Fedor signs with Strikeforce

ginoginelli

Fedor Emelianenko is coming to the cage, it’s just not octagonal. According to a press release from Strikeforce, the former Pride FC and current WAMMA heavyweight champion has signed with the promotion and will appear on Showtime-televised cards co-promoted by M-1 Global.
Here are comments from the major players…
Scott Coker, STRIKEFORCE founder and CEO: “We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to work with M-1 Global and Fedor. Fedor has been the reigning king of MMA’s heavyweight division for quite some time now so being able to work with M-1 and Fedor will substantially increase the level of competition amongst the athletes in this weight class.”
Vadim Finkelchtein, President of M-1 Global: “I am very happy and excited about the upcoming collaboration with Strikeforce. We are very pleased that we found a reliable partner and I feel that Strikeforce and M-1 can support each other on many things. This will create big opportunities for both parties to test their fighters against worthy opponents.”
According to Ken Hershman, Senior VP and General Manager of SHOWTIME Sports, Fedor’s first fight on the network will be this fall.

http://news.fightmagazine.com/its-showtime-fedor-signs-with-strikeforce-692/

Jason Mc

This co promotion thing is a crock of $hit

Tyler MacDurden

This will create big opportunities for both parties to test their fighters against worthy opponents.”

Who are the lucky Strikeforce heavyweights; Overeem, Werdum & Rogers?
Would be amusing if Dana & co. were to pilfer them with generous contract offers in the meantime.

I quite enjoyed watching Strikeforce, can't help feeling that this deal will ultimately cost them too much.

Pride Fighter

Dont believe this yet, its not on Sherdog. Other websites put up rumours, sherdog puts up facts, even though as it does not post up any rumour it can seem slow off the mark.

Tyler MacDurden

Pride Fighter wrote: »

Dont believe this yet, its not on Sherdog.

It is now, Loretta has it. *click*

I am dissapointed that he didnt go to UFC. I really wanted to see him up against the heavyweights there .

chordtype

I wonder if Dana will now start to put big shows on free television against Strikeforce. But then again Strikeforce are on free tv (is showtime free(ish)?) or will they go to ppv for some Fedor fights. Fedor shouldn't have any major problems against Overeem. They'd have to try to bring in some top heavyweights though surely.

T-K-O

Very disappointed. Maybe Fedors team demand to much in way of a contract. Promotions that sign Fedor have a habit of going bust.

Whats he going to do after 2 fights ???

irish fighter

This is some load of **** the UFC needs to get it together.
We all have to pay more money to ESPN to see the same old fights
over and over again rematch after rematch the UFC calls them selfs the top
show and they cant even get the top mma heavyweight on it :mad:

T-K-O

irish fighter wrote: »

This is some load of **** the UFC needs to get it together.
We all have to pay more money to ESPN to see the same old fights
over and over again rematch after rematch the UFC calls them selfs the top
show and they cant even get the top mma heavyweight on it :mad:

While is would be fantastic to have Fedor at the UFC the sport does not revolve around his. He has 2 maybe 3 fights at strike force and then the game is up.

Fromvert

irish fighter wrote: »

This is some load of **** the UFC needs to get it together.
We all have to pay more money to ESPN to see the same old fights
over and over again rematch after rematch the UFC calls them selfs the top
show and they cant even get the top mma heavyweight on it :mad:

What else should the UFC do?
Give M1 Global co promotion?

I wish he had of signed for the UFC but the UFC will continue without him. The only thing that will come from this is that Fedor's reputation as the 'best fighter on the planet' will be tarnished.

Goose81

Fromvert wrote: »

What else should the UFC do?
Give M1 Global co promotion?

Its very tricky because if they did do a co-promotion it would change the way mma is run forever and would give a bairganing chip to other fighters in their dealings with the ufc.

Personally I think the whole UFC thing is bull****,it will eventually have to go like boxing where you have different promotion companies like top rank etc.
Where you would have say a UFC M1 sponsord fight.
There is no way the sport will grow to the heights Dana White thinks is possible while UFC try to run a monoply.

calex71

I said early on (even before this whole mess) for different reasons that I didnt want to see him in the UFC, now that i got my wish it's a case if me feeling be careful what I wish for in future I guess :mad:

Might be a nice stop gap before he does go to ufc (maybe... probably ... i still think i will likely happen), overeem and rogers at least could be good fights

GSPfan

UFC didn't make Pride go out of business. UFC didn't make Affliction go out of business. UFC provide a quality product which is financially viable. In a thread about Fedor signing for Strikeforce we already have people taking a pop shot at UFC. All the cool kids are doing it so why not!

Delighted he has signed for Strikeforce and fair balls to him. Good luck to the HW's in Strikeforce cause they'll need it.

Goose81

GSPfan wrote: »

UFC didn't make Pride go out of business. UFC didn't make Affliction go out of business. UFC provide a quality product which is financially viable. In a thread about Fedor signing for Strikeforce we already have people taking a pop shot at UFC. All the cool kids are doing it so why not!

Delighted he has signed for Strikeforce and fair balls to him. Good luck to the HW's in Strikeforce cause they'll need it.

Im not bagging UFC,They probably saved the sport and brought it to mass audience but surely it will have to go like boxing instead of being run like the WWE.

The fighters are not earning anywhere near as much as they should be and they will soon realise that they would be pocketing alot more if they went the boxing route and just used companies like UFC,M1 and Affliction as promotional companys to stage fights.

T-K-O

Goose81 wrote: »

Im not bagging UFC,They probably saved the sport and brought it to mass audience but surely it will have to go like boxing instead of being run like the WWE.

The fighters are not earning anywhere near as much as they should be and they will soon realise that they would be pocketing alot more if they went the boxing route and just used companies like UFC,M1 and Affliction as promotional companys to stage fights.

The boxing model is a joke and just as corrupt. Boxers are paid to much. Look at your average boxing PPV, there is usually one fight worth watching the rest is garbage.

We need to find a happy medium. I cant seen the current promotions going anywhere. I think when the dust settles we will have 3 maybe 4 top promotions and hopefully the champions could fight each other for a world title.

leggo

We need to find a happy medium. I cant seen the current promotions going anywhere. I think when the dust settles we will have 3 maybe 4 top promotions and hopefully the champions could fight each other for a world title.

Never, ever, ever, ever gonna happen.

chordtype

“Fedor is a [expletive] joke,” said White. “He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies for no money. I feel sorry for the real fight fans. I wanted to make the deal, but it takes two and it is very obvious Fedor doesn’t want to fight the best, and doesn’t give a [expletive] about the fans.”“

^-Dana's response.

True for the most part. If he had of went to the UFC and defeated their heavyweights then nobody could deny that he is the best in the world/ever. Now by going to Strikeforce he is going to be seen by a lot of mma fans as the guy who didn't go to the UFC and didn't fight the best fighters. In my opinion he probably has been the best in the world. He has been one of the most consistent fighters ever who has taken on and defeated some of the best fighters in the world..Cro Cop, Nog, Coleman(all while they were close enough to their prime)...etc. Yet by having turned down the UFC and the chance to take on the likes of Lesnar, Mir, Couture and possibly some of the up and coming heavyweights like Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin in my eyes he has thrown away the chance to become the undisputed greatest ever. Yeah, it's always cool and exciting to Fedor fight but to see him fight Overeem or the reest of the strikeforce crew is always gonna be a let down when we consider that we were as close as ever to seeing Fedor fighting in the UFC.

calex71

I really believe that just because UFC want to spin this however they want the simple fact remains. UFC have a ****e HW division full of folks Fedor has faced before , 3 or 4 that are worthy and would surely make good fights with Fedor but not amongst each other, and Fedor V Randy is laughable would have been great a few years ago but today ????

UFC having a ****e HW division aside , every other promotion also has a ****e HW divison compared to lower weights at the moment for what ever reason!!!!!!!!!! Realistically ( my opinion ) there are only enough quality HW's out there at the moment to fill one promo so at the end of the day take Brock out ofthe the picture and the rest of the inter promo HW's all have the same right to a crack at Fedor so does it matter where he goes ?????? (just thinking out loud here i guess)

chordtype

calex71 wrote: »

Fedor V Randy is laughable would have been great a few years ago but today ????

In retrospective probably true but I'm sure there are more than a few people who would still like to see it. I'm sure Randy would probably put up a decent performance.

Can someone explain to me why Fedor refuses to sign with the UFC ? If it's going to make him more money and increase his exposure as a brand, why doesn't he do it ???

Fromvert

Fedor has a contract with M1 Global. M1 Global are a promotion company. The only way M1 Global will agree to a contract with the UFC is if they can co-promote UFC events. M1 Global have had this sort of deal with Bodog, Affliction and now Strikeforce. The UFC will never agree to this as they don't need M1 Global and M1 Global offer nothing at all.

The money that the UFC are offering is to Fedor and not M1 Global unless Fedor wants to pay M1 Global from his fight purse. But if M1 Global where to co promote they would get a huge cut of the gate revenue as well as the PPV revenue.

This is how I see it, if its not correct I'm sure someone will correct me.

Thanks for that fromvert.

When does Fedors contract end with M1 Global ? Fedor is what 33 now in or around his peak it's safe to say ? Anything from here on in is downwards right ?

Bubs101

calex71 wrote: »

UFC having a ****e HW division aside , every other promotion also has a ****e HW divison compared to lower weights at the moment for what ever reason!!!!!!!!!! Realistically ( my opinion ) there are only enough quality HW's out there at the moment to fill one promo so at the end of the day take Brock out ofthe the picture and the rest of the inter promo HW's all have the same right to a crack at Fedor so does it matter where he goes ?????? (just thinking out loud here i guess)

It matters where he goes because if he signed with UFC the Brock fight would have been the biggest ever, a fight in Strikeforce will be nothing

dunkamania

Strikeforce is on CBS, so the people that will watch Fedor fight is a multiple of the number of people that would pay for a PPV vs Lesnar.

GSPfan

Well thats not true. More Americans will see a fight on CBS than they will on PPV but the rest of the world will be watching the PPV. So I'd say the PPV will get more views than an American tv channel.

dunkamania

I take your point but North America is the bulk of the PPV market. The rest of the world watches it on some form of local programming or the internet.

chordtype

GSPfan wrote: »

Well thats not true. More Americans will see a fight on CBS than they will on PPV but the rest of the world will be watching the PPV. So I'd say the PPV will get more views than an American tv channel.

No way this is likely to happen. Even the elite xc fights without Kimbo did around 2 million viewers. With Kimbo they got over 4 million once. There are never gonna be even close to a million ppv buys for Fedor outside the ufc. Affliction with Fedor headlining against names that mma fans may have remembered from the UFC in the US averaged around 50000 I think. bodog fight did nothing numbers. He isn't a major name to the casual fan. And you need those casual fans to get a high ppv number.

DoireNod

Only finding out about this now. Thanks OP!

To be fair, Fedor has explained why he won't accept UFC's tabled offer in previous interviews. Dana White, being his typical self, annoys me somewhat, but you can understand his frustration at the failure to land the 'golden goose'.

Originally Posted by Dana White
He turns down a huge deal and the opportunity to face the best in the world to fight nobodies...

Granted there may be some fighters in Strikeforce who don't have as high a profile as some of those in UFC, but to brand them nobodies is disgusting. Fights aren't won on reputation.

JohnMc1

chordtype wrote: »

I wonder if Dana will now start to put big shows on free television against Strikeforce. But then again Strikeforce are on free tv (is showtime free(ish)?)

They have put up shows against Strikeforce before IIRC. Showtime is a premium channel. I believe its about $12 a month for a subscription. Plus Strikeforce will be on CBS which is a basic channel [Literally you can walk off the plane and watch it on any TV that doesn't have cable]

While disappointing if true hopefully something positive will come out of it.

Also I wouldn't hold my breath on all of those Affliction guys going to the UFC just yet. Affliction fighters were under non-exclusive contracts IIRC which means they will have to re-negotiate with UFC and sign an exclusive contract with them first.

Bubs101

dunkamania wrote: »

Strikeforce is on CBS, so the people that will watch Fedor fight is a multiple of the number of people that would pay for a PPV vs Lesnar.

There's absolutely no guarantee they'll put the Fedor fight on CBS. Gina is a much bigger draw than him and she's fighting on showtime. Anyway, how many people watch the show is not the only barometer of how big something is.