Fedor signs with Strikeforce

[Marquis]

Fedor Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight agreement that will see the world’s No. 1-ranked heavyweight compete for Strikeforce, the promotion announced Monday.

Emelianenko, who became a free agent after Affliction Entertainment canceled its Aug. 1 event two weeks ago, will make his debut on Showtime under a co-promoted Strikeforce/M-1 Global production this fall. Emelianenko was to have faced Josh Barnett at Affliction “Trilogy” on Aug. 1, but Barnett failed a pre-fight test for an anabolic steroid and was refused licensure by the California State Athletic Commission.

"Strikeforce is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world," said Emelianenko in a press release. "I am prepared to fight any of them."

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog.com last week that he plans to match the stoic Russian against the likes of Brett Rogers, Fabricio Werdum and the promotion’s heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem.

“I feel pretty confident that we could give him four or five opponents that would make sense for him,” Coker told Sherdog.com in an exclusive video interview.

Emelianenko, along with his promoters and management team at M-1 Global, had negotiated with the UFC last week, but could not come to an agreement over co-promotion.

"Fedor is a f---ing joke," UFC President Dana White responded Monday after learning that Emelianenko had signed with Strikeforce. “He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies for no money!"

Well the expected happened. Fedor signs with Strikeforce. It's only really them or the UFC in the states. I'm not very excited about this, but pleased nonetheless. Strikeforce houses 3 notable heavyweights in Rogers, Werdum, and Overeem. Overeem being who i consider Fedor's biggest challenge outside the UFC. It's a shame they couldn't get this deal done faster or earlier, we could have possibly seen Fedor possibly face off against Werdum. Anyway, I expect Fedor's first fight in Strikeforce to be against Overeem for the title. I would imagine they would give Fedor a instant title shot, and with Fedor's management promising Fedor would fight this year. I'm pretty stoked that it will most likely be against Overeem, easily the most interesting heavyweight fight all year long.

Thoughts?

 

[Slyfox696]

I don't pretend to know much about MMA, but I do know this. UFC is the biggest MMA organization in America. Brock Lesnar is the hottest heavyweight in the UFC.

So I have to ask the question. Why is Fedor doing everything he can to avoid the UFC and a fight with Lesnar?

 

[dman1373]

this sucks
i wanted to see Fedor beat the living shit out of Lesner
That would have been amazing
Fedor dashed my dreams away
but hey Fedor is still the best Heavyweight in the world


Oh and slyfoxx
The real question is why does Dana White screw over her fighters with their contracts

 

[Marquis]

I don't pretend to know much about MMA, but I do know this. UFC is the biggest MMA organization in America. Brock Lesnar is the hottest heavyweight in the UFC.

So I have to ask the question. Why is Fedor doing everything he can to avoid the UFC and a fight with Lesnar?

It's not Fedor who is avoiding, It's his management. Fedor is signed to M-1, his management. The only way they would allow Fedor to fight in the UFC is through co promotion. Why should the UFC co promote with them, when they don't bring nothing to the table except one notable fighter? It would be dumb for the UFC to cut its profits to Fedor's management for him alone.

 

[jmt225]

Thoughts?

My thoughts? This smiley here describes them perfectly:



Honestly, I just felt like the Saints lost a football game. I wanted so badly for Fedor to go to the UFC; you just don't know. And to go to Strikeforce, man... such a disappointment. The only good thing that could come out to this is Nick Diaz going up to 206 pounds and kicking Fedor's ass (which he would if he did), but since that's never going to happen, nothing good can come of this. Hell, right now it looks like Fedor's first fight is against Werdum in November. Fuck that shit.

Seriously, how does a fight against Werdum help Fedor's reputation/legacy? If he wins, he beats a guy who lost his last fight in the first round due to Knockout to someone making his UFC debut, and to a guy who also has a loss against Anderi Arlvoski (someone who Fedor knocked out in his last fight, for those who don't know). And if he loses, well then he loses to a guy who lost his last fight in the first round due to Knockout to someone making his UFC debut, and to a guy who also has a loss against Anderi Arlvoski. So, what is there to gain from fighting Werdum? This is a worse match-up for him than Vitor Belfort would have been in Affliction.

Man this sucks. An Overeem fight and MAYBE an Antonio Silva fight if he's off the 'roids are literally the only two intriguing fights for Fedor in the company. But that's it. In the UFC there were so many other possibilities, and so much more to get excited about.

 

[OIL]

The fuck is this about, seriously?

Fedor is supposed to be the Sting of MMA. Never been in the top company, yet is still a huge, huge name in the sport. Why doesn't he want to go to UFC? More money? I'm sure he's earning enough and the contract UFC offered was good enough.

If he signed, maybe he'd get an improved deal if he won a few fights in the UFC. This just screams that he's scared of going to the UFC. Seriously. If he thinks he's the best, then why not go and prove it? You think Lesnar is scared of him? Not a chance, he'd take the fight in a heartbeat.

Ah well, take your ball and go to the TNA of MMA. Enjoy the easy ride.

 

[Marquis]

If he signed, maybe he'd get an improved deal if he won a few fights in the UFC. This just screams that he's scared of going to the UFC. Seriously. If he thinks he's the best, then why not go and prove it? You think Lesnar is scared of him? Not a chance, he'd take the fight in a heartbeat.

First of all Fedor is not a free agent. He can't just go fuck where ever the fuck he pleases, M-1 chooses that. So you have no way of knowing if Fedor is scared. And what is there to be scared about? A one dimensional wrestler with a 4-1 record? You think the man who has taken giants weighing close to 300 pounds or more would be scared of a 4-1 wrestler? He has nothing to prove, his Pride record speaks for itself. Till this day no ones record matches his 30-1 record.

 

[jtbsoon2b]

It's not Fedor who is avoiding, It's his management. Fedor is signed to M-1, his management. The only way they would allow Fedor to fight in the UFC is through co promotion. Why should the UFC co promote with them, when they don't bring nothing to the table except one notable fighter? It would be dumb for the UFC to cut its profits to Fedor's management for him alone.

Fedor will not join UFC because he is looking out for his company, M-1, which he is a co-owner of. He tries to blame it on the UFC not wanting to "co-promote". Why would they? They are the freaking UFC!!! The UFC will continue to grow with or without Fedor. Also if he is the best he should try to fight in UFC no matter what. M-1 would get promoted nonetheless, even without UFC co-promoting the events.

 

[JenovasWitness]

My thoughts are that it was a stupid move for Dana White to badmouth Fedor like he did in that article. So Fedor signed with another company, big deal. No one knows the true reason why he did this, perhaps he is scared, perhaps it was just business. But I think it was a stupid business decision for Dana to come out and talk that sort of shit and burn a possible bridge that could have been traveled over in the future.

I mean, Lesnar isn't going anywhere in the near future and Fedor isn't an old dude at 32 either. This fight could have taken place in a couple of years when Fedor's contract is done with Strikeforce. But it seems that Dana is more interested in letting his emotions cloud his judgment and by badmouthing Fedor like this, they may not do business at all in the future. Which is a damn shame.

 

[Marquis]

Fedor will not join UFC because he is looking out for his company, M-1, which he is a co-owner of

And he is also under contract with them.

He tries to blame it on the UFC not wanting to "co-promote". Why would they? They are the freaking UFC!!! The UFC will continue to grow with or without Fedor.

Agreed.

Also if he is the best he should try to fight in UFC no matter what. M-1 would get promoted nonetheless, even without UFC co-promoting the events.

Is there some fighter that I'm not aware of in the UFC HW division threatening his 30-1 legacy that he's built these past 9 years? No fighter in the UFC HW division has that record, or even holds enough wins over notable names to close to it. He has nothing to prove, whether he continues fighting legit HW's or not, no HW comes close to the amount of names hes beaten. So he shouldn't fight in the UFC no matter what. As of now, and most likely forever he will go down as the greatest heavyweight there is. Being in or out of the UFC won't change that. He has a few credible opponents left outside of the UFC which the article says he will most likely fight. The HW division is pretty split outside and inside the UFC.

 

[OIL]

First of all Fedor is not a free agent. He can't just go fuck where ever the fuck he pleases, M-1 chooses that. So you have no way of knowing if Fedor is scared. And what is there to be scared about? A one dimensional wrestler with a 4-1 record? You think the man who has taken giants weighing close to 300 pounds or more would be scared of a 4-1 wrestler? He has nothing to prove, his Pride record speaks for itself. Till this day no ones record matches his 30-1 record.

So, let's look at the terms that UFC offered him. £2m PER FUCKING FIGHT, and he still was allowed to fight in that homeland thing he does. You're telling me that's not good terms? Fuck, someone is getting greedy then.

If Fedor wasn't so scared, he would tell M-1 that he wanted to sign the deal with UFC, or he could break his ties with M-1. If he REALLY wanted to fight the best, then he would have signed with UFC. Fuck Fedor, pussy.

 

[jmt225]

Trust me, OLL, I too want to blame Fedor for this. But when you look at the facts, you just can't do it. I mean, he's under contract with M-1 Global and that's all there is to it. He has to do whatever they say, otherwise he gets fucked. If M-1 Global doesn't like the deal and Fedor accepts it anyway, then what happens is the same thing that happened between Randy and the UFC a couple of years ago. It's just a long stand off, and in the end, nobody wins.

And before you blame Fedor for signing with M-1 Global in the first place, you have to remember that their contract offer was MUCH better than the one UFC offered Fedor in 2007, so he made the choice that was best for him at that time. Can't fault the man. At the same time though, you can't fault the UFC either. I wouldn't co-promote shit with M-1 Global. Fedor and his team being able to advertise them by wearing their shirts and them getting a piece of the buyrates should be more than enough. Fuck them.

 

[OIL]

I just think if he wanted to get out of the contract, they he could. I mean, they say he's the best yeah, well to be the best you have to be in the top company, fight the best fighters.

If M-1 want to make more money, they can do that by having him in the UFC. It was a 5 fight deal, why don't they just accept that, and then after the 5 fights they can re-negotiate the contract to make it more favourable to their terms, depending on the success of Fedor?

 

[jmt225]

Contracts don't work like that though, man. You just can't get out of them with a snap of a finger. When M-1 Global signed Fedor, they knew what they were doing. They made it with the intentions of them owning him, and him owning they, if that makes any sense, so there is no way for him to get out of it.

Plus, Vadim Finkelstein (M-1 Global President) is a known Russian mob billionaire, so even if Fedor could indeed fuck over them somehow, it wouldn't be that great of an idea considering who he would be betraying.

 

[OIL]

Hmm. Okay it may be more difficult than it sounds, but I still think they're scared. If they thought he was the best, they'd put him in the UFC.

Personally, I think they're worried that if their man got beat by, let's say Lesnar, he's going to be worth less, so they'll get less money. It's all about the money, and they just don't want their prize asset getting beat.

 

[X]

Hmm. Okay it may be more difficult than it sounds, but I still think they're scared. If they thought he was the best, they'd put him in the UFC.

Scared? Of what? Of Lesnar, the guy with all of 5 fights under his belt? You actually think Fedor is scared of Brock fucking Lesnar? Ridiculous. Fedor is the best in the world right now, and he isn't scared of anyone.

M-1 wanted certain terms for Fedor to be in the UFC. The UFC didn't want to fulfill those terms. That's the entire story, nothing else.

Personally, I think they're worried that if their man got beat by, let's say Lesnar, he's going to be worth less, so they'll get less money. It's all about the money, and they just don't want their prize asset getting beat.

...If they signed a contract with the UFC, and Fedor lost to Lesnar (highly unlikely) how would that lose them money? The contract has already been signed, the UFC isn't going to violate that contract because Fedor lost. He'd still be getting the same payday. The UFC doesn't dock their fighter's paychecks based on performance.

 

[Marquis]

Hmm. Okay it may be more difficult than it sounds, but I still think they're scared. If they thought he was the best, they'd put him in the UFC.

You act as if they're terrified of Mr. 4-1. What the fuck has Lesnar done to be considered such a fuckin terrifying threat to Fedor? His win over Heath "The Gatekeeper" Herring? Heath isn't even a top 10 heavyweight. His dominating win over a nobody min-Soo Kim? A nobody with a 3-6 record? His win over a Randy Couture with a 14 month lay off? Who is 46 i might add, I know his fans seem to think he's not human, and i agree, but at 46 with that much cage rust can't be beneficial at all. On top of this, Randy was actually doing fine against Brock. To the point where he even had Brock breathing heavy in the FIRST round. Gee, Imagine if that fight went past the second round, poor Brock might have gassed.

If you want to count a Couture with that much layoff a credible win, then fine, but his only other credible win is Frank Mir, who he's 1-1 against. So let's see, A Couture he didn't even dominate, and Frank Mir who hes 1-1 against. Two credible wins, Fedor must be terrified .

Personally, I think they're worried that if their man got beat by, let's say Lesnar, he's going to be worth less, so they'll get less money. It's all about the money, and they just don't want their prize asset getting beat.

Well the UFC is not gonna sign Fedor for one fight. If he beats Brock then he goes back home laughing to mother Russia that he beat the UFC HW champion. It's a risk I doubt the UFC wants. So Fedor will be in for a 3 fight, or maybe even 6 fight contract. If he loses, as X said he gets the same money, and has 2 more, or 5 more fights to continue to prove himself IF he loses to Brock.

 

[SavageTaker]

I’m disappointed he didn’t sign with UFC. I was hoping we were going to get some dream fights like Fedor vs. Lesnar and Fedor vs. Mir. I think it would have been great if we had seen both of those fight but unfortunately we won’t be seeing them or at least not for the time being. In my opinion, he was offered a great deal that some fighters couldn’t even dream of being offered but either he or his management didn’t want it or thought it wasn’t enough. I think it’s a stupid decision to turn down a deal like that but I guess it is what it is. Hopefully sometime in the future UFC will offer Fedor another contract once his current one with Strikeforce expires and we might still see some of the dream fights. Like I said I think it was a stupid decision but it is what it is. Hopefully we’ll see him in UFC someday.

 

[jtbsoon2b]

Is there some fighter that I'm not aware of in the UFC HW division threatening his 30-1 legacy that he's built these past 9 years? No fighter in the UFC HW division has that record, or even holds enough wins over notable names to close to it. He has nothing to prove, whether he continues fighting legit HW's or not, no HW comes close to the amount of names hes beaten. So he shouldn't fight in the UFC no matter what. As of now, and most likely forever he will go down as the greatest heavyweight there is. Being in or out of the UFC won't change that. He has a few credible opponents left outside of the UFC which the article says he will most likely fight. The HW division is pretty split outside and inside the UFC.

Is the UFC not considered the number one MMA promotion in the entire world? Yes. Are they considered to have the best fighters in the world, except Fedor? Yes. So why wouldn't Fedor want to fight in the number one promotion to prove that he is the best pound for pound fighter now, possibly ever? I have no idea. Also I believe his legacy will be somewhat tarnished if he never fights for the UFC. Because many people will look at it and wonder why he never really joined.

 

[Marquis]

Is the UFC not considered the number one MMA promotion in the entire world? Yes. Are they considered to have the best fighters in the world, except Fedor? Yes.

They're considered to have the best fighters in the world for every weightclass excpet heavyweight. Outside the UFC you have Barnett, Overeem, Werdum, Arlovski, Rogers, Monson, and a few others. Those are 6 notable heavyweights i named outside the UFC, 7 with Fedor. The heavyweight division outside the UFC, and inside the UFC is pretty split.

So why wouldn't Fedor want to fight in the number one promotion to prove that he is the best pound for pound fighter now, possibly ever? I have no idea.

He has to prove that he's the best pound 4 pound fighter ever? Who is such a threat to that title of his? No one that I'm aware of.

Also I believe his legacy will be somewhat tarnished if he never fights for the UFC. Because many people will look at it and wonder why he never really joined

His legacy won't be tarnished, just most likely overlooked due to not being popular.

 

[jtbsoon2b]

They're considered to have the best fighters in the world for every weightclass excpet heavyweight. Outside the UFC you have Barnett, Overeem, Werdum, Arlovski, Rogers, Monson, and a few others. Those are 6 notable heavyweights i named outside the UFC, 7 with Fedor. The heavyweight division outside the UFC, and inside the UFC is pretty split.

Barnett been in UFC got kicked out because of steroids, hmmmmm. Monson been there. Arlovski been there. If these fighters were good enough, they would be in the number one promotion in the world.

He has to prove that he's the best pound 4 pound fighter ever? Who is such a threat to that title of his? No one that I'm aware of.

Anderson Silva

His legacy won't be tarnished, just most likely overlooked due to not being popular.

Possible

 

[Marquis]

Barnett been in UFC got kicked out because of steroids, hmmmmm. Monson been there. Arlovski been there. If these fighters were good enough, they would be in the number one promotion in the world.

Steroids or not, He's still a notable top ranked fighter. Monson has improved, Arlovksi has improved so much after leaving the UFC that he became the ranked 2 heavyweight in the world, and Dana admitted he wished Arlovski didn't leave. He may have fallen now, after his lose to Rogers, but he is still a notable name. There's a great heavyeweight crop outside of the UFC, if they don't like the UFC's contracts or whatever else, then they can fight perfectly legit competition outside of the UFC. Heavyweights aren't forced into the UFC to fight top competition like other weight classes.

Anderson Silva

So you think Anderson Silva who will most likely retire next year will beat Fedor's legacy? Anderson's last 3 fights were Thales, Cote, and Irvin. Thales did not deserve that title shot at all, his only notable win was a split decision win over Marquardt. Cote same boat as Thales. And Irvin, golly not Irvin. His last 3 fights were anything but top ranked ones. Anderson's only wins against top competition are Frankinx2, Henderson, and Marquardt.

While Fedor happens to be 30-1, fighting in a weight class where people outweigh him by more then 20 pounds sometimes, something Anderson knows nothing about. And holds wins over NogueiraX2, CroCop, Arlovski, Randleman, Hunt, Sylvia, and Babalu. Considering he isn't retiring anytime soon, and will go on to fight Werdum, Rogers, and Overeem. Anderson won't top Fedor's legacy.