Fedor and M1 weren't wrong for wanting co-promotion with UFC

[Söze Aldo]

Made perfect sense for Fedor/M1 to want to co promote. Made zero sense for the UFC to.

Not zero sense. A PPV featuring Fedor and Brock would have done gangbusters then. The UFC ended up doing a cross promotion anyways, some years later when Conor fought Floyd.

Brock was probably the only guy who approached Conor level sales in his UFC PPVs, imagine what him vs Fedor would have done?

 

[StewDogg11]

M-1 has produced some of the best fighters in the UFC today. Khabib, Islam and Shavkat all came from M-1 so yes, they absolutely brought long term value to the UFC long term.

It's easy to say in hindsight that Fedor should have signed with the UFC. I too wish Fedor came to UFC as a fan. But when Dana first lowballed Fedor Affliction wasn't a bad choice because at THAT time the Fedor haters were saying he was ducking Sylvia and Arlovski. After Fedor beat them in Affliction he had leverage and Strikeforce was offering 1.5M a fight + fighting on CBS.

Fedor was knocking fools out on CBS primetime while UFC bums were still fighting on Spike TV. At that moment in time Strikeforce had the superior HW division and their front office wasn't disrespecting Fedor. Dana and the UFC lowballed Fedor in the first phase of negotiations and then when he declined they disrespected him and used their media machine to smear him and counter program his fights. Strikeforce gave him the respect he felt he deserved with favorable demands so he took their offer.

Vadim fucked Fedor too but at least his ambitions were built on Fedor continuing to win- while Dana Weasel White had time on his side so he bet on Fedor to eventually lose. He never really wanted Fedor to grace the UFC with his presence, but rather for Fedor to come to the UFC so that the next generation HWs could destroy him so Dana could say he always sucked and close that chapter forever.

UFC fans as a whole are absolute low iq garbage.

What a nuthugger post. He knocked out a single “fool” on CBS. A scrub Sam’s Club employee at that lmao.

 

[fzoid4454]

I keep hearing the narrative for years about how Fedor and M1 wanted too much from the UFC and the offer he received was a good one there's a lot wrong with that and I think people's bias for UFC plays a huge factor. First off M1 was the largest mma promotion in Russia that spawned many fighters over the years so they shouldn't just be dismissed as an annoyance along side UFC when it comes to negotiations, Fedor was arguably their greatest product ever and at the time was the number 1 in the world, it's crazy that Dana just though he could throw out a dollar figure and that would just be fine and dandy for M1 to just give up the greatest fighter who ever lived so UFC could just enrich themselves off of him and then when they're done just spit him out like they always did.


It's makes perfect sense for M1/Fedor to want to at least co-promote the events that he and his stable mates were featured in I think that is what any smart business man would do and find it ridiculous that people at the time and to this day think that it was crazy for them to ask to have some of their fighters signed and co-promotion after all UFC was looking to make as much as they can off of Fedor's name, M1 and Fedor's teammates should have benefitted as well in the negotiations and the co-promotions the way I remember it was just for certain events and not a long term thing where M1 owned part of UFC either way it made sense giving that the number 1 fighter in the world was in Russia at the time and was being represented by M1 the biggest promotion in Russia so why would M1 just allow that while not benefitting also Fedor's career would be under strict contract from Dana and UFC. It all came down to Dana wanted full control and all the benefits of having the number 1 fighter at the time while the other side got nothing except a few million dollars which they could have gotten elsewhere so I think the narrative is a crock of shit a and people are bias for the UFC also Fedor and his team made the right move not going there at the time.

Fedor was the ultra-valuable MMA commodity in the equation. So, yeah, him wanting to basically keep equal control and an equal split of the proceeds off of his name and efforts makes total sense.

Plus Dana's version of what they were demanding and what he was offering is self-serving bullshit, as well.

 

[HavokHarmon]

Not zero sense. A PPV featuring Fedor and Brock would have done gangbusters then. The UFC ended up doing a cross promotion anyways, some years later when Conor fought Floyd.

Brock was probably the only guy who approached Conor level sales in his UFC PPVs, imagine what him vs Fedor would have done?

The entire business model of the UFC is to be synonymous with mma. Co promotion damages that significantly. The payoff would need to be either a promotion or fighter who is well known to the mainstream. M1 and Fedor were not well known enough to justify this. Not even close.

 

[Trabaho]

Not zero sense. A PPV featuring Fedor and Brock would have done gangbusters then. The UFC ended up doing a cross promotion anyways, some years later when Conor fought Floyd.

Brock was probably the only guy who approached Conor level sales in his UFC PPVs, imagine what him vs Fedor would have done?

Cross promotion with who ?

They aren't a boxing organisation. MMA is about the brand. 99% people don't remember or know what promotion that Conor Floyd was held by anyways.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

What a nuthugger post. He knocked out a single “fool” on CBS. A scrub Sam’s Club employee at that lmao.

Says the obese imbecile who never trained a day in his life. You'd be a punching bag for the average 2 stripe blue belt. Lousy ass internet geek

 

[Doctor Grudge]

Not zero sense. A PPV featuring Fedor and Brock would have done gangbusters then. The UFC ended up doing a cross promotion anyways, some years later when Conor fought Floyd.

Brock was probably the only guy who approached Conor level sales in his UFC PPVs, imagine what him vs Fedor would have done?

Floyd Mayweather is the biggest PPV draw ever, and McGregor was the biggest PPV draw in MMA ever. So if that's the standard, then that's exactly why they wouldn't have had Fedor fight Lesnar under those fiscal conditions, because Fedor is nowhere near that type of name value. There is a reason why they haven't allowed anyone else to box.

The UFC did not co-promote that boxing fight either, they just allowed McGregor to box because they knew they'd benefit from the exposure. M1 (and Fedor) does not give the UFC more exposure, it just gives them a credible opponent to sell a card for Brock Lesnar who would sell well regardless.

So while Fedor vs Lesnar would sell well, it isn't selling so well that a billion dollar company is going to become subservient to a company that is worth like 10 million dollars.


M-1 was essentially demanding tens of millions of dollars in marketing value. "M1 Presents: UFC 125: Lesnar vs Fedor" is a crazy title that would give M1 a ton of exposure (far exceeding any traditional monetary pay), and it makes it seem like they own the UFC to a casual fan.

It's a terrible deal for the UFC, and not really similar to Mayweather vs McGregor at all. M-1 not only benefits disproportionally more than the UFC, but it'd genuinely would confuse the consumers and would objectively hurt the UFC's brand.

 

[StewDogg11]

Says the obese imbecile who never trained a day in his life. You'd be a punching bag for the average 2 stripe blue belt. Lousy ass internet geek

Says the guy nut hugging grown men who have no idea who he is on the internet and also happens to have no clue what he’s talking about. Lmao what a loser.

 

[skylolow]

Fedor was the ultra-valuable MMA commodity in the equation. So, yeah, him wanting to basically keep equal control and an equal split of the proceeds off of his name and efforts makes total sense.

Plus Dana's version of what they were demanding and what he was offering is self-serving bullshit, as well.

"Ultra valuable" in what sense???????

We are hardcore fans and know his accolades in MMA. Average fan or blow joe knew next to nothing about Fedor. Proof is just look at the PPV buys Affliction did. That card was stacked card with a lot of big names and did about 100K in buys and second one did a little less. At that time the UFC was averaging around 500K per a PPV and stars of the UFC were doing north of 800K to just over 1M at that time. Shit card was doing 300K+ in buys. What business value was Fedor going to bring them outside of just knowing they had the top HW in the last 5 years or whatever.

 

[NenadRS]

Nobody likes to be controlled by Dana. Look today how fighters treat UFC as soon as they get some leverage. Francis, Jones, McGregor, Aspinall.

Fedor did not need UFC and was already past prime to continue to be dominant.

 

[HHJ]

Nobody likes to be controlled by Dana. Look today how fighters treat UFC as soon as they get some leverage. Francis, Jones, McGregor, Aspinall.

There was def some holdouts who were used to much less restrictive contracts in Japan.

 

[NenadRS]

Yes, different approach too, fighters were much more respected there. Dana throws you under the bus as soon as you are not company man anymore. Very dishonest relations.

 

[StewDogg11]

You didn't even deny it lmfaaaoooo

Obese couch dweller scum

I’m not that insecure to feel the need to deny some random accusation from an uneducated troll on a message board. Keep slagging off grown men who don’t even know you exist though.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

I’m not that insecure to feel the need to deny some random accusation from an uneducated troll on a message board. Keep slagging off grown men who don’t even know you exist though.

Haha nah you just know you're a geek who never trained a day in his life who wouldn't feel comfortable shadow boxing in front of people and would get rolled up into a pretzel by the average blue belt so he acts passive aggressive on the internet . Left hand slap KO victim internet chump

 

[fzoid4454]

"Ultra valuable" in what sense???????

We are hardcore fans and know his accolades in MMA. Average fan or blow joe knew next to nothing about Fedor. Proof is just look at the PPV buys Affliction did. That card was stacked card with a lot of big names and did about 100K in buys and second one did a little less. At that time the UFC was averaging around 500K per a PPV and stars of the UFC were doing north of 800K to just over 1M at that time. Shit card was doing 300K+ in buys. What business value was Fedor going to bring them outside of just knowing they had the top HW in the last 5 years or whatever.

In the mid-2000s, when Pride was around and then folded and then a lot of those fighters came over to Affliction, then Strikeforce, and the UFC, Fedor was THE undisputed top name in MMA. Not just among hard-core fans, but he was the guy.

I think characterizing him as "the top HW in the last five years of whatever" pretty much drops you out of the "we" in "we are hardcore fans."

Holy shit.

 

[StewDogg11]

Haha nah you just know you're a geek who never trained a day in his life who wouldn't feel comfortable shadow boxing in front of people and would get rolled up into a pretzel by the average blue belt so he acts passive aggressive on the internet . Left hand slap KO victim internet chump

Pointing out you have absolutely no clue what you’re talking about propelled you to this? You may need to get back on your meds.

 

[witt1021]

I still think Brock would have beaten Fedor more times than not. Fedor wasn't going to stop the double and his guard wasn't going to prevent his face from becoming hamburger meat. Of course, if Fedor landed a big punch first, Brock could have frozen up

i think fedor rolls thru brock. kevin randalmans wrestling credentials are on par with lesnars, and fedor tapped out randalman within a minute of fedor getting slammed. sambo is the wrestling killer in mma. nearly every world sambo champion who has stepped into MMA has became a world champion in the organizations they fought for. khabib, islam, arlovski, fedor, yaroslav amosov, vadim nemkov, vitaly minakov, these guys just dont get outgrappled that easily... Merab Dvalishvili <----sambo guy but not world champion only a silver medalist.

 

[The XL]

i think fedor rolls thru brock. kevin randalmans wrestling credentials are on par with lesnars, and fedor tapped out randalman within a minute of fedor getting slammed. sambo is the wrestling killer in mma. nearly every world sambo champion who has stepped into MMA has became a world champion in the organizations they fought for. khabib, islam, arlovski, fedor, yaroslav amosov, vadim nemkov, vitaly minakov, these guys just dont get outgrappled that easily... Merab Dvalishvili <----sambo guy but not world champion only a silver medalist.

Kevin Randleman weighed like 215lbs and damn near broke Fedor's neck. Fedor isn't sweeping or submitting 280lbs Brock

 

[witt1021]

Kevin Randleman weighed like 215lbs and damn near broke Fedor's neck. Fedor isn't sweeping or submitting 280lbs Brock

"damn near" saying shit like this is pointless cause he didnt break his neck... fedor a HW world sambo champion grappled bigger guys than brock and on just as many steroids.
fedor can take a punch. brock folds into the fetal position.
lesnar prob gonna take him down, but isnt controlling him at all. you wanna just say you dont know what sambo is?? fedor isnt subbing him? if frank mir can sub lesnar, fedor most def could...

 

[bubbleboyjones]

So while Fedor vs Lesnar would sell well, it isn't selling so well that a billion dollar company is going to become subservient to a company that is worth like 10 million dollars.

M-1 was essentially demanding tens of millions of dollars in marketing value. "M1 Presents: UFC 125: Lesnar vs Fedor" is a crazy title that would give M1 a ton of exposure (far exceeding any traditional monetary pay), and it makes it seem like they own the UFC to a casual fan.

It's a terrible deal for the UFC, and not really similar to Mayweather vs McGregor at all. M-1 not only benefits disproportionally more than the UFC, but it'd genuinely would confuse the consumers and would objectively hurt the UFC's brand.

Yeah and it was even more than marketing value. M1 wanted 50% copromotion on everything for the second round of negotiations of the Lesnar fight. Jerry Millen said in 2009 they wanted profits split down the middle. https://bloodyelbow.com/2009/07/31/what-does-co-promoting-with-the/

That fight could have generated over 100 million easily in todays dollars and they are looking to take a 50% split of that pot after expenses. There is just no way UFC could make that fight on a logical level. They were only paying Brock a few million at the time and Brock was the biggest star in the sport and they would have had to pay M1 potentially 10 times Brocks purse in the 30+ million range in 2009 dollars which is like 45+ million today plus the free advertising of M1 like you mention. It would open up a can of worms and next thing you know Lesnar would be demanding his own company like DeathClutch co promotion rights and others would follow suite.

UFC probably could have gotten Fedor in 2007 if they pushed hard enough and let Fedor wear M1 shit but Fedor's stock rose with Affliction destroying exUFC champs and they got a taste of co promoting with Affliction and saw thats were the real money would be in.