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.

Months ago, we mentioned the possibility of Randy Couture's promotional contract being deemed as unenforceable if it ever hit the court system. It looks like this could be the very issue that Mark Cuban was looking to key in on when he filed his lawsuit. News hit the 'Net that lawsuit revolves around the "retirement" clause in Zuffa's promotional contracts, specifically the length that the contract extends if a fighter retires. Zuffa's contracts hold the fighter to an indefinite amount of time if he retires from fighting under the Zuffa banner.

So, how can this help Couture? If the contract is deemed unenforceable due to the ridiculous amount of time that the contract locks a fighter down, it can be considered void. This would make Couture a free agent and allow HDNet's contract to become effective, and it would also get the wheels rolling on the end product of all of this; Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture.

The chances of this happening aren't as slim as you would think. Most contracts that have any type of time constraint that either involves a no-compete clause or a retirement clause usually cannot go past a certain length of time. This isn't set in stone, of course, but many lawyers will tell you that even a year no-compete clause is excessive in some instances. There are numerous accounts of no-compete clauses being deemed unenforceable for the average working man. Those clauses sometimes have 50-100 mile radius clauses attached as well that say you cannot work within 50-100 miles of your previous employer. Nearly all of those agreements are deemed unenforceable, and it would be an epic failure by the court system to say an indefinite clause in Couture's contract is enforceable. I recently read about a woman who signed a 2 year, 65 mile radius no-compete clause, which she had thrown out. It really doesn't seem that excessive when you compare it to some of the clauses that Zuffa asks of its fighters to sign, but a court found it ridiculous. It's up to the courts to determine if those standards should apply to Couture's retirement clause.

There are other concerns as well. The indefinite time period could simply be shortened to a "reasonable" time period, but would make it tough for an aging Couture to compete once it's over. Also, the severability clause states that pieces of the contract can be deemed unenforceable, but the rest of the contract would be valid.

The culmination of my points here is that the clause will be thrown out. It's almost a certainty that there is no court in America that would uphold a clause that indefinitely locks you into a contract. There are other pieces of the Zuffa contract that could come under fire such as the clause pertaining to a fighter refusing to fight which also carries an "indefinite" time period. Even the clauses in the PRIDE scandal are ridiculous. Sakakibara can't be involved in an MMA enterprise for seven years? Give me a break, Zuffa.

Another day, another lawsuit that could affect Zuffa in the big picture. What happens if the clause is thrown out and Couture is allowed out of his contract? Other fighters may begin researching their potential break from the contract as well. Zuffa has its hands full to the brim, and it's going to be an interesting few months.

I finally got around to listening to the great interview that Fight Opinion Radio did with Ed Fishman. Along with some ballsy questioning regarding the lawsuit he had with PRIDE, there was one comment that interested me. During the interview, Fishman mentioned that Cuban was interested in keeping things small at first as far as HDNet Fights goes. He also mentioned that a deal with another organization may entail television rights that would allow HDNet to broadcast other organization's events. Why would that interest anyone since HDNet has already broadcast IFO's events in the past along with some other events? It refutes a few rumors and really gives us a sense as to what HDNet is probably aiming to do.

HDNet's potential focus

As I thought about those comments, I realized that it's very possible the MMA community may have been getting excited over nothing. It also became apparent that Mark Cuban isn't going to be the savior that many people have discussed recently. Or could I be wrong? I think the answer may be two-fold.

Although Fishman may not know what Cuban's focus is now that Couture has left the UFC, Fedor has signed with M-1, and the business of MMA may be changing because of recent events, he did have insight due to the fact that he was in talks with Cuban at one point in time. For the time being, Fishman had some great insight into the inner workings of Cuban's head. According to a few bits and pieces of the interview, Fishman said that he thought Cuban was more interested in gaining more popularity and subscribers for HDNet. Apparently it was discussed that HDNet was looking for other promotions to broadcast on their network, but I never thought that the possible business deal that Mark Cuban was negotiating could very well be a television deal that would bring M-1 events to HDNet's network.

With that said, Cuban's stance is obviously to make a good buck on MMA, who isn't in it for that? From all the rumors flying around, this makes me really think that the television deal is much more believable and logical for Cuban and HDNet. He gains an organization that has just been bought by an unknown American entertainment company and needs some way of broadcasting events. M-1 is probably looking to go international with the signing of Fedor and the rumors of the organization looking for some big name fighters. In order to go international, it'd be a great plan for them to gain a deal with Cuban to broadcast events on HDNet.

More subscribers, more money, more events, better fights?

Let's look at this hypothetically for a second. M-1 and HDNet sign a deal for two years stating that HDNet will broadcast M-1 events. If we were really being wishful, HDNet somehow gets a production team together and actually broadcasts the events LIVE after a few test runs as they are doing with HDNet Fights. M-1 gains exposure in the U.S. MMA Market. M-1 sees the potential gains they can make by grabbing up free agent fighters and producing some better cards. Better cards begin to translate into more subscribers. Both parties gain from the deal. That's usually how a television deal goes except HDNet sells their package to cable networks and in turn, cable networks have it available. I can press a few buttons on my cable box and have the HDNet package available.

With that situation played out, will HDNet possibly try to make such a deal happen? With all the rumors and Cuban confirming that he has talked to M-1, it's looking very possible. Instead of thinking he would try to co-promote some type of event with M-1 to bring "The Natural" and "The Last Emperor" together in a super fight, helping M-1 gain popularity in the States and adding subscribers to his network seems like a much more plausible effect of Cuban's talks with M-1.

Some news surfaced today that Mark Cuban had confirmed that he was in discussions regarding a possible business deal with the M-1 MixFight Championship. Many fans are taking this news as an indication that he is the possible purchaser of the M-1 MixFight promotion from the news that an “American Entertainment Company” had purchased the company. Other sources around the Internet are claiming that Mark Cuban is not the purchaser of the company. To be perfectly honest, Cuban is more than likely not going to be pushing his stake into MMA this quickly, especially when HDNet Fights just held its first event in the history of the promotion. What interests me the most is the possible business deal that could come from Cuban's end. Will Cuban be able to produce some kind of co-promotional events with M-1? Will HDNet Fights become an international partner with M-1 and help M-1 step into the U.S. Market? More importantly, can HDNet and M-1 bring Josh Barnett and Randy Couture in to create two of the most anticipated matchups in the history of MMA? Let's find out.

Major players looking to help each other?

There isn't much known about M-1 MixFight at this point. We know that there will be an announcement regarding Fedor Emelianenko's contract on October 23rd in New York City. We don't know if the buyers will be revealed, but there are rumors circulating that the new purchasers have hired a notable MMA name to help promote the organization and be the face of the organization. For the new owners, there are a number of promotions that will be looking to strike deals with them because of the legacy of z. A lot of fans may not agree, but people will still buy pay-per-views to see arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

What potential is there for a deal that will bring M-1 some U.S. market exposure and another promotion some international flavor that will not only increase their talent pool, but will also help in grabbing up MMA fans to see the event? Since the reports have been that a major backer is in the mix with M-1, my feeling is that M-1 is looking to begin a major push internationally. Being based in Russia also has many perks. M-1 has access to some of the better talent coming out of Asia and the eastern block countries. Also having a presence in an area that has some ties to some big MMA crowds such as that in Japan is a major plus. Russian MMA is only in its infancy though. Fedor's status in the MMA world will help promote MMA in Russia and hopefully bring some respectful status to it as the Russian public has not accepted MMA like the U.S. has.

With that said, a possible co-promotion with a U.S. based promotion seems to be a brilliant move by M-1. They will not only get their name in the spotlight, something they have been wanting for a long time, but will also be able to show that their fighters can compete in with U.S. fighters. This was the debate with PRIDE vs. UFC, could those fighters compete with the UFC? The bigger picture will be the financial benefits.

Fedor Emelianenko has been said to be a non-drawing fighter in the past. The BodogFIGHT card featuring Fedor vs. Lindland didn't draw much more than a normal card. Bodog hasn't been successful in selling their cards very well though. In a U.S. market, MMA is a bit bigger and a good marketing strategy could potentially make some record sales.

The main organization in line right now is HDNet Fights. The article mentioned above states that Cuban is trying to work a deal. They are a brand new organization looking to draw fans to watch their fights, looking to expand HDNet and add more subscribers, and also wanting to be significant in the MMA market. What a better deal than to bring Fedor to the United States in a co-promotional event. Along with bringing Fedor, we will see some of the better Russian prospects in MMA up against some solid American fighters in a cage. It benefits their MMA program, exposure, and legitimizes HDNet Fights as an organization to be reckoned with.

Will someone else be able to produce?

The bigger question in a HDNet and M-1 partnership will be whether or not M-1 management can lure some of the free agent heavyweights that the world of MMA has long been wanting to see fight Fedor Emelianenko. Josh Barnett has been out of action since December 31st of last year, when he lost a decision to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Barnett only has 5 losses to his record, 3 of those to Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic. His catch wrestling is world renowned as some of the best grappling skills by anyone in his weight class... except for possibly Fedor Emelianenko. The much anticipated battle between these two competitors will be a big draw for hardcore MMA fans and could be promoted well enough to bring in some casual fans.

The fight that everyone has been wanting to see for quite some time pits the legendary UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture against Fedor Emelianenko. We won't get into details about styles and who would eventually win the bout, that's for another time. We will get into the fact that this fight is the most anticipated fight in MMA right now. Amazingly, Couture wants this fight so badly that he ended up leaving the UFC because Dana White was unable to swing a deal to bring Fedor to the UFC. With Couture heading into free agency after 9 more months, could Cuban work a deal and bring him to HDNet and eventually set up the battle between the two legends?

The answer is Yes. Finances aren't even an issue. In a previous article, I chronicled Mark Cuban's rise to riches and the amount of money he has to bankroll that kind of deal is nothing compared to the net worth he has accumulated. Mark Cuban also will have the knowledge of what Dana White did wrong when dealing with Fedor's representation. He could throw money into a co-promotion, help get both HDNet and M-1's name exposure, and only sign Fedor and Barnett to one fight deals. That would enable those fighters to do what they want, something that was argued over during Fedor's negotiations. With that said, Cuban is in an unique position to give the fans what they want in a small amount of time of being in the market of MMA. It could be a very exciting year in 2008.