Fedor Emelianenko Turns Down Three-Fight UFC Contract

Fedor Emelianenko said on Wednesday that he does not intend to sign a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship unless the UFC agrees to promote fights jointly with Emelianenko's promoter, M-1 Global. Since then, several Web sites have reported that Emelianenko had turned down a six-fight contract with the UFC worth $30 million.

FanHouse has learned from a source close to the negotiations, who wished to remain anonymous, that the UFC offered Emelianenko a three-fight contract with a guarantee of less than $2 million per fight.

The source did confirm that Emelianenko was offered an immediate title shot against current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.

As Jonathan Snowden, the author of 'Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting,' who also spoke to someone with knowledge of the negotiations, pointed out, it is possible that Emelianenko could make up to or even more than $30 million during his UFC run, but that amount wasn't guaranteed up front.

"The number is based on Zuffa's projections of what Fedor's take of the PPV money would be, and the numbers they are projecting are based on selling a ton of PPV's. The actual guarantee for Fedor is much more modest. It's true that if business stays at record levels Fedor could walk away with $30 million. But that is no guarantee."

If the pay-per-views in which Emelianenko main events do as well as, say, UFC 100, which reportedly generated approximately 1.5 million PPV buys, he could conceivably make that much, if not more once the PPV escalators kick in.

Vadim Finkelstein, Emelianenko's manager and M-1 Global's CEO, replied "no" when Sherdog asked if a deal could be struck with the UFC without M-1 co-promoting the event.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

7-30-2009 @ 2:17PM

joey said...

GREEDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

7-30-2009 @ 2:35PM

donwillymo said...

He's just a bitch. He knows Brock is too much for him to handle. He's a money grubbing fighter that's all. He doesn't care about competition or the sport just money. Bad publicity Fakor.

7-30-2009 @ 2:39PM

RJ said...

When do you guys come up with this over the top non sense?

I think you've seen to many WWE matches if you think Brock Mr. Coors Light Lesnar is on the same level as Fedor the #1 fighter in the world.
That's pure lunacy.

7-30-2009 @ 2:50PM

ryan98345 said...

This is ridiculous if they cant come to terms. The best figher in the world cannot not be in the UFC. IT was fine a few years back when PRIDE had the best competition and the best show, (man i miss PRIDE) but now the big show is UFC. Strikeforce can't give fedor what the UFC can. If fedor doesnt sign with the UFC now, he will be stuck fighting cans in DREAM the rest of his career and his career will be tarnished. His manager is a psycho if he thinks the UFC cares about co-promoting with this horrible little M-1 global fighting BS.

7-30-2009 @ 2:57PM

Eric said...

Fedor is loyal, not greedy. M-1 has treated him well, and he is holding up his end of the bargain.

This situation really sucks though, because I don't see anyway that the UFC will agree to co-promote fights.

7-30-2009 @ 3:05PM

jay said...

How can one person expect an entire company to promote another company in such a case??? It doesn't make sense, and Fedor knows that from a business stand point for the UFC it makes no sense what so ever. There is a bigger reason here...

7-30-2009 @ 3:13PM

billh23 said...

This to me just proves he would rather fight safe fights. Affliction and m-1 do not have the competition ufc would give him. He knows the ufc wont do a joint promotion so thats his excuse for not signing. I have watched many of his fights and still think he is hyped through the roof. He has yet to fight someone like brock lesnar or randy couture and looks like he never will.

7-30-2009 @ 3:15PM

DIAMONDKING said...

nobody should pay to see fedor fight if he doesnt sign w/UFC. because anywhere else he fights it's a mickey mouse league! all mma fans should ban together and not see or pay to see him. we controll fedor not M-1 or UFC. I dont care for UFC or M-1 or the any mickey mouse league. I just want to see fedor fight lesner and thats it. I think eventuall it's going to go of the way where every fighter has his own manager. But fedor this is'nt the time were about 10-15 yrs away from that.

7-30-2009 @ 3:45PM

nickyriz said...

this guy will get kill in the ufc thats why he said nope

7-30-2009 @ 3:51PM

sdrfconstruction said...

I DON'T KNOW ABOUT ALL OF THE PROMOTIONAL STUFF BUT IF YOU GUYS THINK FEDOR IS THE BEST FIGHTER IN THE WORLD YOU ARE CRAZY. GSP IS CLEARLY THE TOUGHEST AND MOST TALENTED FIGHTER ON EARTH. HEAVY WEIGHT OR NOT.

7-30-2009 @ 4:44PM

GSP lost by TKO to Matt Serra!

Case closed.

Fedor is #1 like it or not.

7-30-2009 @ 7:26PM

johnnynumber5 said...

I think GSP is in the next tier after Fedor & Anderson Silva in terms of P4P best fighter in the world. If he hadn't got TKO'd by Serra he would be in the top tier conversation. We also have to talk about Torres, Aoki, Brown, possibly Machida and BJ Penn in that second tier as well. Remember, best P4P only means how a fighter has fared in their own weight class. Since the fighters are in different weight classes it's about how long and how dominant they are over their division.

Fedor has certainly proved himself in the ring and thats not debatable. I've long said he is the best fighter on the planet. There are also some great heavyweights outside of the UFC that he could take out to continue that dominance. However, if Lesnar cleans house in the UFC HW division over the next year or two you could make a case that he is the better heavyweight at that point (it kills me to say that but it's possible.)

Hopefully they make this deal happen otherwise it does look like Fedor is ducking and the UFC called his bluff.

If I were the UFC I wouldn't co-promote anything with anyone especially not M-1 Global who puts on some of the most awful shows in MMA. The whole concept sucks and is flawed from the start.

7-30-2009 @ 3:58PM

gillygodfried said...

couldnt they do a 3 ppv deal where its m-1 v.s ufc ? m-1 brings thier best fighters to challenge ufc? i think everyone would pay to see that

7-30-2009 @ 7:37PM

Thats the type of thing that M-1 wants. But, the UFC won't do that because they wouldn't have control over Fedor.

7-30-2009 @ 4:06PM

btw rj, could you quit being so rude to brock fans, just because we like him dosnt mean we like wwe, or are crazy or dumb, and ur obsession with fedor is a little homosexual (now we are even)

7-30-2009 @ 4:29PM

abcdefgh1 said...

Wow. You're trying to personally attack him because you have no other way to fight his arguement. Brock was in the WWE until not long ago. Fedor has been fighting actual fights forever. Clearly Fedor would beat Brock.

7-30-2009 @ 7:07PM

imshortyk said...

Wow, this bit of logic deserves a retort. I'm pretty sure Randy Couture was fighting in actual fights when Brock was doing national wrestling in his twenties. He still beat Randy. Herring's been in more fights than Brock, he demolished Herring. Mir's been in more f- okay, my point is taken. It doesn't matter how many fights you've been in. I'm not saying one will win over the other, I'm just saying that's a terrible way to predict a fight. That's like saying you'll beat me at pouring cereal 'cause you've poured cereal more times than me!

7-30-2009 @ 4:38PM

chimpaman said...

OK, let's calm down. Fedor is no fool. He has seen the rest of the world. As Bas Ruten said, when Fedor fights in Japan or anywhere in Asia, they pack 80,000 people into a stadium to see him. The US and the UFC are not the entire world, nor the only fighting promotion company. When I was in the military, I saw the big world out there and there are billions of people in Asia alone. So, before everyone who is American, who has not seen the world and not seen what other cultures do; I would hold calling Fedor, a person of very high moral character and honor, "a greedy fool." He knows that money isn't everything. He also has an obviously tight bond with his agent and M-1 Global and they are asking him for what they believe he can get. And if anyone thinks that Lesnar can eat Fedor up like he did Frank Mir, I would ask you to watch some of the people he has fought and how he has been hurt and still finds a way to win because his brain is so sharp. This may work out and it may not, but I don't see a reason to call a very good human being greedy or whatever, just because he won't cave to money or the UFC.
Just my very humble opinion.

7-30-2009 @ 9:45PM

Chuck said...

But if it is going to tarnish my legacy as a fighter and competitor I would make that decision on my own. I think Fedor Is easily persuaded by his management and that is easily visible by his demeanor in and out of the ring. He is not your typical egotistical fighter like most of mma champions. His camp is running the show.

7-30-2009 @ 4:50PM

http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/m-1-fedor-not-offered-30-million-18816

In case someone thinks Carmichael Dave or the mma blog bloodyelbow.com are reliable sources of information.
They're both speculative rumor mongers who have a biased opinion when it comes to all MMA related matters concerning the UFC.
Their "sources" are as reliable as the ones who reported Kimo is dead.