Confirmation: M-1 President Vadim Finkelchtein Doesn't Want Fedor In The UFC
by Kelvin Hunt on Jul 29, 2009 11:38 PM EDT
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PrintAh, the story that has had the fans of MMA hanging horse shoes and crossing their fingers. Will Fedor sign with the UFC? The terms of the deal that the UFC offered Fedor were posted earlier, and I'll post them here as a reminder:
- 5 fight contract worth 30 million dollars
- Fedor can do his Sambo competitions
- M-1 gets a cut of the PPV in which Fedor fights
- Fedor could wear all the M-1 clothing he wanted when he fought
- M-1 and Fedor refused the deal unless the UFC agree to co-promote
I said it here that M-1 President Vadim Finklechtein didn't want Fedor to sign with the UFC. They will never get another deal like that in my opinion. Bloodyelbow's Luke Thomas chimes in:
The reality is this. We cannot fault M-1 for seeking to aggrandize its riches and use this opportunity to work with the UFC to benefit its efforts. But we also must recognize the stubbornness of M-1's co-promotion stipulation indicates they are attempting to make a statement. The UFC is offering unreal payment and exposure - exposure that literally no one else can provide save perhaps CBS - for the M-1 organization, to say nothing of how much they'll pocket from the PPV buys. Fedor will be allowed to wear as much M-1 signage as he likes. That means this deal accomplishes in meaningful ways the goal of promoting M-1. This deal is helpful to the M-1 brand and company.It's not as helpful as co-promotion, but the inexorable position that it's co-promotion or its nothing is the epitome of cutting off one's nose to spite their face.
I couldn't really say it any better than that. The simple fact that the UFC has made concessions on the Sambo issue as well as allowing Fedor to wear M-1 apparel speaks volumes in regards to their efforts to sign this guy. Whereas there is no evidence of Fedor/M-1 making concessions on their end, if so they should make that public. Also, let's not even talk about the amount of money they offered Fedor. This contract is worth 5 MILLION dollars per fight. The biggest PPV draw the UFC has(Brock Lesnar) isn't even making that, and Fedor hasn't even fought in the UFC yet. I'm all for giving respect to Fedor as the best HW right now, but he isn't making himself any new fans by turning down this contract.
Sure, all of the hardcore fans that witnessed his greatness in PRIDE will remember how great he was/is. However, to the slew of new fans that make up the majority of the MMA fanbase, Fedor will be nothing but a guy that ducked fighting in the largest and best MMA organization in the world if he doesn't sign with the UFC. I truly think his window of dominating the heavyweight division is closing pretty quickly anyways, so in the grand scheme of things it may not be such a big deal after all if he doesn't sign. But, there will probably always be that 'what if' factor and sometimes that isn't a bad thing.
I wanna hear your thoughts on this one..
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There is something not right here. Is it possible that they are confident Fedor will not make it over the duration of 6 fights? Cuz they are going all out for a guy who is not popular in the states or worldwide and not a fucking PPV draw.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jul 29, 2009 11:47 PM EDT reply actions
I think you are underestimating Fedor a tad. Fedor isn’t as popular as Randy Couture, but he is still pretty darn popular and he is VERY marketable with all the library of fights of Fedor Zuffa owns and Fedor’s fighting style.
I remember people doubted whether Cro Cop, Nogueira, Rampage, Anderson Silva were smart purchases since “they were popular” in the States. But it all turned wrong in the end.
Having the ability to truthfully say that the UFC harbors the best fighters in the world is more of a PPV draw than Fedor himself. Brock vs. Fedor would be an insane PPV, though I’ll agree that against other fighters, Fedor’s numbers wouldn’t be great. Signing Fedor is more a legitimacy issue for the UFC at this point, although they’ll probably be just fine without the best heavyweight. As I said in a different post, it just sickens me that M-1 would be so blatant with their exploitation of Fedor. Obviously we don’t have all of the facts but it seems pretty apparent at this point that Finklestein is willing to deprive Fedor of a competitive, world-wide legacy building career, in hopes that he can make a big name for M-1. I think M-1 has a lot more to gain by letting Fedor fight without co-promotion in the UFC than not getting the co-promotion (it just isn’t going to happen. Note the period.), wasting Fedor’s time/ability/career, and looking like a bunch of scum bags in the process.
This is too much
I’ve always been and always will be a Fedor fan. I was born and grew up in a former Soviet Union Republic and I am a Russian speaker (although not my native tongue). Thus, I’ve always be enamored with Fedor and what he represents.
I was very dissapointed when he didn’t sign with the UFC when Pride collapsed. But then I thought, it must be stupid Dana White who messed everything up. Then Fedor fought few fights that I thought were kind of stupid (Lindland, Choi), but I was till very happy with him.
Lately it is his obsession with the Russian Orthodox Church and how he always voices his support for it in all of his interviews that started to bug me. If the translator actually translated everything correctly during his after the fight interviews, I think a lot of Americans would a have been surprised. Fedor definitely would have been as a religious nut.
However, refusal to accept this latest contract really, really disappoints. I think it is too much. I now oficially support Dana White in his dealings with M-1 Global. I now believe Dana when he says he is doing all he can to sign in Fedor.
Aman
P.S.
I think one possible reason for Fedor refusing this deal is that he actually has a bigger stake in M-1 Global than we might realize and thus, his personal profit from co-promoting events and pocketing a share of PPVs that way could be bigger than we might think. That, or he also could financial support from the Russian businesses and government for pushing the Russian MMA organization forward.
Fedor hasn’t refused shit and I doubt it has anything to do with his religious views, either. Believing in something and being open about it doesn’t make you a “religious nut.” Fedor is one of the more genuine fighters around in terms of his personality. He doesn’t trash-talk; he doesn’t even talk positive about his opponents most of the time. He keeps to himself, says what has to be said for promotion, and goes out there and fights. When he wins, he thanks God because that’s what he really feels and cares about. This whole UFC deal has nothing to do with Fedor; he simply delegates his contractual dealings to Finklestein because Fedor trusts him [for some reason]. It’s M-1 that’s actively fucking Fedor over by refusing these amazing deals. They figure they are better off without the UFC if they can’t get a co-promoted show, but the fact is M-1 has a lot more to gain by letting him fight at all with a fucking M-1 sticker on his ass than simply turning down this deal and wasting away the remainder of Emelianenko’s career.
Dude, he takes his personal (!) priest with him whenever he travels for his fights. How many people do you know who do that? Another examples is that during one of his interviews on Russian television he was asked where does he travel when he is on vacation and he said that he always does pilgrimage to holy places. For heavens’ sakes, I can someone doing it once, or twice, but always?? And these are just a couple of signs, I am sure there are more.
Regarding his trust for Filkesten. As muchas I don’t like Filkestein. Fedor is a big boy and he has to be held responsible for whatever his manager does. Afterl all, Fedor picked him and Fedor can fire him any time.
So, are you just stating that you have a personal distaste for the way that Fedor is presented alongside is religion? Or are you suggesting that this has something to do with the matter at hand?
And you’re right, Fedor can ditch his management. But I think it’s unfair to draw the conclusion that he is directly responsible for being exploited like this. As I said, I’m sure the situation is more complex than that; I doubt Fedor is legally capable of making a deal with the UFC without M-1, and to ditch M-1 entirely would not only turn Fedor’s lifestyle upside down (they play a pretty huge role aside from just managing his contracts) but would probably make Emelianenko look bad from the perspective of those who are still on M-1’s side.
The most unfortunate part in my mind is that it seems as though Fedor doesn’t really care where he goes. He is allowing himself to be subjected to the whim of M-1 global. If he cared about the level of competition he faced, or what his fans want from him, then he would bypass M-1 and make a personal commitment to getting signed with the UFC. I think Dana would sign Fedor tomorrow if he personally called and said he was on-board with their last offer. Unfortunately, he is clearly not willing to go to such a length. His priorities are not on par with what much of the MMA community wants of him. It’s his choice, but it’s definitely a depressing one to fans.
I can almost guarantee they're gonna give in in a few days....
..They’re trying to see if they can get more. It’s only a matter of time..
These guys are nuts.
They get offered a guaranteed $6 million a fight and unprecidented concession by the UFC and turn it down. Good luck getting that kind of money from Strikeforce or anyone else. If I were Zuffa, I’d tell them to pound sand and give them a call when they get off the bad dope.
There is no M-1, there is just Fedor. There is no real brand to promote there, just one fighter.
...some call me "el mexicutioner"...
Also...
What I’m sure these knuckleheads mean by “co-promote” is having the UFC do all the work and have all the expenses come out of their (Zuffa’s) end, while sitting back and collecting a percentage of the gross, not the net.
...some call me "el mexicutioner"...
What Russian Fans Think
I just checked out the site mixedmartialarts.ru, which is the biggest mma site in Russian.
Under the transcript of Filkenstein’s and Fedor’s press conference there is a very, very heated debate among the Russian fans and I finally see the ground shifting because…
The casual Russian fans are pissed, pissed, really pissed at Filkestein and some of them are also pissed at Fedor…Wow, this is something. I think if they fail to sign this contract, they are going to get a lot of criticism at home…
Everyone is getting tired of this cat and mouse game. If he’s holding out for money, fine. NFL players do it all the time. It’s business. But the fact is, Fedor more than likely has some idea that there are at least 4 heavyweights in the UFC that can take him: Carwin, Velazquez, Couture, and Lesnar. He wants to be guaranteed some cash if he’s going to be taking that many beatings; that’s a smart man. But let’s face it, he isn’t bringing that many new fans to the sport; no one outside of the “hardcores” know who he is. So why spend the money for someone who isn’t going to be around that long. Especially if he loses right out of the gate?
This is getting ridiculous… Fedor is not worth this.
Bloody hell.
by 3PA on Jul 30, 2009 9:34 AM EDT reply actions 3 recs
"However, to the slew of new fans that make up the majority of the MMA fanbase, Fedor will be nothing but a guy that ducked fighting in the largest and best MMA organization in the world if he doesn't sign with the UFC. "
You speak the gospel, my friend. PREACH IT!
I'm the kind of girl who loves to watch a GOOD fight!
--------
Join the DC Area UFC Meetup Group
http://www.meetup.com/DCUFCGroup
Dream no more
I think it’s safe to say that we now can bury our dreams of seeing Fedor in UFC. It ain’t going to happen. As one Russian commentator on Mixfight.ru said,
“The saddest thing is that most likely Fedor’s career has entered it’s final stage without ever being fully developed”.
Filkestein said that they can find credible opponents without UFC, he mentioned guys like Buentello and Rogers. Russian media reacted saying Buentello is not a credible opponent (at least not one of the most credible ones) and Filkestein should be ashamed of even suggesting that.
Fedor is becoming more of a businessman than a fighter. Fedor Emelianenko is the only reason M-1 matters. Ever since Alexander Emelianenko and Roman Zentsov left, M-1 doesn’t have any global stars in its roster. Sooner or later Fedor will lose (most likely against a B-level heavyweight) and everyone will forget about M-1, and rightly so.
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