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Update on the Fedor Negotiation saga..

by LR 9/4/2007 4:00:00 AM

After the long Labor Day weekend relaxation that I had, I was able to finally catch up on my podcasts this morning. Specifically, I was listening to TJ Desantis and Josh Gross on Beatdown. On the August 30th show, Gross mentioned a lot of the issues that I had questions about when I was researching my previous article. Here are the main points that were mentioned during the podcast that I think are very interesting and give us clues to the insight of the Russian representation of Fedor.

The champion's clause that was mentioned in the previous article is essentially a way for the UFC to protect themselves from having a champion run off with the belt if that fighter is able to obtain it. In the past, the UFC has lost champions due to contract disputes, ie. Jens Pulver, BJ Penn, etc. This clause has stipulations such as arbitration for compensation if he decides to leave once the contract is up. Gross mentioned some similar circumstances such as a Murilo Bustamante situation where he left the UFC when he won the UFC Middleweight championship.
Gross mentioned that the two biggest roadblocks as of the last meeting were the Combat Sambo and the guarantee that Fedor will get big fights. Fedor wants a guarantee that he will have 5-6 fights on his contract, no way of being cut from his contract, etc.
Fedor's link to Combat Sambo is very emotional. It was mentioned during the show that Fedor made promises in Russia, specifically to the President, Vladmir Putin, that he would continue to fight Combat Sambo in front of the Russian people. Fedor has made promises and does not want to disappoint his fans, family, and friends in his homeland.
Finkelstein's promotional skills were brought up as well. Finkelstein apparently has done very well in promoting the Russian MMA organization, M-1. It was mentioned that he was able to get 14-18% ratings through NTV in Russia. NTV serves roughly 110-120+ million viewers. 14-18% share for an event is an unbelievable number that is fairly impressive. The UFC may want to rethink negotiating a co-promotion with M-1 with those kind of numbers and potential profit, as well as marketing promotion.

Definitely some great points that were brought up by Josh Gross, kudos for gaining access to Fedor's representation. The big question with the negotiations is whether or not a fighter with Fedor's stature can dictate to a promoter what he wants. In the past, it hasn't been so good for fighters in general as far as negotiating contracts. What we have seen is the advent of tactics by a fighter to promote themselves and create value that the promoter may not like, but must acknowledge the fact that it is bringing in PPV buys. Tito Ortiz is definitely this type of fighter. He's created hype and buys for many MMA events that the UFC ultimately must own up to. Dana White has mentioned the fact that he does not like Tito Ortiz, yet Ortiz still gets the UFC events profit. Ortiz had some room to dictate what he could potentially make as far as a contract goes. Fedor's greatness is on another level compared to someone like Tito Ortiz. Ortiz has dropped off in performance where Fedor is considered the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Fedor could potentially bring an entire Asian/European MMA audience into the PPV guys if the UFC could ink a television deal overseas. He could potentially make the UFC an international success.

Go check out the "Beatdown" podcast from Sherdog with TJ Desantis and Josh Gross, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week.

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Tags: fedor emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko

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Comments

September 4. 2007 08:48

I commend your article, but I question how much is accurate. Josh Gross is getting one side and certainly the slant is clear there.

When one looks at the success the UFC has had, why should they cut somebody into their profits? Is Fedor's crew looking to put up money to finance the shows? Not likely.

Say the UFC says ok, what is to stop other fighters from making similar requests?

Wandy could also say he wants to co-run shows in Brazil. Hell, Randy Couture now has several MMA companies. He could certainly demand that some of his companies get a cut of the UFC pie.

We have heard, from Fedor's own manager, that they want contracts for various members of the Red Devil team. That is how Bodog got them to sign.

I have no doubt that Fedor has some drawing power overseas, but his presence was hardly enough to keep Pride going, or ensure a strong tv presence for Bodog. Bodog did well in Russia with Fedor, but was hardly a blip on the radar anywhere else.I think it was Dave Meltzer that said that while Fedor has been a draw in Japan, many have overstated just how big a draw he was there.

Another very valid question is: Just how profitable is running shows in Russia? The country certainly is not overflowing with discretionary income.

The UFC seems, based on what has been said, mainly interested in expanding into newly regulated states, Mexico, Canada and western Europe at this time. Russia may be on the horizon, but is it something they are looking at right now?

Many of the sticking points (outside of Sambo) seem to be more to line the pockets of those around Fedor than anything else.

I think that Fedor has a right to request whatever he wants but, since he is still looking to sign a deal, I think it is safe to say that nobody has met his demands as of yet.

The reality is that one is only worth what people are willing to pay.

But once again, I thank you for your well thought out analysis. This site is quickly beoming a must read site for me.

Lynchman

September 4. 2007 11:30

I think your thoughts are definitely something the UFC fears. They don't want to have to give other fighters those kind of demands. Gross's reports should be fairly accurate since those words came straight out of Finkelstein's mouth. Somehow, Sherdog has access to Fedor's negotiating team and I believe it stems from the series of articles they did awhile back on his training camp.

Running shows in Russia is probably not the most profitable thing in country, but having a market share of 14-18% of 120 million is a very large audience. The main factor is poverty however. A lot of advertising firms don't have the bucks like they do in the States. Many people don't have the dollars or care to watch MMA either in Russia. Finkelstein didn't mention any kind of numbers, which is disappointing.