2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
Home of the Week
Home > Blogs > Mixed Martial Arts > Archives > 2009 > August > 03
Monday, August 3, 2009
Strikeforce, not UFC, signs top heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko
After negotiations fell apart (again) with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, top-ranked heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko (30-1) has signed with the UFC’s biggest rival, Strikeforce.
Strikeforce today confirmed Emelianenko has been signed to a three-fight deal, though financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Emelianenko is expected to debut this fall, most likely in the main event of a Showtime-televised event in October.
Emelianenko, a former longtime champion of the popular but now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, owns a 24-fight win streak and has beaten two former UFC champions (Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski) in his two most recent bouts.
Solely to blame for the UFC negotiations falling apart is Emelianenko’s manager’s demands that any UFC events featuring Emelianenko must be co-promoted with his own organization, M-1 Global. Vadim Finkelchtein, president and co-owner of M-1, and UFC President Dana White both said the UFC’s unwillingness to co-promote with the company ruined a potential deal.
In a July 31 media call, White cited many reasons no to co-promote, including the company’s unwillingness to let an unproven promotion piggyback off the UFC’s success. He also mentioned that UFC co-owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta hold gaming licenses in Nevada and have to be especially careful with whom they go into business.
However, the UFC this time relented on other demands that tripped up previous negotiations with the UFC, including giving permission for Emelianenko to compete in Sambo, a traditional martial art popular in Russia. But it wasn’t good enough.
Strikeforce, a California-based organization that’s one of the few financially successful MMA promotions besides the UFC, offered to co-promote with M-1, which secured the deal.
Emelianenko had been slotted to fight Josh Barnett on Aug. 1 at “Affliction: Trilogy.” However, after Barnett was denied a license due to a failed drug test (anabolic steroid), Affliction first canceled the show and then announced it was ceasing promotional operations altogether.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Fedor Emelianenko
