MMA Weekly is confirming that Fedor Emelianenko will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in matchup between two top five heavyweights on July 19th of this year. Previous rumors that have been leaked out suggest the bout will take place in Dallas, Texas at American Airlines Arena with HDNet providing the broadcast and Affliction footing the bill. Details aside, this matchup will be the first to prove if Fedor Emelianenko still has the tenacity and skills we've seen in the past, and it will put him well on his way to proving to the fanbase that he is in fact deserving of being the greatest.

This is a bout that has taken years to happen and has been years in the making. In the days when PRIDE reigned supreme and feud between which promotion's fighters were better, Tim Sylvia vs. Fedor Emelianenko was a dream matchup that fans very much wanted to see happen. Rumors surfaced that Fedor had ducked Sylvia, and Sylvia had ducked Fedor, but both rumors didn't have much weight behind them. Sylvia was bound by the UFC's contracts, and Liddell was chosen to head to Japan for the Grand Prix to take on Wanderlei Silva. Of course, we all know that the matchup between Liddell and Silva didn't happen, and the rumor surfaced that Sylvia was ducking Fedor. The fact is that the matchup just wasn't available in those days, and now we'll finally get to see the showdown.

The difference between then and now is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Randy Couture. During Fedor's PRIDE reign, it wasn't inconceivable to believe that Sylvia had a great shot at defeating Fedor with his huge size. Today, many fans still believe he can simply stand and pepper Fedor to a victory. Nogueira submitted Sylvia with nice transitions, and Couture rocked Sylvia with an overhand that helped him neutralize Sylvia for the rest of the bout. Both fights made Sylvia seem vulnerable, a much different perception than the previous years he had.

How should this fight play out today? Fedor remains an explosive fighter with the best transitional MMA skills that we've ever seen. He's good to great in nearly all areas of the game, and his ability to reverse his fortunes in the middle of a fight is a testament to his survivability and diversity in his skillset. In my opinion, Sylvia is outmatched decisively in this matchup.

Sylvia has a non-existent ground game to finish a fight, and his only real advantage on the ground is his length. Length has been something that Fedor Emelianenko has never had problems attacking. His size likely won't stop Fedor from taking him down, and the only opponent that Fedor had problems taking down was the real life Goliath in Hong Man Choi. Fedor has explosively put bigger opponents to the ground with ease, and Sylvia will likely be no different.

The only advantage that appears to be valid is Sylvia's standup skills. While he does have crisp strikes that don't loop like many heavy handed heavyweights, will he be able to put Fedor out with a few? Not before he gets put to the floor. While I think this is a great matchup for Fedor and Sylvia, Fedor should prevail easily. One-dimensional fighters such as Sylvia are a beast of the past. Nonetheless, get ready for a showdown in the deep South.

Above is the bout between K-1 World Champion striker Semmy Schilt and Fedor Emelianenko. Schilt is a better striker than Sylvia by far, yet has no ground game. He shows some impressive submission defense, but gets crushed throughout the fight by Fedor's superior ground tactics. This could very well be what could happen. The only major flaw here is that this fight took place in Fedor's first PRIDE battle, and he's probably much better nowadays against seemingly the same type of fighter as Schilt.

Reports from yesterday revealed that Affliction was possibly behind the rumored deal that would bring former UFC heavyweight Tim Sylvia and PRIDE Heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko together at the American Airlines Arena on July 19th. Affliction is a well known brand of MMA clothing that produces street clothes than litter most MMA broadcasts. Now, it looks as if the clothing brand will make its way into the actual business of creating MMA events.

Unfortunately, this could be their very last. Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com reported some unconfirmed rumors regarding Affliction’s role in the matchup:

MMAPayout.com has received multiple unconfirmed reports of an offer worth slightly more than $2 million per fight from Affliction to Emelianenko. Sylvia is under contract to Adrenaline, the successor to M-1 Global which dissolved last month after parting ways with Fedor.

Interestingly enough, the event will mix in three different promotions. Affliction and M-1 Global will co-promote with each other on this event while HDNet Fights will indirectly have a connection due to the use of American Airlines Arena, a television deal on HDNet, and of course the connection between the actual fight promotion and HDNet itself.

There is one glaring problem that can be seen by nearly any fan reading that quote. If this rumor ends up being true, how can Affliction blow over $2 million dollars on one fighter on the card? Sylvia alone was reported to grab nearly $300,000 per fight from Adrenaline, but that number may be only for Adrenaline MMA cards only. Regardless, Sylvia will get a substantial amount of money, not to mention the undercard fighters that will also get paid.

Unless by some miracle that Mark Cuban has a brain fart at the day of negotiations and somehow gives Affliction huge money to televise the fights, I don’t see how Affliction can possibly make a profit on this event. Sylvia is not a drawing power and neither is Fedor. HDNet isn’t available in every home, and it’s a subscription service that some people are simply not going to pay for just to see one fight.

Affliction must know something we don’t because it seems completely illogical from our standpoint as observers to believe that they could make a profit from this show. Their intention could be to come out with a bang to produce hype around the new promotion, but I think they are underestimating the amount of losses that they could see.

I guess we’ll find out in the coming months what Affliction has up their sleeves. It should be interesting to see if these rumors are true.

Yesterday was an exciting day for MMA fans everywhere. Tim Sylvia had reportedly signed on to fight PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko on July 19 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas, but reports are now coming out of Russia that contradict the previous report from Sherdog’s Greg Savage… big surprise. Fedor’s manager, Vadim Finkelstein, states on the M-1 Mixfight website:

“At the moment we can’t certainly say the bout will take place come July because the contract is not signed,” Finkelstein is quoted as saying on the website M1Mixfight.com. “However, the both parties are involved in the negotiation process and we are about to break the finishing tape although we haven’t come to an agreement concerning every detail as of yet”

Great, some more obstacles to bull through in order to make this fight happen is exactly what made other fights disintegrate. The quote makes it sound as if they are close to a deal which begs the question as to how much money was thrown Fedor’s way. I highly doubt they gave him the $2 million dollar contract, but it could have been close. Hopefully we will see this deal come through.

Kimbo vs. Thompson to be announced this week

Moving to the other end of the spectrum of quality matchups, Kimbo Slice will officially be announced to take on James Thompson later this week according to NBCSports.com. Sam Caplan reported recently that Thompson was the frontrunner to take on the street brawling Kimbo, and it’s definitely a smart move for EliteXC to feature this fight on CBS.

It may not be a quality matchup, but it will give the viewership tuning in a sense of what Kimbo does… knock people out! Thompson possesses one of the weakest chins in the MMA game today, and the light switch flips off once he gets tagged by a couple blows from most of his opponents. His matchup with Kimbo should be no different, but you never know what to expect from Thompson.

Kendall Grove vs. Evan Tanner

Evan confirmed on his website that he will in fact be taking on TUF winner Kendall Grove over the summer. On paper, the matchup is intriguing because Tanner’s history and quality of opponents far outweighs Grove’s record. Grove has been weak chinned in his recent fights, but he still possesses some range, a large reach, and a formidable height for him to use in all facets of the fight. 

I think this fight comes down to Evan Tanner’s abilities to pound out Grove. Can he get through the length of Grove? If so, he could easily expose Grove’s chin to a crushing blow to end it. Regardless of my assessment, it should still be a tough fight to call at this point. We’ll see how Evan does with the training.

Burkman vs. Hazelett confirmed for June 21

Josh Burkman will reportedly take on Dustin Hazelett in June according to MMAWeekly.com. I’m not high on Josh Burkman’s style of fighting, but he could spell trouble for Hazelett if he can maintain top control on the ground without getting submitted. Hazelett is a very slick grappler, one of the better grapplers in the UFC, and he has smooth transitions from guard to a submission position. I’ve been impressed by his jiu-jitsu skills, and I don’t see a reason why he can’t win this one. The only real threat is Burkman’s strikes, which are looping, slow, and very easy to spot.

Ben Saunders vs. Jared Rollins at UFC 86

Looks like the UFC is rewarding Rollins for a great fight against Koppenhaver with matchup in the Octagon. Saunders has some abilities to avoid the ground and pound, and his length will definitely cause some problems for Rollins. Also, Saunders is training out of American Top Team, which will likely increase his skills substantially by the time we see him at UFC 86.

Although this has been a rumor that has been flying around the MMA community for most of the day today, Greg Savage over at Sherdog.com is confirming that Fedor Emelianenko will in fact take on former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia on July 19 at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas. Savage and Evgeni Kogan were able to obtain this quote from the PRIDE Heavyweight champion:

"[Sylvia] is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight champion, which is important," Emelianenko said via telephone from Stary Oskol, Russia. "I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard for this fight."

Details haven’t been disclosed as of yet, but the event is scheduled in Dallas on the 19th of July and it has been indicated to Savage that it will air on HDNet. The promotion behind the move could very well be Affliction, according to the article.

Get ready for a huge bout… literally. Sylvia’s size could cause problems, but as Sylvia stated after his matchup with Nogueira, “I hate jiu-jitsu”. This should be a classic striker vs. grappler, but Fedor possesses devastatingly quick striking coupled with awesome takedowns and unparalleled submission abilities. Fedor does, however, lack the tough skin to avoid cuts, and the match may take place in a cage which would give Sylvia a slight advantage.

I’m glad Monte gave us a quality fight for fans to be really excited for. This is probably one of the first times that I’m glad for both sides of the matchup. Fedor finally stepped up to take on a legitimately tough opponent in Sylvia, and Sylvia moved away from the UFC as he had hoped for more money and the opportunity to take on Fedor. Most importantly, it works out great for the fans of this sport.

News from the forefront of negotiations between Fedor Emelianenko and the number of suitors in the sweepstakes to obtain the PRIDE Heavyweight champion has been limited to this update from Adam Swift at MMAPayout.com:

The never ending story that is the Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes continues after the collapse of M-1 Global with no end in sight. EliteXC reportedly made a four fight, seven figure offer, however, the sides appear to be far a part on terms with Gary Shaw's statement that Fedor wants $2 million per fight. The UFC is also reportedly interested, but the two sides remained far apart last year despite prolong negotiations.

The deal between Fedor and EliteXC was reportedly between $350,000 - $500,000 per fight with an added pay-per-view bonus that was likely based on buys according to MMAjunkie.com. Fedor was said to have been wanting at least $2 million dollars per fight, which sparked a lot of criticism throughout the MMA community as to who could actually afford such a high salary for a fighter who is an unproven PPV draw. Both sides are believed to still be talking, but I'm very hesitant to think that ProElite can pull this off.

First and foremost, Fedor's pay-per-view potential is minimal at best right now. The only thing that ProElite will be able to offer is a fight on network television with the CBS deal to get Fedor media exposure. If he can garner a casual following and have an impressive win, could he see big PPV numbers? Doubtful. Fighters like Liddell and Couture have created huge numbers due to their long withstanding exposure to the fanbase over time and having a track record of great battles over their careers.  Hardcore fans may see Fedor as having those qualities, but not in front of the much larger American casual fanbase.

Secondly, two million dollars per fight is steep for any promotion in the business and drastically hurts the bottom line once an event has taken place. The UFC is really the only promotion out there that could take such a hit from their revenues and still come out on top. ProElite would literally sink their event into the red by giving Fedor that much cash per fight.

Will we see Fedor in the States anytime soon? Unless he sees some drastic changes in the offers he is getting, I'm very pessimistic in his chances of coming to a U.S. Based MMA promotion. The biggest problem is that Fedor and his management don't realize that he can only be paid what promotions are willing to give him. I imagine they may be playing the whole “offer and counter offer” game right now to see where that level is. If that's the case, it could very well be a matter of time before we see Fedor in the UFC or EliteXC.

It looks like the show is over for M-1 Global. Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage confirmed earlier reports that Fedor Emelianenko was headed to free agency in an interview with M-1 Global’s CEO Monte Cox. Cox stated that Fedor had never signed a contract with the promotion, and that the letter of intent only prohibited him from fighting outside the promotion while both sides were talking money.

Cox stated later that attorney fees from the negotiations went “well into six-figures” without ever getting a contract signed. He also said that Fedor’s side commanded a significant amount of money that would have made it much harder to be successful.

Fedor’s demands

One of the issues that came up in the article was regarding the amounts of money that Fedor was requesting in the contract negotiations. Although we don’t have specific numbers, the question comes up as to whether or not it was Fedor’s management and Fedor himself asking for large amounts, or if M-1 Global simply blew their wad on the signing bonus and simply couldn’t pay for a fighter like Fedor to fight at over $1 million per fight.

In researching Sibling Sports back when M-1 Global first broke onto the scene, it was evident that Sibling didn’t have a large amount of money to play with. Their finances didn’t show any large backers like the Fertittas, and their business sense was mostly in theatrical events instead of sports. We still remained optimistic because of the addition of Fedor to the promotion, but logical minds prevailed in predicting this downfall.

This is likely a case of both sides being at fault. M-1 Global has held at least one small event in Europe, but has likely not made a big profit from the event. They spent $1.5 million dollars on a signing bonus to Fedor Emelianenko and have yet to create a roster of fighters or a larger stage event in the States or in Europe. With little to no money coming in and a lot of dollars moving out, it’s likely that the penny pinching is about to begin. Fedor’s demands were likely too massive for M-1 Global to deal with as well, and as Cox stated in the interview, he feels that the promotion can now turn a profit without sinking big money into Fedor. I tend to agree considering Fedor isn’t a draw in the States… yet.

Differences in philosophy

Another issue that sprouted during the interview was the differences in philosophy between M-1 Global’s American division and their division in Europe that was being handled mainly by Fedor’s management team and M-1 Mixfight administration. Cox had this to say about the dealings:

"We have different philosophies," Cox said. "It's just the way that it is. For me, I'm not as concerned about all the glitz and the glamour of the show; I just want to have good fights and I want to make money. That was my goal."

I expected this to be a problem for the promotion in terms of production ideas for different regions of the world. It should have also been expected that Cox would likely have a much different view of how to run an event since he is much more an organizer of small promotions in the Midwest than giant productions like the UFC or EliteXC.

I admire Cox’s stance on producing good fights. For far too long, we’ve seen some terribly lopsided battles on Japanese cards that have produced ratings to an extent, but were nothing more than a spectacle. Those fans who hated those fights still need to understand that spectacle makes money in Japan, and that’s likely where M-1 Global Europe was heading.

In the States, I’m not so inclined to believe that unbelievably giant Koreans taking on WWE wrestlers would produce the same type of ratings, but different kinds of spectacles can produce the same type of hysteria. Kimbo Slice is one of those guys. He may not be the greatest technical striker in the game today, but his legendary status that has accumulated through Youtube videos has only helped in grabbing viewership to see him knockout a recognizable name from the past.

In the end, I think it still comes down to money when we talk about differences in producing an event. From the quote, it sounds as if M-1 Global Europe wanted the production values of PRIDE and M-1 Global in the States wanted quality fights with less production values. Monte’s idea would be a much better business model to make money by far, and it was probably the best idea for the promotion in its infancy. Creating PRIDE production values costs a lot of money, and I’m sure that was a deciding factor as well to break off the partnership.

Final thoughts

Zach Arnold called it… I bow to the Nostradamus of FightOpinion.com. The interesting part about all of this is that it very much seems like M-1 Global had less money than what was originally thought. Fedor’s demands were extremely high, and their European division wanted “glitz and glamour” over actual quality in their fights. The differences amount to one side wanting PRIDE, and the other side wanting HDNet Fights, and we all know what happened to PRIDE. Monte Cox made a smart move regardless if M-1 Global in the States succeeds or not.

Nokaut.com is reporting today that EliteXC has offered Fedor Emelianenko a four-fight deal over 18 months that could see the PRIDE Heavyweight champion moving to the U.S. promotion to be featured on CBS in their upcoming broadcasts.

According to Nokaut, Fedor's first two bouts would be exclusively featured on CBS, and the last two fights would be pushed to pay-per-view, a first in EliteXC's existence. It's undetermined whether pay-per-view means on Showtime, or if EliteXC will be using an actual PPV provider, but it does make for some interesting theories as to who EliteXC will throw at "The Last Emperor" in his last two bouts.

The big question here is whether or not this is a good move for Fedor Emelianenko. Is he actually looking to up his stake in the American market? Some would say that it really doesn't matter considering the purses he is likely collecting in Japan for fighting freak shows. Others would say that Fedor wants to prove himself in the States, and what better way to gain fame with the massive exposure that CBS can provide.

I would love to think that Fedor wants to eventually just throw money aside and fight mixed martial arts to really prove that he is the best in the world, but I don't believe that's the case. The UFC has the best talent right now, but it also stands to lose a lot of talent this year. Arlovski, Sylvia, and Couture could all potentially be gone by the end of the year. Where will they go? EliteXC may have the dollars to begin a massive undertaking in populating their Heavyweight division with these big names. Add in some great ratings, and we suddenly have a promotion with recognizable fighters on a national TV network. It could also provide Fedor with a proving ground to all his critics that isn't in the UFC's controlling contract structure.

Could this be a good move for Fedor? Yes, it definitely could work out for everyone. Fedor has likely received a lucrative offer from EliteXC that also has the added incentive of huge exposure in the American market on CBS. The pay-per-views will likely gain buys from the exposure, and I'm sure Fedor's deal will work in a cut in revenues. Fedor's cash flow increases, his exposure to the American market increases, and the outlook for EliteXC's heavyweight division increases with his presence. Couture will likely want to pursue a fight with Fedor, and we could see other heavyweights make the exodus from the UFC to a newly empowered EliteXC on network television.

Keep an eye on this story, it could get very interesting.

In connection with my previous post revolving around my thoughts on M-1 Global going down the drain and likely going to fold by the end of the year, I wanted to touch on a comment that was highlighted by much of the MMA community in regards to Sherdog's article about Fedor's status. Here's the quote:

Once Emelianenko is clear of his M-1 obligations he is expected to field offers from several MMA promotions. The early leader, according to the same source, comes from the purported partnership between Affliction and Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which Sherdog.com has learned could debut on June 28.

"Right now we don't have any comments," Golden Boy Promotions Public Relations Director Romiro Gonzalez told Sherdog.com. "[Oscar] is in the sports business. He is loading up on all the fields, especially boxing. We're moving into soccer, MLS. There is nothing official we can say."

Give me a break... honestly. I've grown tired of hearing about the possibility of Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy promotion entering the MMA scene. Haven't they done their analysis? Haven't they researched what has happened to other promotions in the game? It's bad news for anyone coming into a market in which one promotion holds exclusive rights to some of the best fighters in the world. M-1 Global, BodogFIGHT, and other promotions have had major problems attracting talent. M-1 Global will probably succumb to this problem alongside bad business practices. BodogFIGHT is essentially finished in creating their own headlining events and now sponsors other promotions, and even EliteXC has problems attracting big name for their other divisions.

Can Golden Boy/Affliction really matter even if they produce Couture vs. Fedor? I don't think so. Even with HBO backing them because of De La Hoya's ties from boxing, the promotion would have huge problems producing opponents for Fedor that are relevant unless guys like Barnett, Sylvia, or Arlovski either signed on with HBO, or left the UFC to sign on with HBO. The UFC has a huge edge in attracting fighters, and even EliteXC has more of an advantage with the new CBS deal. HBO is still a premium channel, and I don't think it's likely that it will produce a complete card that matters with the exception of creating one fight in Couture vs. Fedor.

Things would have to change drastically in the industry for Golden Boy to have a chance.

Last year, Zach Arnold at FightOpinion requested my presence on one of his radio shows that talked about the announcement regarding Sibling Sports buying M-1 Mixfight and creating a new global mixed martial arts promotion known as M-1 Global. In that discussion, the question came up as to how many actual events will M-1 Global be able to pull off before folding. Unlike myself, Zach was very skeptical as he always is about these new promotions, and my excitement over Fedor Emelianenko actually fighting blinded my vision. Zach figured that maybe one event would happen before the bolts would begin to unscrew, and it seems that his prediction has come true. He was right, and now more news is coming out that supports the idea of M-1 Global going down.

In surprising news, Fedor Emelianenko apparently only signed a letter of intent with M-1 Global and never signed an actual contract with terms. I can't begin to contemplate what was going through Sibling Sports' CEO Monte Cox when he heard about this news. He either knew about this, or was once again completely in the dark regarding the news. Sherdog.com reported that Cox declined to comment which points my thoughts toward Cox possibly being bewildered at what's going on.

First rule in contract law: You have to actually sign someone to a contract for law to actually apply. M-1 Global really has no way to keep him in the promotion or commit him to any terms that they may have reported in the past. The only stipulation reported was the return of the $1.5 million dollar signing bonus, which Fedor will likely return in order to pursue other opportunities.

I'll focus on Fedor's potential in another piece, but for now, what's going to happen to M-1 Global? I'm going with Zach Arnold's Nostradamus prediction that the promotion will likely fold soon. Small time profits in Europe don't seem to be the aim of the promotion, and it looks like Monte Cox is running the same small time promotion he did in Iowa only in Europe. I highly doubt it will last much longer without any names to put into the promotion or attract for televised events.

We could see a M-1 Global collapse by the end of the year.

I hate this idea just as much as the fans do, but it’s definitely a possibility. MMAFightLine is reporting that Fedor and the UFC are currently discussing the possibility of a one-fight deal to take place in the Octagon:

Sources close to negotiations between the UFC and Fedor's management have informed MMAFightline.com that the two sides are currently discussing a possible one fight deal that would bring Fedor to the cage, presumably to face Randy Couture.

It is unknown whether Couture would end his lawsuit and come back to the UFC to face Fedor if the UFC were able to offer such a fight, but Couture has stated on numerous occasions that this is the only fight that makes sense at this stage of his career.

It should be noted that nothing is eminent at this point and negotiations are in the general discussion phase. If made, however, the deal would be unprecedented. The UFC is notorious for locking up fighters in long term deals and not allowing them to leave as champions. We'll have more on this story as it develops.

Many fans are a bit surprised by this turn of events, especially considering the fact that Fedor could potentially have a great run in the UFC with Nogueira currently holding the interim title. The problem that many fans forget is that Fedor has a huge problem with being bounded to any one promotion. He loves to keep his options open to fighting in Japan and close to home in Russia, and nobody seems to have an answer on how to lure him away from that.

On the other side of the argument, Fedor signing a one-fight deal kills the UFC’s chances of using him for marketing more fights and making massive revenue on his status. It could also hurt the UFC’s credibility as having such a great Heavyweight division, especially if he comes into the cage and crushes Couture. The only logical explanation is that Couture is stating this will be his last fight in mixed martial arts and Fedor will be his last opponent. If Couture loses, he went out fighting the best fighter in the world in his weight class. If he wins, there is potential for him to keep fighting or he will simply go out on top with a legacy as being one of the greats in mixed martial arts.

If Fedor happens to win, the UFC will likely try to extend Fedor’s contract, but of course, I’m sure his management team will try to stop that from happening. He’ll have some big money bouts left in Japan, unless the UFC can produce some more bouts from him in the UFC. I’m sure big Tim Sylvia would like a shot. Bottom line is that Fedor crushing Couture and then leaving the UFC on that note will make fans wonder and want to see Fedor more. It’d be a good exposure move for Fedor possibly getting more fights in the States, but it sure wouldn’t help the credibility of the UFC’s division with Nogueira having the title and Couture being manhandled.

Fedor could be a huge name in the UFC, but a one-fight deal isn’t going to allow the UFC to do so. Either way, Couture vs. Fedor could happen in the cage and it will expose Fedor to a casual fanbase that may be very impressed.