition.
Lastly, the scheduled rematch between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson has been canceled because, in White's words, "fans were pissed." Henderson will now go directly to a title shot with Anderson Silva, while Franklin will take on new recruit Belfort in a gatekeeper fight for a title shot.
Fedor turns down richest MMA contract ever, but UFC is buzzing with new recruits and TV deals
By Chris Parry
Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian fighter widely believed to be the world's best pound-for-pound mixed martial artist, has turned down the richest contract ever offered to an MMA fighter in a move that has UFC President Dana White fuming.
"I don't want to say anything bad about this guy," he told reporters Friday. "Listen, I went out there and tried to make this thing happen; I did everything I could possibly do. They didn't want to do it. For whatever reason, they didn't want to sign a deal with the UFC."
The widely reported -and disputed - offer said to have been made to Emelianenko includes a five-fight $30 million deal, an instant title shot at UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar, the opportunity to display logos of his manager's competing MMA promotion, M-1 Global, on the fighter and in the Octagon, a cut of pay-per-view earnings, and the freedom to compete in Sambo martial arts tournaments outside the UFC.
In short, the offer reportedly made to Emelianenko is the richest deal in the history of mixed martial arts by a factor of about five - but it wasn't enough.
The sticking point? The fighter's manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, wants to co-promote UFC events, and if that isn't acceptable to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Fedor won't fight.
"Let me ask you a question; let's be honest here," White told reporters. "These guys are going to come in and co-promote? How the hell are they going to co-promote anything? We've built this entire frigging industry."
"It's basically them coming in and saying, 'Hey, we've got this guy and some people might say he's the best heavyweight in the world. So for that, we want half of your business.' Yeah, okay. That shit probably works in Russia -- not here."
White went on to compare the proposal to Brett Favre telling an NFL team, "I'll sign for you but I own half the team."
"We came to the table willing to give up just about anything, except the co-promotion," White said. "We offered him the most amazing deal. I guarantee you he will not be offered another deal like this in mixed martial arts."
"We gave on everything. He can go fight Sambo every Thursday night if he wants... But we're not giving up half our business."
Sambo is a combat sport and self-defense system developed in the Soviet Union that combines judo, jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
Finkelchtein, meanwhile, is denying such an offer was made to his fighter, telling the press, "It is unfortunate that so much incorrect information has been leaked to the public. It is M-1's preference not to negotiate in public and we are unsure why people claim that Fedor and M-1 turned down a six-fight, (US)$30-million contract to fight in the UFC when no such offer was ever made."
M-1 Global CEO Joost Raimond told MMA website Sherdog.com the length of any proposed deal was never agreed upon, and the amount per fight was less than half that reported.
"It's unfortunate because these type of tactics will not help ensure that M-1's talks with the UFC are fruitful,” Finkelstein said. “M-1 Global is still interested in continuing to negotiate with the UFC and while we are fielding offers from other major promotions; nothing has been decided."
A spokesman for M-1 dismissed reports that negotiations with the UFC were over but made no mention of where they might go from here.
As for White, he's leaving the door open - kinda.
"If they want to do a deal, we'll do it right now. But the Fertitta brothers have gaming licenses. You can't just have someone come from overseas and work with them. There has to be background checks and all sorts of crazy shit. Co-promotion is never going to happen."
While the Emelianenko situation is an open wound with the UFC, there's still plenty of big news coming out of the organization, first and foremost being the return of Tito Ortiz to the UFC family.
Ortiz and White had feuded publicly for several years, but a warming of relations came at UFC 100 when a mutual friend brought the two parties together. The former light heavyweight champion still holds the record for the longest reign as champion, and says he wants his title back.
"I'm excited to be fighting again in the biggest show in the world," said Ortiz, deflecting talk of a possible deal with the competing promotion of Strikeforce.
"Who would I fight in Strikeforce? Babalu [Sobral]? I'd crush his face. Ken Shamrock? Then I'd be responsible for the first death in MMA. Fedor at catchweight? .... I need to be where the best competition in the world is."
White says he wants to see Ortiz fight former heavyweight champ Mark Coleman in November.
Also newly signed to the UFC come former Affliction fighters Vitor Belfort, Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Dan Lauzon and Rafaello Oliveira. Mark Hominick, L.C. Davis and Javier Vazquez will join the WEC feeder promotion.
White also announced a new TV deal with ESPN - in the UK. The new branch of the 'world leader' in sports TV starts with a free viewing of UFC 101 on August 8 in high-definition.
Lastly, the scheduled rematch between Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson has been canceled because, in White's words, "fans were pissed." Henderson will now go directly to a title shot with Anderson Silva, while Franklin will take on new recruit Belfort in a gatekeeper fight for a title shot.