“It doesn’t phase me what [Dana White] says. [The UFC] can talk, but I just don’t see it happening, personally. But if it does, then perfect. As a fan, that’s something that I would love to see…[Contract negotiations with Fedor] are going, they’re good. We’ve almost finalized it, but we just haven’t signed the papers. That’s really where we’re at. Everything is moving forward, it has nothing to do with anything but the fact that we’re just trying to make everybody happy, as I always do. We have a great relationship with [M-1] and we’re always going to continue on with that, and that’s why I’m not too worried about things…[Fedor's representatives] always tell us what’s going on. We’re partners and that’s what you have to do in a partnership. They’ve talked to the UFC in the past, we’ve talked to the UFC in the past. The UFC does not co-promote. The UFC doesn’t want to work with other people and that’s really what it comes down to. That’s why I am confident that I don’t see it happening. But, if it happens, I think it’s great. I want to see fighters fight the best in the world.”
—Tom Atencio, via FightLine.com, responding to Dana White’s latest proclamation about signing Fedor Emelianenko
I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but honestly, unless Affliction calls it a day after “Trilogy,” I fully expect Fedor to re-sign with Affliction. If they can’t, they might as well close up shop anyways since their promotion is basically built around him. As much as we’d all love to see Fedor in the UFC, and think the stars may finally be aligning, let’s not forget that Fedor doesn’t give a damn whether he ever steps foot in the Octagon. For it to happen (if Affliction doesn’t fold), Lorenzo’s going to have to make another “can’t refuse” offer, and I’m afraid to M-1 that’s a little bit more than large sums of money.
Hopefully, I’m wrong, but speaking of Lorenzo, he made a few comments about Fedor this past weekend too.
“Right now, Fedor’s completely irrelevant to the public. His pay-per-view numbers have been 12,000, 30,000, and now Affliction is saying he’ll get 100,000 [against Josh Barnett]. I’ll take the under-70,000. We average 500,000 buys and we expect 1 million for this one…Fedor wants to use UFC for a fight to be relevant, and then leave and do his own thing. That’s not our business model…We spend more money for marketing than anyone has ever spent on Fedor. If I bring in Fedor, we’ll make him the most recognizable face in MMA, but we also want to recoup on our investment. You wouldn’t sign Tom Brady for one game. So why do I want to sign this guy for one fight?”
To make us fans happy Lorenzo, to make us, your fans, freakin’ happy. That’s why.
Leave a comment
Subscribe to MMAConvert
Share on Facebook
Submit to StumbleUpon
Submit to Digg
No freak that, no one fight deal. Fedor can continue with M1, in the meantime, UFC run your business as usual as you will in the long run help more fighters support thier families. Dont sell out for one Man that is supposedly the best HW in the world, i would rather watch 20 other fighters fight that just ONE!!!!!
Fedor in the UFC is a win/win situation. All MMA fans once and for all get to see complete legitimacy with both the UFC and Fedor. Remember also that the UFC would get a huge international following as well once Fedor steps into the Octagon. If the goal of the UFC is to go global then having Fedor sign will make it truly international.I believe Lorenzo is aware of this. I think that Brock Lesnar is the UFC champion that Dana White will bargain with against Fedor. He seems really confident he has the Gladiator to beat the barbarian. But woe to those who underestimate the Russians. Napolean and Hitler learned the hard way. They tried to use quick power to break the Russians and despite the evil tyrants that ruled the Russians at the time, the Russian spirit still won out. Fedor is outside the Matrix. I know it sounds crazy but he is on a different plane of existence than we are. We are spiritually dead and like zombies we crave those who are truly alive. Fedor feeds into our need for real living souls. We will bring him here to eat his soul but he will destroy us all
[...] Fedor conversation began when White was told that Affliction’s Tom Atencio said the UFC will never be able to strike a deal with Emelianenko’s [...]
ok brent… you weird-o… the only way this can be viewed as a win-win situation by signing a 1 fight deal would be that brock wins the fight and the fans win by not having to hear UFC haters preach about how great fedor is. sign his big headed ass to a 1 fight contract, let him lose and send him out and let him rot because no one will care about him.
[...] Fedor conversation began when White was told that Affliction’s Tom Atencio said the UFC will never be able to strike a deal with Emelianenko’s [...]