According to Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle, the UFC was offered a deal that would bring Fedor to the UFC to fight Randy Couture as part of a co-promotion between the two organizations. While this seems like a dream to many fans of mixed martial arts, the UFC rejected that offer. With that said, let's look at the pros and cons that possibly led to this decision. Did the UFC simply say that they just don't do co-promotions? Was there consideration in the possibility only to be dumped by specific reasoning?

The pros for M-1 and the UFC

For the UFC, the pros of this type of deal aren't completely revealed by just looking at the fight on paper. First, Couture is a legend in the UFC. If he brought his A-game to a fight with Fedor and won the contest, the UFC would be sitting pretty. Not only would they have the fighter that defeated "The Last Emperor", but Dana White would most likely make the generalization that the UFC has far superior fighters to the former PRIDE organization.

Leading up the event, the marketing and promotion of arguably the UFC's greatest fighter against the relentless, powerful, and nearly impossible to beat Fedor Emelianenko could garner record buy rates, although the UFC would most likely not promote Fedor well. It would take joint marketing from both promotions to really take full advantage of the PPV aspect. Nonetheless, the UFC would make a signifcant payday on the event along with some solid main card battles.

M-1 has the most potential to come out on top in this course of events, which may be the reason why the UFC simply said "no". First and foremost, what happens if Fedor dismantles Couture? Will that garner some interest in seeing him fight on U.S. cards in a different promotion from fans? It may to an extent. Mostly due to the availability of the cards. Fedor absolutely dominated one of the best Heavyweight fighters that the UFC has seen recently could garner up support for the new M-1 Global and giving it some interest here in the States, but we may never be sure to what extent since the event won't be happening.

It could legitimize Fedor's status as the best fighter in the world and cause fighters from the UFC to look toward fighting Fedor as well, creating interest in future co-promotions or fighters leaving toward the end of their UFC stints to take on Fedor. This is very doubtful, but always a possibility. It's evident that for M-1, a win by Fedor would give them exposure, a claim to the best fighter in the world inside their promotion, and the ability to have sponsors see Fedor and put their money into that promotion

The cons for M-1 and the UFC

The most obvious cons for both organizations is having their fighter lose to an opponent outside the organization. With no ability to turn around and promote the other fighter, it is definitely a problem for any promotion matching an equally great fighter against one of their own to allow a one-fight co-promotion. The biggest con for M-1 is obviously that Fedor being defeated would completely ruin the promotions credibility of having the best fighter in the world inside it. It may also stop other fighters from wanting to meet him in the cage or ring. Couture has stated in some interviews that he would not pursue Fedor is he falls before he reaches him. Other fighters may use that same mentality if Couture takes out Fedor.

With less chance of landing huge heavyweight talent and with no news on potential talent coming into the organization yet, we really have no gauge for how profound a loss would be for the organization. We can all agree that it would be devastating, but would it sink the organization? It's possible.

If Couture loses a battle with Fedor, the UFC doesn't have a lot of disadvantages. Couture is on the downside in his career in terms of age. He's fought at a tremendously high level, but many fans would simply attribute his loss to old age. The only real disadvantage to the UFC is the potential hype it creates for M-1. It isn't a high cost for a Couture loss however. The UFC will still have the best fighters in the world at their disposal, and will most likely continue to maintain that roster.

Final thoughts

Either way you look at it, the debate as to whether or not this deal would have been beneficial for both promotions if it had happened isn't really a debate. The UFC doesn't seem to benefit extraordinarily in this deal. They also don't seem to lose much either, which is great for them, but it gives M-1 more upside.

Let's just keep this simple. Obviously, the UFC doesn't want to acknowledge that another organization has what it wants. It won't help out other organizations expose their name either. That's the number 1 reason why this deal did not happen.

If we want to speculate a few other reasons, look at the pros and cons. The UFC gains to make a lot of money, but at the expense of acknowledging another promotion and giving casual fans a view at one of the most destructive forces out there. That could possibly help sell M-1 in the States by allowing more fans to see Fedor than his HDNet appearance at New Year's Eve. In the end, the card probably wouldn't make more money than a regular UFC event, and the UFC could probably produce its own card without Fedor that would make just as much if not more money than that type of event.

M-1 seems to have overextended their thinking in the offering of the deal. It looks as if they feel that a Fedor win would propel their standing, when it only helps slightly in exposing Fedor to the casual fanbase. They stand to lose much more than they will gain. The UFC seems to gain little, lose little, but will have helped M-1 at least get some exposure. That is something we know the UFC never wants to do. Look for this clash of the titans to occur in M-1 near the end of the year, or not at all unless the UFC changes their stance. The UFC could also slap a court battle on Couture toward the end of his contract if he decides to fight Fedor for a different promotion. One huge mess that the UFC really doesn't want to deal with right now, but will eventually cross that road.

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.

"M-1" in this article refers to the purchased M-1 Mixfight organization who's new variation name has yet to be disclosed.

On October 4th, Frank Trigg of TAGGRadio broke the news that Fedor Emelianenko had finally ended all the rumors and signed with a new organization that was comprised of former M-1 Mixfight organizers and some new investors. The deal was to be for $10 million dollars, although it was non discussed if this was for a number of fights or for a timeframe. Now, Loretta Hunt at The Fight Network is CONFIRMING that Fedor Emelianenko has signed with an organization in Russia, but it actually is M-1. The kick is that M-1 has been purchased by an undisclosed American entertainment company. Here's the official announcement:

PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko has committed exclusively to the new ownership of M-1 Mix-Fight Championship, which has been purchased outright by an undisclosed American entertainment-related company, according to a source close to the deal who spoke on the condition of anonymity... ...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. A formal announcement of the purchase, as well as plans for the new organization’s first event, is expected by the end of this month.

Josh Gross over at Sherdog also confirmed on an episode of the podcast "The Beatdown" with TJ Desantis that the rumor had a lot of validity and that we would definitely know toward the end of the month as to what was going on. He stated that he wouldn't be surprised at a statement when they make their way to the East Coast at the end of October. Hunt's source remained anonymous obviously, but she basically states that the deal is all but done. A lot of confidence in such a mystery source.

It seems that the saga that was Fedor's negotiations with the various suitors to his services has ended. We went from UFC staffers and Dana White telling us that a Fedor Emelianenko signing was all but inevitable to the curve ball that is Finkelstein's M-1 promotion being bought out and signing Fedor to a deal. With that now confirmed, we end one saga and begin a new one. There are many questions that come about when talking about the implications of such a deal. Is Fedor signed for one-fight, multiple fights? Who will Fedor fight? Where will he fight? One of the more interesting questions is who is this mysterious "American entertainment company"? We'll look at all of that and more as we take an in-depth look at the new chapter being opened in the Fedor Emelianenko saga.

Why sign with M-1?

It's obvious that fans all over the Internet that are heavily involved in the sport of MMA are furious, upset, confused, and some of even relieved that Fedor has finally signed. Many fans are calling Fedor a "wuss" or saying he's "scared" to fight the UFC's elite. Others simply state that it was logical for him to go where his demands were most likely met with open arms. What do you think? Why did he sign with M-1?

As I have previously wrote about, Fedor's demands were an obvious point that the UFC was failing to work with. The issue about Fedor competing in Combat Sambo, issues involving Finkelstein wanting a co-promotional event with the UFC, Fedor wanting to fight in front of his countrymen, and Fedor being matched up with only top competitors. Apparently, it was too tough for Dana White to secure a deal for him because of these demands. He had stated in previous interviews that the Russians were "crazy". That certainly didn't help matters. Looking at that list of demands, it's pretty obvious why Fedor signed with M-1. M-1 is in Russia and it was ran by his manager, Vadim Finkelstein, along with a few other backers. Here's a good list of the reasons why I think he signed with M-1:

1. Fedor will most likely be able to compete in the Combat Sambo Championships without any problems. It will promote MMA in Russia. It will also allow him to stay close to home.
   
2. Fedor's management ink the deal with their own promotion, a promotion that they now run for an American company. Finkelstein's whole perogative from the beginning was to get more exposure for M-1. This is a brilliant deal for an American company because they can leave the company in the hands of someone who already had a passion for promoting the organization and elevating MMA in Russia as well as getting exposure for M-1. It will also allow the American company to allow Finkelstein to run things in his own country where his connections will no doubt come in very handy.
   
3. Instead of trying to work out a co-promotion out through Fedor's contract with another promotion, M-1 will now have arguably one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. They may have an easier time getting co-promotional deals together and getting their name out there. No more being shoved around by organizations like Bodog, more events with emphasis on the M-1 name.
   
4. Fedor stays in Russia, will be able to see his family, and above all, will promote MMA in Russia and help progress it, an ambassador to MMA in Russia. Call him "Captain Russia".
   
5. Fedor is most likely under a non-exclusive contract. Since Finkelstein is his manager AND running M-1, there are multiple possibilities. They could contract him for fights in other organizations while always having a fallback in M-1.

So, you still think it was a bad idea? For the fans, sure. We don't get to see Fedor going up against the best in the world in the UFC Heavyweight Division. But from Fedor's demands, was it a bad deal for him? Absolutely not. He got everything he could have wanted from the deal, including a rumored $10 million dollars, which goes a long way in Russia.

M-1 has him, now what?

Now that M-1 has Fedor under their umbrella, what happens now? There are various rumors out there. For now, we can take Loretta Hunt's quote to heart and believe that he will probably headline an inaugural event in January or February for the new M-1 variant organization. Before this deal was confirmed, we had been hearing some rumors about a possible year end fight for Fedor. Josh Gross mentioned that there were rumors involving K-1 veteran Mark Hunt rematching Fedor in an end of the year K-1 Hero's card. Obviously, it sounds like that won't be happening.

We can always speculate all kinds of other possibilities as well. Finkelstein could manage Fedor's non-exclusivity to M-1 and get some deals done with big promotions such as K-1 Hero's for some matchups in Japan. Fedor's PRIDE reign made him a star in Japan and they did coin him with the nickname "The Last Emperor". He was a good draw to the Japanese fans. I'm not entirely sure who the hell they could get to match him, but Josh Barnett's name always pops up in those kinds of discussions.

More than likely, Fedor will fight under the new M-1 branded name that we will see come out in the coming weeks. I'm not sure at all who he would fight that is within the M-1 organization that would give him a challenge. I'm not sure what M-1's take would be on Fedor. Do they challenge him or do they give him a fighter of much lesser ability right off the bat? Fedor's skills shouldn't be rusy, he will have just done the Sambo Championships the month before hand.

Another possibility is signing former UFC champ Ricco Rodriguez to some type of fight. Right now, it'd probably be a lopsided fight, but if Ricco could get into some decent shape and perform as he did when he fought Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to a decision, it may not be a bad fight. That's my addition to the Fedor speculation mill. Maybe he gets killed, but I'd watch it.

"American Entertainment Company"?

This is probably the most intriguing bit of news from the deal. It almost makes me excited with anticipation of the press conference because there are a lot of what ifs. Will this be the coming out for Mark Cuban to declare his insane interest in MMA for the future? Has ProElite made a bold move in the MMA market? Who else could it possibly be? The general consensus is that it's Mark Cuban. Even on Fedor's Russian website forum, the consensus is that it may be Mark Cuban, and even Russian MMA fans are disappointed that Fedor isn't going to fight in the UFC. First, let's discuss the unbelievable possibilities there are if Mark Cuban has bought M-1. Cuban is not an idiot.

Mark Cuban buys M-1 under the HDNet name. If that is the case, this could possibly be one of the smartest moves in MMA. Think about it... seriously. Cuban would have single handedly in one month's time, created both a U.S. MMA promotion and an International MMA promotion under the same banner, signed some decent UFC veterans under one promotion, and possibly the best pound for pound heavyweight in the world with another promotion. Not only that, but he's also added a tremendous amount of talent from the Russia MMA scene that will now be able to mix matchups between each other and U.S. competitors. Furthermore, he has nearly solidified the super bout in Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko. This is all hypothetical of course and relies on a Cuban buyout of M-1, but the possibilities are there.

Could we also be smelling Ed Fishman in the picture somewhere? As stated by MMADigest in an article regarding Cuban, Cuban is very serious about getting into MMA and having serious partners, including Ed Fishman and maybe Vadim Finkelstein and company. 

Also, the HDNet would be able to co-promote both organizations together and have events together. The possibilities are endless, and Cuban has the money to pick up any free agents he wants, and begin to pull fighters away from the UFC if he chooses to try to. We may have some exciting times ahead of us.

Would ProElite make such a bold move?

With all the buyouts from ProElite, it's always a possibility. They have a good amount of talent that they've obtained, but to be perfectly honest, I doubt ProElite had the money left to push it into a purchase of M-1, unless M-1 went for fairly cheap. I will say that the overall structure of the M-1 company now is inline with how ProElite has done business in the past. When they have bought an organization, they have left the management team intact to run the company under the ProElite umbrella. Many companies have done that before, so it wouldn't be a huge tipoff as to it being ProElite.

In my opinion, it's more likely that Cuban had some type of deal going or another organization did.

**UPDATE**

Frank Trigg has added some more rumors to the mill as far as who has bought the M-1 Mixfight company. Although not 100% positive, Trigg has stated that he believes it is not Mark Cuban or Ed Fishman who has bought the company. This throws a big curveball into the race, but ProElite seems to still be in the running. Other rumors involve the World Wrestling Entertainment or the WWE. Although Cuban isn't completely out of the rumors, Trigg has been correct in talking about this rumor and he did accurately break the story to the MMA community.

ProElite still seems rather out of it considering all the money they have recently put into many of the other organizations that they have bought. The WWE is a very interesting prospect because the key demographic that MMA has been taking from is pro wrestling fans. Wrestling has seen a drop in their numbers due to the rising popularity of mixed martial arts. Are they going to start trying to take a share from the pie? It's possible. Hopefully, if they are a player in this race, they don't turn M-1 into a extravagant spectacle, although the Asian MMA community would love that.

The other rumor involved Zuffa. Did Zuffa pull one over all of our heads and just flat out decide to fund M-1 and get Fedor as part of the deal? I doubt it. Considering they were adamant in not allowing Fedor to be involved in some of his demands, I would say they finally succumbed to dealing with Fedor. It's always a possibility that Zuffa is taking a new approach though. After being burned in the PRIDE deal, maybe they did put some money into M-1 to help develop the Russia and Eastern Block country fighters as well as enable themselves to use Fedor and co-promote with M-1. It would also allow them a new entry point into the Asian market without the same approach as they used with PRIDE. Instead of disbanding the organization, Finkelstein and company could run it with their connections and experience in the market. It seems very unlikely. Zuffa may have changed their tune though.

Sherdog has some things to add as well:

Sherdog.com has learned the new organization will run under the M-1 Global moniker and plans to promote shows in Russia, Japan and the United States with the first event possibly coming to fruition as soon as New Year's Eve. A news conference has been tentatively scheduled for Oct. 23 in New York City to announce the signing as well as to introduce the new promotion to the media. 

So, we may see Fedor much soon than January or February. It will also be under a global M-1 name, and it seems to hint that there possibly could be some sort of promotion in the works soon. Fedor's representation will be in the States at the end of this month. Will M-1 co-promote with HERO's or do their own thing here in the States possibly? It could be a very exciting time in MMA toward the end of the year. We will find out on October 23rd.

Exciting?

I'm actually a bit excited as to hear what company actually purchased M-1. I'm not excited at the prospect of a lackluster free agent market of heavyweights that Fedor can grab to fight. There is only one real battle out there that we can see in Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko. Mark Cuban has the money to sign fighters, and buy an organization like M-1. If he has done it, it will be an exciting time in MMA and could possibly become a highly competitive market in the U.S. as well as internationally. I doubt it would happen very quickly though, and Cuban wouldn't have access to the best fighters in the world due to them being tied up in the UFC. UFC fighters will have other options though. Until we actually hear the outcome of this deal from the press conference though, for now.. all we know is that Fedor won't be fighting in the UFC and we won't be seeing those big marquee matchups we hoped for anytime soon.

Also check out our in-depth look at the International Fight League's problems with the IFL Grand Prix in today's postings as well.