According to reports, Strikeforce and M-1 Global, the company that represents superstar heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, are in the final stages of “tweaking” their original contract. Once the revisions are complete, the two sides will continue their relationship into 2010, however expect for the M-1 Global brand to be showcased much more aggressively.
“We were renegotiating. I think we’re pretty much at the end of that road,” Evgeni Kogan, M-1 Global’s Director of Operations told Sherdog.com. “After the CBS show, we thought that the terms needed a little bit tweaking — nothing major, just a little bit of tweaking. So, we had a round of negotiations with Strikeforce. Everything went positively. We’re pretty much at the end.”
As customary with everything that involves Emelianenko, the specifics as to what was discussed and agreed upon will remain private, however it is believed an increase in monetary compensation was at least brought to the table.
In addition, instead of a May 15th showdown with Fabricio Werdum as first reported, it appears the two will now collide later this summer instead.
“I think June, July is realistic (for Emelianenko’s return),” Kogan said of the revised agenda. “It’s not 100 percent. Don’t take this as a fight announcement, but I think during the summer.”
Following their successful CBS debut this past November, it is believed Team Fedor approached Strikeforce in hopes of renegotiating the three-event contract they inked less than a year ago.
Although over four million Americans tuned-in to see Emelianenko knockout then-undefeated Brett Rogers in the 2ndRound at “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers,” with millions more watching worldwide, something was still not sitting right with Emelianenko and Co.
“Obviously, we are much more than the management company for Fedor,” said Kogan. “For us, it’s really important that the M-1 Global brand is acknowledged on these co-promotion events. As much as the partners made a lot of effort to acknowledge the co-branding, the media basically picked up on the fact that it was Strikeforce and kind of forgot about everything else, which wasn’t the most ideal for us.”
After it was confirmed Emelianenko would not appear on Strikeforce’s April 17th CBS broadcast, the rumor mill started grumbling with talks of a deteriorating relationship between M-1 and the San Jose, California-based show, blasting the doors wide open for the Russian’s potential Octagon debut.
Kogan quickly put that chatter to bed as he claims they have not been in touch with the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization for quite some time.
“There is no truth to that. No one met with the UFC,” said Kogan of jumping on-board the Octagon bandwagon. “We have been re-checking the contract with Strikeforce, but there has been no negotiations with anyone else.”
fedor is a pussy!! come to ufc and fight real heavyweights, just look at who hes ment to be fighting next, alistair overeem, a man chuck liddell smashed!!
jParx commented on March 9, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
man you are so right , i have always said that , that Fedor fuck is over rated , all the time he faced custom made opponents , people who are most of the time had been beaten before , i think cain velasquez can kick his russian fat ass , not to mention Brock Lesnar.
moodman commented on March 9, 2010 @ 2:36 pm
Dude, the “over-rated” Fedor thing is getting very old.
You should go to wikipedia and learn something about him instead of saying crap that you are going to regret later on. And obviously he didn’t only fight people that “lost all the time” or he wouldn’t be where he is now. Have you even seen any of his fights, and I’m not talking about his highlight videos? I believe you have been misinformed about many things due to rumors based on what other UFC fanboys had to say. You should stay away from people like that!
Meatyballz#2 commented on March 9, 2010 @ 5:10 pm
I agree with Meatyballz. Do your homework first before you disrespect the legend. It does suck that we have to wait even LONGER before we see him in action again.
Simon commented on March 9, 2010 @ 7:59 pm
I agree this guy has bumped off all of pride’s upper echlon competion.. Fujita, Goodridge, Sylvia, Arlovski, Hunt, Nogueria… And his sambo is second to none.. The way he uses it makes jioctanebp83 u- jitsu look stupid.. you tube this guys and gals.. Fedor vs. Mousasi M-1 exhibition match.. Now mousasi just fought goodridge at k-1 dynamite i believe he is at heavyweight weight.. 220lbs. Fedor throws him around like a rag doll. And suprisingly mousasi gets him a few times.. -BP
octanebp83 commented on March 9, 2010 @ 10:18 pm
chill-out people …!
You love the guy , you like his legend .. That’s cool .. All i’m saying is that 31-1 record is not based on 31 die hard , ass-whuppin , massacre fights .. Not all of them any way .. The man has his moments ,his abilities , no doubt about it .. But i believe that he is not that mythical fighter from hell , that is the way i see it and at the end , it’s a free country .
moodman commented on March 10, 2010 @ 2:20 am
Much as i really like Fedor and his ethics and his interesting way of fighting and his ability..The way M1-Global promotes itself is almost shockingly cold warish..
You want Fedor you have to make M1-Global the sole friggin name on your fckin poster and advertising campaign for UFC whever UFc is mentioned we want M1-Global mentioned. They want M1-Global to be recognised on the exact same level as the UFC brand name. THATS INSANE, just over 1 fighter (even if he is or WAS the greatest).
I heard Mousassi wants out of M1-Global for 1 thing.
The only way that M1-Global are going to get bigger is by doing thier own fight promotion. Then rivaling strikeforce or DREAm in japan. That also meens putting the same effort in as the promoters of those organisations aswell. Its like M1-Global wants all the recognition in the world for having the best of whatever it is, (fighters? or something?)And they seem to want the same credit as Dana White for creating the whole of the UFC or something. I just dont understand how they see that they can even do that for long.
But heres a reality……….
If Fedor loses a few times in a row (eventually he will lose), M1 global is DEAD! That would also meen Fedor’s reputation would deminish massively, Unless he leaves M1_Global or takes M1-Global in a new direction that has nothing to do with strong arming organisations like UFC (Almost THREATENING) and other organisations into thier terms. That kind of tactic can only last so long… UFC has been around for ages and (regardless if you like Dana White or not) is rightfully up there as #1 promotion for MMA and its not there just out of nowhere , its there, because A LOT of people’s extremely hard work to get it off the ground, to where it is today. They dont need M1-Global and its 1 fighter (that anyone gives a sht about, accept Mousassi, whos thinking of leaving M1-Global) to be successful. M1-Global however DOES need UFC to get more recognition.
What if UFC agreed to M1’s terms and Fedor lost 3 fights in a row. It could be real bad for UFC. Then all of a sudden they have to tag onto this M1-Global name for the rest of the year. Could be the worse business decision ever for DWhite. Just think of this headline for a Crysis for UFC. Lets say…..
DANA DOES WHAT everyone wants, gets Fedor, FINALLY, Signs a 5 fight deal or a 3 fight deal, but Fedor loses the first 2 in a row. But UFC has got to honour whatever the hell contract M1-Global put on them…. sounds like a horrible deal to me.
So here’s how I see the M1-Global BS….
Its like if Coca Cola said ” right we have this one AWESOME drink you can sell at all of your stalls at the super bowl, it hasnt really been tasted yet, BUT we know, its going to sell well, and you KNOW Coca Cola is a leading brand of drinks, do you want the drink or not?”
NFL replies ” yes, we think the drink is going to sell well, we’ve tried it before. a few years ago and everyone loved it, it tasted great then, lets do a deal then”
Coke then says “We want COCA COLA on EVERYSINGLE thing in the stands, on all food cartons, on all posters, we want all songs to be relating to Coca Cola’s new drink called “Cola GOLD” for example. We want Cola GOLD to be talked about in everything AND on the SAME scale as the super bowl game itself. SO, whenever you say SUPER BOWL, we want to hear COLA GOLD everysingle time, we dont want to pay for that though, we want YOU to pay for OUR advertising.
We also want the drink tagged straight onto the NFL Brand name so the super bowl game will be called SUPER Bowl-Cola GOLD, NOT super bowl 25, promoted by COCA COLA , so lets sign that deal, oh WAIT, we forgot something. We ALSo want you to PAY us, to use our name Cola GOLD and we want YOU to pay for all the drinks, too, so lets sign tha deal”
NFL would Reply “GET F…………..”
So what happens if noone buys the drinks?
NFL Gets SCREWED.
nyran125 commented on March 10, 2010 @ 3:02 am
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
mont commented on March 10, 2010 @ 6:07 pm