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Fedor gets the boot from SF!

6K views 65 replies 40 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
PHILADELPHIA -- The "Last Emperor" has seen his last fight in Strikeforce.

Fedor Emelianenko will be cut from the promotion following his loss to Dan Henderson at last Saturday's Strikeforce/M-1 Fedor vs. Henderson event.

UFC president Dana White -- a co-owner of Strikeforce parent company Zuffa LLC -- confirmed the news following the UFC 133 press conference on Thursday.

"He's being cut, yeah," White told the media. "Why? Do you think we should keep him?"

The loss was the third straight for Emelianenko after an unbeaten stretch that spanned nearly a decade.

His loss to Henderson came at 4:12 of round one. Prior to that, he had lost to Antonio Silva via TKO and Fabricio Werdum by submission.

"You guys thought he was the pound-for-pound best in the world, but I thought he was overrated for years," White said.

The 34-year-old Emelianenko (31-4, 1 no contest) said after the Henderson fight that he would take some time to consider retirement upon returning home to Russia, but if he chooses to return, he will first have to shop his services around to find a new promoter.
Source: MMAFighting.com

Whoa!

UPDATE:
Apparently Fedor's contract with Showtime is still there, so he's no longer a SF fighter, but he's still at Showtime fighter?

Fedor Emelianenko is no longer a Strikeforce fighter.

But he is definitely still a Showtime fighter, according to his representatives.

UFC president Dana White said today that the former PRIDE champion's days in the hexagon have come to an end following a third consecutive loss this past Saturday in suburban Chicago.

"You guys thought he was the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world," White said at a media scrum following the pre-event press conference for UFC 133. "I said he was overrated for years."

White said "he thought so" when asked whether Emelianenko's contract was up and that Zuffa simply wasn't re-signing him.

The decision to cut Emelianenko, though, wasn't one in which he was involved.

"I'm so far removed from any of that [expletive]," he said.

Reached for comment on the release, M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan said to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), "Really? Given that [White] doesn't have a contract with Fedor, interesting."

Kogan stated that Emelianenko's contract lies not with the recently acquired Strikeforce but instead with Showtime Networks, Inc., who played a major role in bringing the Russian back to the negotiating table after talks with Strikeforce broke down in the latter half of 2010.

As part of a deal to bring Emelianenko back to the Strikeforce cage, Showtime negotiated a deal to broadcast four M-1 Global events in 2011. The first of those events took place this past March in Norfolk, Va.

Kogan indicated that Emelianenko may soon find a home with the promotion in which he also holds a minority ownership stake.

Emelienanko was stopped in the first round by Dan Henderson in the main event of "Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson." Afterward, he deflected comments about possible retirement and said a decision would be made after he returned to Russia to spend time with his family.
Source: MMAjunkie.com
 
#4 ·
Interesting to see what happens with Showtime, can they sue Zuffa for breach of contract? There might be some loop hole because of the SF/Showtime contract situation where they can sue Zuffa to pay out the rest of the contract.

In order for Nick Diaz to come to UFC, they needed to work out a deal with Showtime and not SF itself, I hope M1 finds some loop hole to screw Zuffa over for some cash.

I'm not a big fan of how they handle things, UFC puts on great events but ultimately Dana is a power hungry bastard and if you don't please him, you essentially screw you're career over.
 
#43 · (Edited)
Exactly. You can just see that ugly, cheesy grin Dana has, sitting behind closed doors laughing about finally getting the chance to sack Fedor after all those years Fedor wouldn't bow to Dana as some kind of king like his other rostered fighters do (Anderson Silva makes me sick with how great a fighter he is and how much he stil has to suck upto Dana).

This really annoys me that Zuffa can now do whatever they like and still rake in billions of dollars! And to think how many guys still defend them and their monopoly power! It is outright sickening and doesn't relate to any other sport (even NFL et al have seperate team owners).
 
#10 · (Edited)
#13 ·
You don't get labeled overrated by going 31 wins in a row barring one loss by cut. You won't see another HW accomplish that, at least don't bet on it. It's a grudge Dana has had for years dealing with M1.
 
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#14 ·
Dana is a power hungry bastard and if you don't please him, you essentially screw you're career over.
In the same way that if you don't please any boss, you put your job in jeopardy.

Zuffa/UFC/Dana are becoming monsters and not good ones.
No, they are becoming more efficient every day and the more efficient they get, the less time they have for fighters/management who are awkward or demand a lot, and then can't deliver on fight night.
 
#21 ·
I'm sure Dana got a major hard-on when he announced Fedor's cut, but it doesn't matter anyway, because SF will be dead by the end of the year.

The fighters they're cutting are fighters that wouldn't have competed again by then regardless, and this way Zuffa doesn't have to worry about keeping them insured through training the rest of the year. Anyone who is cut can still try for a UFC contract. Well, except the chicks.
 
#28 ·
I would guess it is because he still had value before the Hendo fight and plus it was a superfight.

Now his value is diminished and what SF fight is left for him? Should they make him fight Arlovski again?
 
#29 ·
My question is, why wait until these guys lose. If you want them gone so badly, why not just cut them outright?
Fedor was not cut because anyone in particular wanted him out, he was cut because he was headlining events and didn't win, 3 times in a row. If he'd won those fights, there'd probably be threads now about Fedor fighting for the UFC belt in his next fight.

It's not personal, it's business. Fedor is no longer what his name says he is, and he's still managed by incompetent fools, Zuffa doesn't have time for that.
 
#31 ·
......LMAO ---> That's why Dana tried (almost) everything to sign an overrated fighter 2 years ago, right?!
That doesn't sound like a smart move...

LOL Dana...you're a funny man
Dana personally thought he was overrated, but Dana also knew that regardless of what he thought, Fedor would sell big.

As I've said in the other threads on this matter, it's a business issue, not a personal one. If you're a car dealer, you don't just sell the ones you like the look of.
 
#35 ·
Can't argue with that.

The fact he wanted Fedor beacuse the marketing potential WAS huge is no secret.

The fact that he didn't like M-1 and their methods is no secret also.

The fact that Fedor wasn't close to his heart is also a known fact.

But, he comes out now and tries to act like he was Nostradamus - the guy that knew everything, the guy that predicted the future. And that's not the case here.

The truth is: Dana would sign Fedor tomorrow IF he could. But he knows it's almost impossible.
Fedor would still sell huge in the UFC, even with 2 straight losses.
Put him against Brock Lesnar and you have 1,000,000 PPVs guaranteed.

But...like you've said. Dana has an image he needs to keep (protect) and he's acting towards that goal.
 
#34 ·
Fedor was more so not re-signed, as oppose to cut. Cut is more indicative of being released from your contract prematurely, but Fedor's last fight wit Hendo was his last contracted fight under Coker's Strikeforce. Fedor was getting paid 1.2 million dollar win or lose in his Strikeforce contract, Dana's not going to offer him that same contract under Zuffa's Strikeforce.

The most likely outcome was Zuffa presented Fedor a mere $250,000.00 per fight contract and M1 laughed at the thought of their "million dollar" fighter performing for anything short of some kind of shenanigans amount.

I think Dana would rather have Fedor then not, but he's not going to get bent over a couch like Coker did and let M1 run a train.
 
#36 ·
Fedor was more so not re-signed, as oppose to cut. Cut is more indicative of being released from your contract prematurely, but Fedor's last fight wit Hendo was his last contracted fight under Coker's Strikeforce. Fedor was getting paid 1.2 million dollar win or lose in his Strikeforce contract, Dana's not going to offer him that same contract under Zuffa's Strikeforce.

The most likely outcome was Zuffa presented Fedor a mere $250,000.00 per fight contract and M1 laughed at the thought of their "million dollar" fighter performing for anything short of some kind of shenanigans amount.
15 minutes ago on Twitter:

@arielhelwani
... And for the record, Fedor had one fight left on his SF/Showtime deal. Hope that clears that up.
 
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