Well, it appears that all our hopes and dreams of seeing Fedor Emalianenko in the UFC have been dashed. Actually, our hope of seeing Fedor fight any top level heavyweight competition has been dashed as it appears Fedor has reached an agreement with Russian promotion M-1.
Loretta Hunt at TheFightNetwork is reporting that Fedor has “committed exclusively” to the M-1 Mix-Fight Championship and their new ownership.
Established in 1997, the St. Petersburg-based M-1 held over 30 events under the ownership of Russian businessman Vadim Finkelstein, also the long-time manager of the much-sought-after Emelianenko. Finkelstein is also the proprietor of the Red Devil Sports Club, a facility and team that houses numerous Russian fighters, including PRIDE veteran Roman Zentsov and former UFC middleweight Andrei Semenov.
The source confirmed the new ownership has infused a substantial amount of capital into the organization. Finkelstein and others will stay on to assist in running the company, which will continue to promote under a variation of the M-1 name. The new M-1 will take more of a global stance, and Emelianenko (26-1) will headline its inaugural event as early as January or February, possibly in the U.S., the source said.
Someone really dropped the ball on this one and I have a feelling it was Dana White and the Fertita’s with their insistence that Fedor compete exclusively with the UFC and avoid any Sambo competitions where he is a three-time world champion. Very petty reason to not sign the fighter many people believe is the best “pound-for-pound” fighter in the world. I see why the UFC wants exclusivity, but in this case it appears to have hurt them.
Or not? The UFC will continue to roll and be the top dog in MMA promotions and 90% of their audience won’t care because they currently have no idea who Fedor is. Fedor will drop from the #1 rank because he isn’t fighting high level competition and the UFC heavyweights will slide into the top 3 spots.
Emalianenko has not fought since April of this year when he defeated Matt Lindland in BodogFIGHT. It appears that his next fight will be sometime in early 2008.
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Tags: UFC, MMA, M-1, Fedor Emalianenko
(via MMA HQ - Mixed Martial Arts News and Analysis)