http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=10060&zoneid=13

On the saga of signing Fedor: “I’ve been trying to acquire Fedor. It takes two to make a deal. We offered him what I thought was a respectable deal to come into the UFC and prove if he is the best or one of the best, and they turned it down. I’d put any one of these heavyweights in with Fedor. I want to get that bald, little, fat guy over here real quick; believe me. All the Fedor fans get pissed when I say that.

I am sure Dana has learned by now that Fedor owns< almost a 1/4 of M-1, and will not sign for Pennies, while haveing to sell his share of M-1.

It would be foolish to take Dana White's assertions strictly at face value. He has a track record of hyperbole (the Ultimate Fighter 10 Junk/Mitrione fight being "awesome" is still fresh in my mind). He's simply out there running his mouth in an effort to make Fedor look like a stubborn *, when he himself will not budge on issues, like co-promotion, that could break the stalemate. That said, it's perfectly reasonable for the UFC to not co-promote, since the UFC is in the business of making money. But it is also completely reasonable for Fedor to do whatever he feels is in his best interest (he doesn't owe the UFC or its fans anything).

But Dana shoud stop bringing up the Fedor issue, since he is giving Fedor (and by proxy M-1/SF) the very thing that he has tried to stamp out of the UFC in the past few years...free publicity for rivals.

cem Dana White wrote:

I want to get that bald, little, fat guy over here real quick; believe me.

How disrespectul...what a way to talk about a great fighter, athlete.. and from what i've seen a great human being, who is very humble and gracious.....

I've got no respect for Mr White... I hope Fedor doesn't sign for the UFC after those comments, on a sporting level i'd love to see him join but now on a personal level i wouldn't. He doesn't deserve to be disrespected like that.

And as for Dana... isn't calling Fedor a bald little fat guy, like a Homosexual calling someone else gay?. ( sorry only comparison i could think of lol ) I mean come on man...

Fedor needs to drop the same right he dropped Rogers with, on Dana's chin...,,,

Dana must understand Fedor is a part owner of M-1, the only thing he will fight for the UFC is to cave in on M-1's demand and not assert his selfish terms

cem_ea_id.snakerattle79 wrote:Dana must understand Fedor is a part owner of M-1, the only thing he will fight for the UFC is to cave in on M-1's demand and not assert his selfish terms

Wtf is M-1 to demand anything? The name UFC is why ppl are buying the PPVs not M-1. They were just trying to use the UFC to promote themselves. Dana gave Fedor everything he wanted and Fedor wouldve made MILLIONS in the UFC but it didnt fall thru bcuz M-1 wants to co promote and get half of the revenue. * that! Dana made the right choice. M-1 is the one being selfish here.

cem_ea_id.Rear_naked_poke wrote:And as for Dana... isn't calling Fedor a bald little fat guy, like a Homosexual calling someone else gay?

Yeah, it is the pot calling the kettle black



But, on another note, Dana obviously didn't offer Fedor/M-1 everything they wanted, otherwise they would be doing business in the UFC. So he is a * liar if he said he made every concession. I realize co-promotion is a concession that he will not make, but one that, nonetheless, is necessary to get Fedor in the UFC.

cem_ea_id.K1LLA_BEE wrote:

cem_ea_id.snakerattle79 wrote:Dana must understand Fedor is a part owner of M-1, the only thing he will fight for the UFC is to cave in on M-1's demand and not assert his selfish terms

Wtf is M-1 to demand anything? The name UFC is why ppl are buying the PPVs not M-1. They were just trying to use the UFC to promote themselves. Dana gave Fedor everything he wanted and Fedor wouldve made MILLIONS in the UFC but it didnt fall thru bcuz M-1 wants to co promote and get half of the revenue. * that! Dana made the right choice. M-1 is the one being selfish here.

M-1 is synonymous to Fedor, he's a part owner. If UFC doesn't like their deal then goodluck to them

Dana did not want Fedor doing Samba anymore, him and his partner are world champs you know, That was a stipulation in his contract signing, not to menttion he would have to give up his Belt, and championship status, and reset his MMA record, plus more... this did not make sense.

cem_ea_id.snakerattle79 wrote:M-1 is synonymous to Fedor, he's a part owner. If UFC doesn't like their deal then goodluck to them

More like good luck to M-1. M-1 id the one who neds help getting known not the UFC.

MAIN.oilersguru wrote:Dana did not want Fedor doing Samba anymore, him and his partner are world champs you know, That was a stipulation in his contract signing, not to menttion he would have to give up his Belt, and championship status, and reset his MMA record, plus more... this did not make sense.

You're wrong. They were willing to let Fedor compete in Sambo and there was nothing stating he had to give up his belt, champ status and reset his record. Wtf? EVERYTHING was agreed upon EXCEPT co promoting. Fedor had everything he wanted. Millions per fight, an imediate title shot, able to compete in Sambo, etc. M-1 is the one who wasnt getting what they wanted which was co promotion.

Fedor said in a live interview that Dana was not going to let him compete in Sambo!. I will take his word for it.
There was alot more to it then Just co-promoting. I do agree that M-1 had a huge influence on this, but there is more to it then what people write in their blogs.

MAIN.oilersguru wrote:Fedor said in a live interview that Dana was not going to let him compete in Sambo!. I will take his word for it.
There was alot more to it then Just co-promoting. I do agree that M-1 had a huge influence on this, but there is more to it then what people write in their blogs.

When was that interview? To my understanding Dana refused it at 1st but in the last negotiations Dana caved and agreed to it. There was alot more to it? Like what? M-1 said themselves (if I can find the source I'll post it) it was bcuz of not being able to co promote. They didnt mention anything else.

A while back, I will see if I can dig it up.

^I'm with KillaB on this. It all came down to the co-promotinoal stuff. The UFC was willing in the second round of talks to let him compete in his Sambo competitions.

Also, the stuff about him having to "erase" his MMA record is ridiculous. That was NEVER anything I ever heard about. Sure, he wouldn't be a champion in the UFC, but thats the way it should be. He shouldn't just be handed the belt just because he signs with them. He would have to prove he's the best in the UFC by earning it.

At the end of the day. I feel BOTH sides were equaly to blame for this miss-hap. But as things rolled on, it seemed more and more like Fedor's side was holding things up more. The ONLY thing the UFC would not cave on is the co-promoting. I challenge ANYONE to find a reputable source that states otherwise and post it.

Heres a damn good article written by a yahoo.com sports writer that outlines the shortcomings of the recent deal pretty finely:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?prov=yhoo&slug=ki-fedorufc073109&type=lgns

I'd say its a fairly reputable source too.