FEDOR SIGNS MULTIFIGHT DEAL WITH STRIKFORCE

The world’s best heavyweight mixed martial artist has a new American promotional home.  Following Affliction’s announcement that they were ending MMA promotional activities, Fedor Emelianenko negotiated with several groups—including the UFC—before signing a multifight deal to compete for the Strikeforce promotion.  Terms of the arrangement were not made public, but the promotion indicated that Fedor would make his Strikeforce debut this October.

Strikeforce agreed to give Fedor a non-exclusive contract, which allows him to compete simultaneously in Japan and elsewhere.  Furthermore, they agreed to co-promote events with M-1 Global.  M-1 Global is owned by Fedor’s manager Vadim Finkelchtein and the fighter also has an equity stake.  These were the sticking points in Fedor’s negotiations with the UFC, and with Strikeforce not having an issue with non-exclusivity or co-promotion a deal was quickly brokered.

Fedor expressed his pleasure in comments to the media after the signing was announced:

“I am looking forward to going back to work and fighting at the highest level. STRIKEFORCE is a top fight promotion that houses some of the greatest fighters in the world. I am prepared to fight any of them.”

Emelianenko’s manager, Vadim Finkelchtein noted:

“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.”
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker added his thoughts:

“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.”

The UFC’s Dana White quickly responded with an explitative laced statement suggesting that Fedor was choosing to fight “nobodys” for “no money” by signing with Strikeforce, but that’s simply an attempt to put the best spin possible on it for his sycophants in the media.  The reality is that with Fedor’s stake in M-1 Global the financial terms of the deal are likely as favorable with Strikeforce as with the UFC.
 
More significantly, Strikeforce has much better television exposure at this point than the #1 US MMA promotion.  Strikeforce has a relationship with premium cable giant Showtime, as well as CBS TV.  This same exposure made Kimbo Slice the biggest star in MMA, and Fedor has the talent to back up the hype.

White’s hysterical comments about the quality of opposition simply aren’t true either.  Obviously the biggest fight available in the US for Fedor right now would be with UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, but once you get past him the talent pool in the promotion becomes iffy at best.  A fight with Randy Couture would do big business, but there’s no guarantee how much longer ‘The Natural’ will continue his career.  The UFC has a couple of talented fighters with wrestling backgrounds in Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin, but neither man is ready for a fight against Fedor.  Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira remains among the best heavyweights in the world, but Fedor has already beaten him three times during their time in the Japanese MMA organization PRIDE.
 
Strikeforce has several intriguing fights immediately available for Fedor.  Heavyweight prospect Brett Rogers, who knocked out Andrei Arlovski in his last fight, is likely first on deck.  The Strikeforce heavyweight belt is currently held by Alistair Overeem, whom mutual opponent Mirko Cro Cop suggests is the one man in the sport capable of defeating Fedor.  Fabricio Werdum is a talented veteran of the UFC and PRIDE and may figure into the mix some point as well.

There are also a number of big fights in Japan available to Fedor thanks to the non-exclusive terms of his Strikeforce deal.  While Josh Barnett’s positive drug test forced his withdrawal from the Affliction: Trilogy main event with Fedor, there’s no reason that the two men couldn’t meet in Japan which has little if any regulatory oversight.  A fight against judo gold medalist and PRIDE/Sengoku veteran Hidehiko Yoshida would do big business in Japan, as would a future battle between Fedor and the country’s latest judoka turned shootfighter Satoshi Ishii.

Ironically, Fedor’s signing with Strikeforce may even benefit the UFC.  Part of the deal they offered was an immediate title shot against Brock Lesnar, which Fedor would have very likely won.  Now that Fedor is fighting elsewhere, they can continue to feed Lesnar favorable matchups to build up his record and capitalize on his enormous mainstream popularity.