Fedor holding a press conference at 4pm est on July 29th

[southmadejd]

Anybody got a link to it?

[icepick27]

how can we watch it ?

[tboney]

Wht do you think he is gonna say?

[icepick27]

hopefully iam going to the ufc ,with no co promotion , but there is a possitbilitty he goes some where else .. it is time for him to go to the ufc ,

[F4iGuy]

Fingers crossed.

How much $ do you think a Fedor vs. Lesnar fight would draw?

[quarry206]

Fingers crossed.

How much $ do you think a Fedor vs. Lesnar fight would draw?

within reason i think i'd pay about anything to see that fight .. so i'm sure though not the greatest fight of all times, i think many will look at it as the greatest heavy weight match of recent years

[roid_rage]

We are screwed, Fedor aint coming to the UFC, he announced his deal with EA SPORTS...

[quarry206]

well the press conference only stated that there was no deal made...as of right now..

and though the EA sports thing did come out.. i highly doubt dana white will allow that to stand in the way. Randy had a contract with EA sports and he came back.... fedor vs lesner would draw probably more money than UFC has ever dreamed of from one fight.. i doubt ea sports game cover is going to stop Dana white from making this deal happen if he can...

[yannick35]

White said that July 31th there will be some very big announcement for the UFC, was on the fightnetwork yesterday.

[yannick35]

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/...=9250&zoneid=2

[southmadejd]

Here is another link that basically states the highlights of the interview:

http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/07/...#comment-98650

I personally don't think Fedor will come to UFC and for some reason it pisses me off. I mean he is my favorite fighter but I just want this so much. I understand that he is doing what is best for him but I just want to see him against the best heavyweight competition and for the most part that is in the the UFC.

Does anybody know if the Alexsander Emelienenko quote is true about what he said about Vadim being unreasonable with UFC and UFC is actually a flexible organization?

[icepick27]

how is he doing whats best for him?? its stuipid . i think that he will make way more money ,and have a chance to be the greastest ever ,if he goes there and dominates i know what is keeping him back but like wtf! just say **** m1 gloabal i want to go to the ufc iam so tired of this already .. if he dont go there he should really drop from the rankings ....

[southmadejd]

But what could Dana White's big announcement be on Friday??? I mean it has to do something with Fedor, because he keeps bringing up his name and talking about how crazy his announcement is going to be.

I am just hoping that Dana has already signed him and told him to go ahead and do this press conference to bring even more hype to watch him on Friday.

[southmadejd]

I mean can anyone see the UFC letting M-1 Global do something like this:



Basically replace Affliction with the UFC. I just don't see it happening. I want it to happen but don't see it happening.

[organized_konfusion]

Fedor Emelianenko, the top-ranked heavyweight in the world, will not fight in the UFC unless Dana White and company agree to co-promote with Emelianenko’s partners at M-1 Global.

M-1 Global CEO Vadim Finkelstein made that clear Wednesday at a news conference. Finkelstein confirmed that M-1 Global had negotiated with UFC officials as recently as Tuesday, meeting in person with Zuffa’s attorneys and also with Lorenzo Fertitta and Dana White on a teleconference call.

Finkelstein said the UFC made a new offer to Emelianenko, and M-1 Global made a counteroffer. However, Finkelstein said Emelianenko would not proceed without a co-promotional effort between M-1 and the UFC where they shared expenses and profits.

“Our offer was very simple,” said Finkelstein. “We offered to have a co-promotion -- two fights, three fights, doesn’t matter. And we were ready to invest in that show together and to get the profit together. But the UFC made a different offer that was a very good offer. But the same offer (they made), we can actually make to their champion. We can also offer millions to them and one, two, three, four fights to them.”

Finkelstein said the UFC responded to M-1’s counteroffer “very quietly.” Finkelstein called the negotiations “cordial” and “diplomatic,” though he did not give the impression that the UFC seemed receptive to his company’s offer.

“We are open,” Finkelstein said. “We do want to work with the UFC. We do want to work with other organizations. That is not our problem.”

Finkelstein also described the UFC’s previous offer to Emelianenko two years ago as “miserable.”

“If we had such an offer two years ago which we got yesterday, maybe we would be (interested), but not in today’s situation –- we cannot accept that offer,” said Finkelstein.

Finkelstein also communicated that the UFC's representation in the media of his previous negotiations with the organization had not been accurate. He said Emelianenko has been made completely aware of any deals, past and present, that have been offered.

“The offer which was made by the UFC is not interesting for us,” said Emelianenko. “I completely trust Vadim and I completely trust our team in M-1 Global."

M-1 Global also pressured the UFC by saying they are in talks with other shows, including Strikeforce.

“We're not going to wait,” Finkelstein said. “We have to move forward. It might be that very soon we will be able to make a deal with some other promotions. I'm going to tell you that we're only going to work under co-promotion conditions.”

Strikeforce is one promotion willing to co-promote with M-1 Global. Scott Coker, Strikeforce’s CEO, told Sherdog.com that it was his understanding that Emelianenko and M-1 Global have “four or five offers on the table,” including ones from boxing promotions and television networks. Coker said he would continue his own talks with Finkelstein in the next couple of weeks. Finkelstein and Emelianenko, who has partial ownership in M-1 Global, said they will begin their trek back to Russia Wednesday night.

Finkelstein did not rule out further discussions with the UFC, though it appears that no timetable has been set.

“Maybe not now,” Finkelstein said, “but I think later there will be some progress.”

[lostcause]

if you are the ufc you cant afford to be over invested in any fighter b/c this sport is not fixed and ANYONE is one punch or slip away from being beat. m1 has lost their mind & if the ufc agrees to allow them to copromote than they have lost theirs. if fedor suceeds in the ufc than all they have done is give a rivalry company more ground to stand on.

if fedor doesnt sign with the ufc than we as mma fans should boycot whatever promotion he is with until he has nowhere else to go if he wants to make $.

[yannick35]

Well of course Strikeforce will join in lots of money to be made, and to be honest strikeforce does have some very decent fighters. But Fedor will never get the level of competition that UFC heavyweights can offer him.

But i feel the same has you guys on this i want to see a showdown against Lesner, i dont really care about Randy Couture vs Fedor or Nog but against Lesner that would be amazing.

I can't wait to see Fedor fight again, this time looks like its going to be in a cage.

[tboney]

I am a fedor fan as well. Tragically, like all great fighters, I think he is going to fade and miss his shot to make a name for himself in the ufc. He could also miss the opportunity for a massive payday in the ufc. If he continues to hold out he will not be as competitive.

[Brown Ninja]

****ing crazy Russians

[southmadejd]

It is just weird with him being a partial owner of M-1. Because now he has his best interests as a fighter and his best interests as an owner to look after. And I don't think they are going in the same direction. It seems almost as Fedor would rather his promotion get more recognition than he is concerned with his legacy. I will always think of him as one of the best but I have to admit that I will be disappointed if he signs with Dream or Strikeforce or someone else like that.

[redz]

Fedor is a perfect example with the problem in boxing. Promoters that wont work together so the best fights don`t happen.

[southmadejd]

Bro where the hell have you been?????

[icepick27]

listen fedor knows what has to be done if he whats to be the best ,if he dont go to the ufc then only 2 people loose out ,and they are fedor himself and us the fans.. the UFC is goping to kick ass and get bigger and bigger without him ,they dont need him at all he needs them ,so i just think the ufc shoudnt go crazy trying to sign him cause he might come over and loose anyway .great champions want to prove there greatness and fight the best maybe he just aint a great champ ....

[quarry206]

listen fedor knows what has to be done if he whats to be the best ,if he dont go to the ufc then only 2 people loose out ,and they are fedor himself and us the fans.. the UFC is goping to kick ass and get bigger and bigger without him ,they dont need him at all he needs them ,so i just think the ufc shoudnt go crazy trying to sign him cause he might come over and loose anyway .great champions want to prove there greatness and fight the best maybe he just aint a great champ ....

i'll have to agree with you, we the fans will lose out if they can't make this work.. but also if fedor came to the UFC and bet brock and randy and one or two others. it would be hard for anybody to ever say he is not the best HW of all time in MMA..... but i wil say the UFC does need him, if dana white can't get him to fight lesner it will be hard for lesner or any HW UFC champ to be taken too serious anywhere but america.. and lets face it americans only want to see fights, they don't truly care about the sport of MMA.

i'm really hoping he comes over for at least three fights, then he can go back to where he wants to be.. i think even if he lose's alittle money by doing an exclusive UFC deal, in the long run if he were to win. he would be set for life where ever he went. because then fighters would have to fallow him

[southmadejd]

i'll have to agree with you, we the fans will lose out if they can't make this work.. but also if fedor came to the UFC and bet brock and randy and one or two others. it would be hard for anybody to ever say he is not the best HW of all time in MMA..... but i wil say the UFC does need him, if dana white can't get him to fight lesner it will be hard for lesner or any HW UFC champ to be taken too serious anywhere but america.. and lets face it americans only want to see fights, they don't truly care about the sport of MMA.

i'm really hoping he comes over for at least three fights, then he can go back to where he wants to be.. i think even if he lose's alittle money by doing an exclusive UFC deal, in the long run if he were to win. he would be set for life where ever he went. because then fighters would have to fallow him

Quarry, that is the main part of M-1 Global's negotiations. They want it to be a co-promotion or no deal.

[southmadejd]

Apparently people are saying the UFC offered Fedor a six fight $30million deal which M-1 turned down but M-1 is denying this and calling the rumor stupid. Here is the source:

http://sherdog.com/news/news/m-1-fed...-million-18816

I think there will be ever more rumors for awhile before we figure out what is going on.

[J-Dogg]

Honestly, I feel Dana is in the best position here.

Dana is making a living, he has the cards. What does Fedor have to offer the UFC? One fight, we want to see him fight Brock. The UFC has 4-5 deep weight classes and a ton of interesting match ups. With the demise of Affliction, the UFC just picked up 5 or 6 quality fighters to mix up matches even more. Fighters are switching into different weight classes, fighting at catch weights to make for interesting fights. The UFC certainly will survive with out Fedor. If Fedor does not join, he'll be fighting Hog Man Chow again and will probably never see another top 10 HW.

Fedor has 2 options:

1-Join the UFC

2- Retire

-The End.

[southmadejd]

^^I know you are trying to make a point but the fact is that Fedor has every major organization out there trying to sign him right now.

[quarry206]

Quarry, that is the main part of M-1 Global's negotiations. They want it to be a co-promotion or no deal.

my point was the want co promotinos to share the money.. but if fedor ended up having to sign a only ufc contract for say four fights, win them all.. and then go back to M-1... M-1 would probably make the same about of money if not more long run.. since HW's would then be forced to go to them to fight the best.. its a risky play, but it might end up making the same amount of money.



and why UFC cares so much about fedor is because UFC is an american company and its fights are mostly only american watched.. and though there is alot more talent in other weight class's only true fans see that and respect that... americans want to see HW's fight, its in or nature almost because of the way TV boosts up that only the biggest are worth anything.. so UFC needs better and more HWs to make money...

think about it GSP and AS and BJ could fight amazing fights over and over and u could total up all the pay per view money and it wouldn't even equal a fight if u put kimbo vs lesner... which true mma fans relize is almost a waste of money to watch.. but as a whole ten times the amount of americans would watch that then the middle weight class's go back and forth...

[Brown Ninja]

I love Fedor but this is growing very old