So the news has come in that Fedor Emelianenko has signed a three-fight deal with Strikeforce. We have known that the main sticking point with Fedor and the UFC is that Fedor’s management has demanded that the UFC co-promote his fights with M-1 Global. This, from a business standpoint, is absolutely ridiculous. Dana and Zuffa have proven their business acumen. There was no way they were ever going to acquiesce to that demand. It is akin the CFL demanding that the NFL takes them on as a business partner in order for them to sign their number one player. And in the current MMA landscape, that is exactly what the UFC is: it is the NFL, NBA and MLB of the fighting world. If you’re going to claim that you are the best heavyweight in the world, you have to fight in the best promotion against the best fighters. Right now, that place is the UFC. Fedor’s claim to be the best, not to mention his legacy, is now in serious jeopardy. Though pure MMA fans know exactly who he is, the casual North American fan has no idea. Bringing him in to fight Lesnar or Couture, with the UFC hype machine selling his history to those casual fans would have instantly legitimized him in America. But signing with a lesser promotion, no matter how much they push him, is going to have nowhere near the same effect. Because every time they promote him as the premier heavyweight, those fans are going to wonder why he isn’t in the UFC. Fedor faces the very real prospect (and one that will probably make pure MMA fans’ heads explode) of playing second fiddle to Brock Lesnar.
The main issue, of course, will be his competition. Strikeforce will want to get the heavyweight belt on him as soon as possible. That means a fight against Alistair Overeem--if they can set it up. Between injuries and not seeming to want to fight in America anymore, Overeem has been a ghost champion for Strikeforce. I wouldn’t be very surprised if Strikeforce ends up having to strip of him of his title. And what the bout does happen? Neither Overeem nor Fedor are recognizable fighters in America. Then what? The only exciting matches that they could have put together to draw the casual fan interest would have been against Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort, who both recently re-signed with the UFC (and don’t think for a minute that this wasn’t part of the reason on why that happened) That leaves Fabricio Werdum and Brett Rogers, neither of whom are top ten heavyweights. There is no one else left to bring in. Fedor defeated Arlovski and Sylvia already, and Barnett will not likely get a major promotion fight in America again.
It’s definitely a lose/lose situation for Fedor as far as his legacy goes. If he loses to any of those opponents, his standing will be severely tarnished. If his streak continues, his mystique will be gone. Instead of dominant fighter from the East coming into the UFC to take over, he’s going to be a guy who beat some other guys in a smaller promotion. Unfortunately, I think the biggest loser of this signing might turn out to be Strikeforce. Fedor didn’t come cheap, I don’t see him bringing in enough revenue for them to profit off it. I would hate to see yet another MMA promotion fold because they over over-reached themselves.
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