M-1: Fedor Emelianenko fighting Fabricio Werdum in May, off planned April CBS card

Rampage tried to go through the ropes once. He just wasn't aware of it at the time!

Quality.

CBS will still show the Strikeforce april card apparently.

After weeks of speculation about Fedor Emelianenko's participation on Strikeforce's second network-televised card, sources informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Friday that the top ranked heavyweight is not likely to headline "Strikeforce on CBS" – but the event is set for April 17 at the Sommet Center in Nashville. Tenn.

CBS and Strikeforce hope to announce the event's full card in a formal press release on Monday, sources said.

The 20,000-seat Sommet Center hosted 2009's "UFC Fight Night 18: Condit vs. Kampmann" event, but as MMAjunkie.com reported Wednesday, Strikeforce has yet to file a formal event request. Sommet Center officials declined comment to comment about their April schedule.

M-1 officials on Thursday said a long-rumored match-up between Emelianenko (32-1 MMA, 1-0 SF) and ground ace Fabricio Werdum (13-4-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) will take place on an as-yet-unannounced event in May. Strikeforce is expected to hold an event in May that will air on Showtime. (Despite our initially confusing reports, Emelianenko isn't contractually obligated to CBS and can fight on Showtime-televised card.)

That means a bout featuring middleweight champion Jake Shields (24-4-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) and top import Dan Henderson (25-7 MMA, 0-0 SF) is all but certain for the April 17 show's CBS-televised main event.

A light heavyweight match between Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi (28-2-1 MMA, 2-0 SF) and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (6-0 MMA, 1-0 SF) is also expected for the event. The budding rivals will likely take co-main-event status with Emelianenko shifted to a later event.

Strikeforce made its major network debut this past November with "Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers" and averaged 3.79 million viewers during its 9-11 p.m. timeslot. The main event between Emelianenko and Brett Rogers spiked significantly with 5.46 million viewers, who saw Emelianenko's second-round TKO victory. It was the ninth most-watched MMA fight in U.S. television history.

It would of been the worst thing that could of happened to the UFC if they had given in to M1 and Fedors demands and I'm so glad they didn't.I just think that cross promoting and non exclusive contracts are good in theory but absolutely terrible in reallity.I think with these,the fans actually don't get to see the fights we want or at least they would be alot harder to arrange.
It gives fighters the chance to aviod other fighters or at least give them the option to price themselves out of the fight or they can just say sorry they have other commitments for differant orgs.Fedor and M1 origanally agreed a deal with strikeforce and it said nothing about Fedor being only available on CBS shows and not showtime,but because they have an open contract Fedor can now turn around and renegotiate his pay after every fight and if they don't pay him what he wants he can just walk away and fight for any other over seas org.Strikeforce lose the fans lose again.

What happens if Aoki takes Melendez's belt off him but then decides that in his next 5-10 fights,he wants them all to be under the dream banner and he doesn't want to fight outside of Japan,they already have a joke heavywieght champ in Overeem because of this freedom.
For us fans it is far better for the Orgs to be the ones with the power and not so much the fighters,then we get to see the best fight the best without all the politics and bullshit that can stop these fights from happening.

I mean look what M1 and Fedor have done to others in MMA because they do have that freedom,in 07 they struck a deal with Sibling Sports that would result in a new promotion. That organization -- ironically, to be called M-1 Global -- spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees during contract negotiations. After agreeing to a $1.5 million bonus for Emelianenko and $2 million per fight to him and his management team, according to sources, the new M-1 company was in the process of planning its first show when Emelianenko's management declared him a free agent, saying he'd never officially signed a contract. They never ran a show.
In 2008, Emelianenko and M-1 signed a deal to have him compete in co-promotions with Affliction, but after just one fight with the promotion, his M-1 team asked for and received a reworked extension that would pay Emelianenko $300,000 per fight while M-1 would receive $1.2 million in fees for its services.
Now, after one fight with Strikeforce, another renegotiation is at hand. As in the previous situations, the deal was structured in a way that gives Emelianenko's team leverage in the situation. Could his management try the same tactic had he signed with the UFC? Absolutely. But that's specifically why Dana White and company do not deal in non-exclusive contracts in the first place. It is the very reason for their insistence and demand in exerting near complete control over their product.

This all just goes to show,that the UFC's way of doing things is far better for us fans,the fighters might not have as much freedom as some would like but we fans get to see the top UFC fighters square off all the time and the only reason we wouldn't would be down to injury and not because a fighter is trying to renagotiate a new deal or wants to fight his next few fights in another country or org.

payneNglory1 wrote:It would of been the worst thing that could of happened to the UFC if they had given in to M1 and Fedors demands and I'm so glad they didn't.I just think that cross promoting and non exclusive contracts are good in theory but absolutely terrible in reallity.I think with these,the fans actually don't get to see the fights we want or at least they would be alot harder to arrange.
It gives fighters the chance to aviod other fighters or at least give them the option to price themselves out of the fight or they can just say sorry they have other commitments for differant orgs.Fedor and M1 origanally agreed a deal with strikeforce and it said nothing about Fedor being only available on CBS shows and not showtime,but because they have an open contract Fedor can now turn around and renegotiate his pay after every fight and if they don't pay him what he wants he can just walk away and fight for any other over seas org.Strikeforce lose the fans lose again.

What happens if Aoki takes Melendez's belt off him but then decides that in his next 5-10 fights,he wants them all to be under the dream banner and he doesn't want to fight outside of Japan,they already have a joke heavywieght champ in Overeem because of this freedom.
For us fans it is far better for the Orgs to be the ones with the power and not so much the fighters,then we get to see the best fight the best without all the politics and bullshit that can stop these fights from happening.

I mean look what M1 and Fedor have done to others in MMA because they do have that freedom,in 07 they struck a deal with Sibling Sports that would result in a new promotion. That organization -- ironically, to be called M-1 Global -- spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees during contract negotiations. After agreeing to a $1.5 million bonus for Emelianenko and $2 million per fight to him and his management team, according to sources, the new M-1 company was in the process of planning its first show when Emelianenko's management declared him a free agent, saying he'd never officially signed a contract. They never ran a show.
In 2008, Emelianenko and M-1 signed a deal to have him compete in co-promotions with Affliction, but after just one fight with the promotion, his M-1 team asked for and received a reworked extension that would pay Emelianenko $300,000 per fight while M-1 would receive $1.2 million in fees for its services.
Now, after one fight with Strikeforce, another renegotiation is at hand. As in the previous situations, the deal was structured in a way that gives Emelianenko's team leverage in the situation. Could his management try the same tactic had he signed with the UFC? Absolutely. But that's specifically why Dana White and company do not deal in non-exclusive contracts in the first place. It is the very reason for their insistence and demand in exerting near complete control over their product.

This all just goes to show,that the UFC's way of doing things is far better for us fans,the fighters might not have as much freedom as some would like but we fans get to see the top UFC fighters square off all the time and the only reason we wouldn't would be down to injury and not because a fighter is trying to renagotiate a new deal or wants to fight his next few fights in another country or org.

with co promotion we also get to see the top strikeforce fighters fight the top dream fighters, and the top dream fighters fight the top sengoku and bellator fighters.

manschesthair_utd wrote:

with co promotion we also get to see the top strikeforce fighters fight the top dream fighters, and the top dream fighters fight the top sengoku and bellator fighters.

Yeah I already said in theory it's a great idea but it just doesn't work,like I said what if Aoki takes Melendez's belt and then doesn't want to fight in strikeforce again,what if all the Strikeforce/Bellator champs beat all of dreams/sengoku champs and take all of the belts but refuse to defend them in Japan or vice versa,that would just kill them and leave them without a champ,what if they all decide to play Overeem games and they choose who they want to fight when they want to denying us fans of the fights we want to see,what if they play fedor games and try to renegotiate their deals after every fight.

It should be the Orgs that have the most power and be the ones that make the decisions about who fights who and when and not the fighters(workers)like in every other successfull company in the world.

If Co-promoting was any good, then you bet your bottom dollar that the UFC would have agreed to it last summer.

Already after 1 fight, M-1 and Strikeforce are running into problems. Strikeforce cant cope with paying M-1 2 million after each Fedor fight not to mention Fedor's salary aswell.

whatever guys, i am looking forward to Melendez/Aoki ALOT more than BJ/Edgar.

btw since i cannot be bothered/dont think its worth starting a new thread, here are Aoki's comments:




On fighting in Strikeforce as a DREAM fighter:
Quote:
I'm thankful to have received a title match offer from Strikeforce. Honestly, I'm very happy right now. I won't be here for the events in March, April, and May even though I'm a central pillar of DREAM. Some may think that's not right and I thought about that too. But on NYE, DREAM proved that its the best in Asia. I think I'm the best in the world and certainly far and away the best in Japan. Should I limit myself to fight only in Japan? During this recession I think I'm the only one who can carry all the weight on my back and let it all hang out by taking on all comers globally.

I've always said that Japanese MMA is the best, so it's impossible for me not to go overseas. I want to go over (to the States) and decisively win to prove that DREAM's lightweight champion is the best in the world. If I lose I look at it as the end of DREAM so I don't take this challenge lightly. I'll put it all on the line and show what I'm made of. During PRIDE I said that I'm one in six billion. I want people to say, "Oh so this is the guy people have been talking about." I want to regain that "one in six billion" title in DREAM. Let's meet next time with a belt wrapped around my waist.

Aoki vs Melendez was actually scheduled to happen at PRIDE Bushido 13 (November 2006). However Melendez had to pull out due to injury. On Melendez as a fighter:
Quote:
It wasn't meant to be four years ago, but I think he is an A-level fighter and the Strikeforce champion. But I'm also an A-level fighter. I think the fight will be an awesome one with both fans from Japan and the US leaving happy.

On the rules differences in DREAM and Strikeforce:
Quote:
It will be my first time fighting in a cage, but no one's a bigger cage otaku than me. I feel that my skill set works equally well in both the ring and the cage. This is coming from a rabid sports fan, but DREAM uses 5 ropes, right? So your feet never go outside the ring and it's close to being a wall. I don't think there's much difference.

On not being allowed to wear his famous tights in the Strikeforce cage:
Quote:
I'll take them off! I don't have a choice, do I. I haven't been able to show off my legs lately so it should be good (laughter).

On using elbows:
Quote:
If there's instances where I can use my elbows, I will. It will be business as usual for me.

On going after the UFC champion:
Quote:
There's no chance that I'll go to the UFC. If the UFC wants to come to Japan, let's do it.

On fighting Kawajiri:
Quote:
I have my sight set on that. Aoki isn't leaving DREAM. I don't want people to misunderstand. This fight was an offer made to me through Sasahara-san. I plan on defending my DREAM belt when the time comes.

I wonder if he fully knows Strikeforce rules about elbows......


I think Payne has a point, we could very well see Aoki win the SF title and then remain inactive while he fights in Japan for awhile.

Me too mate,I think this is going to be a great fight and I can't wait.


But even judging by Aoki's interview,you can see the problems that co-promoted fights carry.

He's there to prove dream and Japanese MMA are the best and has no interest in becoming the Strikeforce champ and he doesn't really want to fight outside of Japan,if anything he wants to destroy and belittle Strikeforce's LW division so there is no need for him to fight outside of japan.

payneNglory1 wrote:But even judging by Aoki's interview,you can see the problems that co-promoted fights carry.

He's there to prove dream and Japanese MMA are the best and has no interest in becoming the Strikeforce champ and he doesn't really want to fight outside of Japan,if anything he wants to destroy and belittle Strikeforce's LW division so there is no need for him to fight outside of japan.

I think the way around it would be to have a seperate title. In other words at the end of the fight, Aoki walks away with the DREAM title and Melendez keeps the Strikeforce one. That way they can both be champions and represent their different organisations. It sounds like what WAMMA was trying to put together. Also, the different champions could come together at one big show at the end of the year co-promoted by both promotions and have a night of champion versus champion fights. It could be awesome and I would really love it to happen but I am definitely becoming more of a realist when it comes to MMA.

An end of year or maybe two co-promoted shows a year would be absolutely brilliant idea,where the champs and top contenders of each org could fight each other for a completely separate titles and not for their own,that way no orgs risk losing one of their belts.Maybe they could have no titles at all and just make the prize money a massive amount.

I think the fighters should then stay fighting in the Orgs they are contracted too,and only the champs and top contenders should be chosen to represent at these big co-promoted shows.

I also think a few UFC fighters would be interested in fighting in a big competition like that and you could see a few fighters running down their contracts to get the chance or you could see the UFC loosening their stance on this and letting their fighters compete at these events.

But could you honestly see all the Orgs getting together and putting on an amazing event like that

You realise Aoki is already WAMMA champ right?
his NYE 08 fight with Alvarez was for that belt.

problem solved? he could fight Melendez for the WAMMA belt, even though defending a belt on your opponents turf and terms is a bit off.
Anyway, i dont see it as that much of an issue with it being for the SF belt, i am sure Aoki would go back if he won it.


guys having 1 or 2 co promoted events a year would be a great idea (maybe one CBS in summer, one Dynamite!!), where the champs fought each other, maybe for WAMMA, or maybe for like an "MMA superfight championship". but they would keep the organisational belt regardless, similar to Aoki/Hirota.

Coker is describing the renegotiations as the ironing out of "some last-minute details."

"This happens in sports all the time and MMA is no different," Coker said. "It's happened in the past with all different fighters -- some of you have heard about and some you haven't heard about -- It's just the nature of the sport. We look forward to having Fedor back in the cage where he belongs and we just move forward."

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/03/04/scott-coker-looking-forward-to-fedor-returning-by-summertime/

The problem isn't there. The fight will take place. We're planning on showing the bout in over 100 countries. For all of that to go smoothly we had to postpone the event. Unfortunately I do not know the date yet. It's most likely going to be in early May. The bout is also postponed because of some other contract issues. Obviously there are always disagreements and technical questions, but everybody deals with those.

Fedor's a professional; he needs to know the specific date in order to come out in perfect condition. When he finds out that exact date he will start gathering the camp so that he may come out at his peak. He never stops training though, he always stays in shape.

Mousasi has never had a contract with M-1. If that was the case, he would not have been able to simply leave the organization. Where did he go? He still has his contracts with Strikeforce and Dream. M-1 was helping him grow. Mousasi has always been friends with us and Fedor and in return we were helping him go forward. His action was a surprise to me. I plan on meeting with him next week and finding out what's wrong. We used to say that Mousasi is an M-1 fighter, because he was starting in our organization. I'm sure that on our M-1 Challenge and M-1 Selection tournament he will not be the only fighter of that level.

http://mmanews.su/topic_2231.htm

The latest from M1...

1. Fedor isn't fighting on the April 17 Strikeforce card because he wanted to have more time to prepare following the recovery from his hand injury. Hand problems have plagued Fedor for much of his fighting career, and he suffered another hand injury in his win over Brett Rogers in November. M-1 Global says Fedor wasn't able to get in a complete training camp before April 17, and that's why he's not on the card.

2. Whether Fedor will fight Fabricio Werdum on the May 15 Strikeforce card is currently being worked out. Although most people expect that fight to take place on a great heavyweight card that also features Rogers vs. Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva, it's no sure thing that Fedor-Werdum will happen. M-1 Global says we should expect more news on that front later.

3. Everything is fine between Fedor, M-1 Global and Strikeforce. Behind the scenes, maybe there are issues between M-1 Global and its co-promoter, Strikeforce. But M-1 Global isn't going to make those issues public. What they told me is that everything is just fine.

4. Fedor is not ruling out fighting in Japan this year. Fedor is popular in Japan from his days in Pride, and although he hasn't fought there since New Year's Eve 2007, he won't close the door on fighting there in 2010. Dream has made some noises about beefing up its heavyweight division, although it's not clear whether Dream can come up with the kind of payday Fedor would want.

5. Neither Fedor nor anyone involved with M-1 Global has had any recent talks about Fedor fighting in the UFC. They were emphatic about this one. We don't know when or where Fedor is fighting next, but according to M-1 Global, it's not in the UFC.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/03/04/m-1-global-fedor-fine-with-strikeforce-no-talks-with-ufc/

M-1 Global hit new snag over deal with Strikeforce, Fedor return on hold


http://mmabay.co.uk/Story%20A%2001078.html

fuck off M-1, see just wanna see the guy fight!

I was just thinking that we will never see Fedor in UFC as long as he is with M-1. Even if they do reach a deal (and thats a pretty humongous IF), you know UFC wont put up with their bullshit and they will seperate.

FiveKnuckles.com talks to Vadim Finkelstein...

FiveKnuckles.com: It has been said that Fedor has signed a 3-fight deal with Strikeforce and has two fights remaining with the next one coming against Fabricio Werdum this summer. After this deal has elapsed, would it be possible to see Fedor in the UFC?

Vadim Finkelstein: It depends on UFC. We would like to cooperate with them. Everything depends on them, their diplomacy. It would be possible if they are flexible.

FiveKnuckles.com: You tried cooperating with them this summer, but after negotiating with Dana White extensively to no avail, he said many bad things about you and M-1. What are your thoughts on Dana White personally?

Vadim Finkelstein: That’s his character, he just loves to call names. He didn’t say bad things about M-1 only, there were a lot of situations where he was harsh. It makes me glad when Dana White talks about us. I respect the UFC, they’ve done a lot for the development of MMA, so I can pardon them such attacks. We respect him and let him grumble.

M-1 boss Vadim Finkelstein has recently revealed that "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko will be featured in an exhibition fight at the M-1 Global Selection: Eastern Europe. The event will take place at the Aquarium Hotel (Crocus City Hall) in Moscow on April 10th, just one week before Strikeforce: Nashville event, where Fedor Emelianenko was originally scheduled to fight Fabricio Werdum:



http://www.lowkick.com/Strikeforce/M-1-Global-Fedor-Emelianenko-will-have-an-exhibition-fight-in-Moscow-on-April-10th-7020


This means that the hand injury was probably just an excuse to have Fedor not fight at Strikeforce unless they reach a new deal with M-1.

Or M-1 are up to their old tricks, and trying to promote a Fedor fight which he cannot phsyically do as he is injured.

All seems pretty dodgy to me....

M1 are a bunch of cowboys

you know what's just as dodgy and even more surprising?

a japanese sports magazine has said today that Fedor's next mma fight will be on April 25th against the retiring Yoshida!!!!!!

M-1 have denied the Yoshida fight now.

Fedor is rediculously inactive! An exhibition fight is pointless, M-1 are fucking his career up badly! Maby he wants to fight Barnett in Dream insted of Werdum in SF?