Vadim Finkelstein: Brock Lesnar's defeat did not surprise me
Posted on October 28, 2010, 08:31 AM by Anton GurevichSpeaking via the Russian Championat.Ru website, M-1 Global CEO Vadim Finkelstein responded to Brock Lesnar's defeat against Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Unlike the UFC President Dana White, Finkelstein kept his cool, simply saying that Lesnar's defeat did not surprise him. Fedor Emelianenko was in the U.S. last week for a two-hour MMA seminar master class at the M-1 Global training facility in Chatsworth, California on Sunday October 17th. Emelianenko also promoted EA Sports' MMA game, winning a virtual dream match against the UFC Hall of Famer Randy "The Natural" Couture.
- Were you surprised by the outcome of Brock Lesnar vs Cain Velasquez fight?
Brock Lesnar's defeat did not surprise me. I expected him to lose, so it was. I really enjoyed Cain Velasquez's performance. He had a very good gameplan coming to this fight, weathered the storm, went on the attack and won the fight. I always knew that Brock Lesnar will not have a long run as a Champion. Brock was supposed to lose in his previous fight, but he was lucky when he managed to miraculously bounce back against Shane Carwin.
- Do you think Dana White will lose his interest for Brock Lesnar after this defeat?
I don't think people will forget about Brock Lesnar so quickly. At the moment he's still quite a marketable product. People love to watch him fight, so why should White lose his interest to that type of fighter? Lesnar is a capable fighter, he's big and strong. He'll still create some intrigue in the division. But still, I don't think he'll become a Champion ever again.
- Do you think that if Lesnar fought Fedor, the result would be the same as against Velasquez?
Yes. I'm completely sure it would be the same. Fedor is much stronger than Lesnar in all aspects of fighting, on his feet and on the ground. Fedor is faster. Emelianenko would beat him up standing on submit him on the ground.
- If we compare the Heavyweight divisions of the UFC and Strikeforce. Which one in your opinion is more intriguing for the viewer?
It's hard to say. Both promotions currently have very interesting fighters. Everyone loves something different. So the fans will choose what they like to see.
- If there would be an option to arrange a fight between Fedor and Lesnar, would you consider it?
We were ready to fight Lesnar, anywhere and anytime, as long as he was a champion. Right now, he's doesn't really interests us as a fighter. We have a goal - a rematch against Fabricio Werdum. After this, everything is possible. If this fight will interest the viewer and the UFC will make it possible, so why not?
- You and Fedor recently returned from the States. How was your trip?
Fedor was invited to organize a seminar, which took place in one of the M-1 sport complexes. This was the main purpose of the trip. The building was too small to accommodate everyone. There were so many people out there. The rest of the trip included standard things such as, interviews, press conferences and other business meetings.
Comments
Ouch! Dana getting the backhand in response to his rant about fedor. Dana is going to be a bit quite in this debate about top heavy being Brock. I don't know if Fedor would beat Cain, maybe maybe not but I am pretty sure he would ruin Brocks day.
I think fedor vs Cain would be such an awesome fight. Old lion vs hungry lion
thats why dana should co promote! make diaz vs gsp and fedor vs cain or dos santos
Fedor would win it. Watching both of them Fedor would win no doubt in my mind. Cain would however be the best competiton you could give Fedor though.
not yet, let cain defend his title a couple of times then if its possible do it, cain needs to beat some of the bigger competition in order to be fully ready for fedor. but come on why are we still dreaming? dana is such a hater hell never make it happen
thats right from now on the be interesting fight fedor vs cain velazquez
This guy was talking like Fedor has the wrestling ability that Cain has. It's different with Fedor, Brock would have no trouble holding him down
I don't think he beats either of them anywhere but submissions. And submission artists are susceptible to good wrestlers.
ston3pony....you make about as much sense as masturbating with a handful of fire ants.
wow, you do know that Russia beats the piss out of the US in wrestling at the olympics. wrestling is super popular in russia, fedor has crushed world class HW wrestlers in sambo. wrestling is(sad to say) a back water sport in america, in Russia it is in the top 3 sports nationaly along with sambo.
lol some people don't know jack about wrestling.
So what if he crushed wrestlers in Sambo. Sambo is not MMA. Even so, Fedor hasn't gone against wrestlers the cailber of Cain, Shane or Brock. MMA is a different animal.
Shane would beat Fedor. JDS would beat Fedor. Roy and Ben would beat Fedor. John Jones would beat Fedor. Rua would, Lyoto... We'll have to wait and see for one of them to wash out of the UFC and get picked up by SF though.
I have to agree with you on JDS, John Jones, Rua, and Lyoto beating Fedor.
I agree with both of u, but he will never have the opp. to fight any of them bc, guess what? youknow, fedarknows, and russiansknow, he would get KO! Sorry fedar fans.
Here is the REAL ? That even fedar wont anwser. If he is so dominate in the little leagues, why wont he fight in the big leagues????
All of this arguing/typing is FUTILE until he mans up and fights in the UFC. All fighters from all orgs agree, the best is in the UFC period. Your man krocker is a retard, why wont he let fedar fight in the UFC? DW is not stopping him no matter what anyone says. The best argument I have heard on this blog site is, fedar is not fighting for the money/he dosen't need to prove himself in the UFC. Please, thats like saying I'm the smartest person on the planet, but Im not going to take an SAT test to prove it.
I will eat ALL my bad words I have said about fedar if he will fight in the UFC(whoever) and win. But again that will never happen.
" All fighters from all orgs agree, the best is in the UFC period" so when the majority of fighters say that fedor is the best then it must be so, case closed thanks for that.
the fact that you said "krocker is a retard, why wont he let fedor fight in the UFC" only shows that you don't know what your talking about at all or you would have said "Finkelstein"
oh please you cant tell me fedar/krocker has nothing to say about his next fight?
And your right a majority of SF, M1, and the others do say he is the best, but the majority of UFC fighters seem to disagree. So what now?
Another thing is, just wait until DW buys all the MMA orgs then all of this will go away. Thats right u heard it here first.
actually you can see on video most every UFC fighter thinks fedor is the #1 hw
after Randy Couture was beaten by Lesnar he said that he still didn't think lesnar could beat Fedor. Shogun has said fedor is the best,Bj Penn has said it,GSP has said it, Anderson Silva has said it. when asked who his favorite fighter to watch was Cain Velasquez said Fedor.
but untill Dana White says it it just will not be true for you. but then again it is clear that you are big on the "storyline" prowraslin stuff since you think Dana White is going to buy "all the MMA orgs" DW is only a 9% owner of the UFC he's a face, a media man, not a big idea guy.
wow I stand corrected. U win fedar is the best of the least until he fights in the UFC. That still does not answer why he is not fighting in the UFC?
Mark my typing words its going to happen 1 org at a time. I can see why u would disagree. bc fedar will not last in the UFC. youknow it and everybody else knows it. Sorry. PO
do u know its coker a fedor or are you that pathetic it's the only wit you could come up with? big fat guy talking mad shit about stuff he doesn't even know.. you saw mma on the highlight reel 4months ago now you have an opinion.. jerkoff
what are u talking about? coker a fedar?
and u know because your name is emperor?
Ok I will change my name to fed no ft n ufc
Like I said before this/fedar will all go away when UFC buys up all orgs.
Dude, what do you have against Fedor!?
wow youre dumb as shit
wait...so he said they were ready to fight lesnar as long as he was champ? so hes sayin hed fight the champ of another organisation but not his own? im confused
It's obviously a translation error. If you click on the original russian article, it translates to wear "status of champion." That makes more sense.
just like werdum had the 'status of champion' when they fought? or rogers? i dunno man, it sounds like finksteins talking in circles
Here we go again. Apparently you guys have not watched Fedor or Lesnar actually fight but base your opinions on what dana says? Fedor would kill lesnar, it wouldn't even be a fight. Get out of here with that nonsense. Fedor vs Velasquez would be a good fight though, I'd like to see it.
Fedor would lose. Which is why he didn't try fighting for the real belt in the first place. Who cares about the SF belt again? Nobody?
Fedor would win with a TKO or a sub in the first round...
You seem to forget Couture had the "real belt" when this all started, and he was doing everything he could to LEAVE the UFC to fight the real champ Fedor.
How the eff is Fedor the "real champ"? Guys not a champ in any organization, not even a small orgaization, not strikeforce not bellator once Pride collapsed what has he had? the made up belt from affliction? (Wamma) They gave those belts away when purchasing their shirts! Dont get me wrong, hes a legend and will be known as the best hw for a long time But now its the best hw of his time. his time has passed. And the thing is they know it. Thats why they make sure they have control in every organiztion they go to. That allows them to pick and choose their fights. I believe them when they say their choice isnt about money tho hes gonna make bank where ever he fights. But its not about pride either. Since he's left Pride look at the 5 or 6 fights he's taken. Thats not for honor, doing a freak show with Hong-man, fighting lindland a mw, or beatin the Maine-iac for the made up wamma belt. (if mercer wouldve got him first mercer would be the wamma champ) Thay only go where the mad russian can co-promote. Its sad really having to watch the legends tail end of his prime years fade away and wasting legendary fights over co-promotion Ol Fink is worse than Soares in my opinion and is the main one to blame for Fedor''s inactivity. But wh knows, maybe hes just protecting him so his name name doesn't end up like Cro Cops. But at leas5t Cro Cop had the stones to go for it, get knocked the ef out come back and keep going for it. His name may not bring the same fear it did 5 yrs ago. But while Fedor had Finklestein worry about co-promotion Cro cop ahs shown more than ever hes a fighter and he still has the heart of one. War seeing Gsp vs shields and Gsp finally having to go back to stand up and banging! fear ceaser Gracie Jits!
lmao Stone, you getting paid overtime for this thread?
I can't tell if your winning or not haha.
But, just to rock the boat, I think Fedor would clear out the UFC HW division.
its ok ston3pony u can always watch lesnar beat people up in the wwe..
@ S3P
Actually from what I have read on this site, there is about 5-6 people who cares about SF belt. Amazing for a low budget org.
If Fedor is the highest ranked HW on the community rankings it would mean that your opinion is not correct.
I;m sorry to rock the boat but I think chuck norris would clean out the sf LW, MW, LHW, and HW divisions with 1 round house kick!
I'm not taking that bait Hype haha. But yeah, it's always a win when I get 700 weaks.
What is the record anyways? for a single post.... like 64 or something? lol
I care. SF has a good Heavyweight division.
see thats 13 people actually if you see thetubes clicks for sharp. haha
i dont know why you people disrespect fedor that much,man is still
clearly no.1 fighter,regardless of the fact that his last couple oponents were not top fighters.how can you glorify that much fighter like lesnar that had 5-6 matches in his career,and lost to Mir,lost to Cain,should have lost against Carwin,and saying he is beter fighter than Fed. he was created by media,and time will show thats true ..
oh my god Stony... I am starting to think that you make those comments on purpose, hence I don't know anymore if I should weak them or funny them.
If was Filkenstein, I would have twitter at Dana a big smiley immediately after the fight :D
A smile about what? Congratulating Dana on the HW title changing hands yet again with Fedor nowhere in sight?
That was a damn good rebuttal..dead on too
Why would he be surprised? His own champion fell.
he never lost the title ! like lesnar and soon silva!
That's cause Fedor wasn't Strikeforce's HW champ. Fedor holds some odd belt that no one really cares for.
agreed MBA24
No 1 cares
I think a World Class Sambo Champion like Fedor can handle the free style wrestling of Brock Lesnar. Just because Brock Lesnar gets Frank Mir down (who doesn't have a wrestling or sambo background) doesn't mean he controls Fedor. Brock is still a novice with BJJ and on his feet he still doesn't defend strikes well.
After a bit of back and forth wrestling/sambo... I see Fedor's right hand ending the fight on the feet.
Finkleweenie's reply does not surprise me.
Anyone really give a rat's ass about what Vlad the Impaler thinks about the Lesnar /Cain match?
He should be more concerned about how he is going to keep that Mickey Mouse organization of his alive, while the UFC just grows stronger and bigger than ever.
good call
His fighter didnt fell any were he is stil the best fighter all time got one loss after 32 wins will see if Cain can go half way.Lesnar is finished befor his MMA career even started
Doubt that fedor could beat brock, Brock got the chin and he got real good gnp fedor may have subs and strikes but are they enough to take Brock out I don't think so not saying Brock is the best he just lost his footing on the ladder he will bounce back and become a champ again he just needs to work on his striking.
If Brock has a chin, then Fedor hos a brick. Out of 34 fights we've seen Fedor only get rocked 2 times, once against Fujita, and Cro-cop tagged him, but it wasn't as dangerous as Fujita's overhand. Brock got rocked against Carwin and Cain already. Sure he didn't go unconscious but it shows that he's a baby in MMA, he needs atleast 5 years before he can actually grasp the BJJ and Boxing/kickboxing, and then it'll be too late to fight competitively.
That is true brocks weakness is his stand up I honestly thought that would be his main focus after the carwin fight but obviously it was not he still is new to this but has beaten big names other than the first fight, but the power he has in his hands is remarkable he just needs to work in his stand up his game plan against Cain back fired he got to tired underestimated cains wrestling as well as his power sure he got rocked by both fighters which both were or still is undefeated and both fighters wins were by way of ko/tko atleast in the ufc, Brock just needs more stand up
yea i agree, how would he match up against roy nelson though? read my article "battle of the stepping stones: Brock Lesnar vs Roy Nelson" and give ur opinion there
Not dissing fedor
Any UFC HW gona be punching bag for Fedor exept someone liek Mir submits him on the ground no other way. Cain's striking is not better than Lesnar if you wach clearly befor Lesnar was taken down he was better stunding landing some punches Cain is to slow we will see his speed agains JDS
I HATE FEDORRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! There i said it...Pretty clean cut for me!!!! YEAPPPPP
Bad news fedar fans he is going to retire.
ANd Brock is going to quit MMA like he quit everything else he ever started. Everyone is just hating on Fedor more now that Brock got exposed.
Exposed? Its called fighting the best in the world, not 2nd class fighters. Dude think about it if Fedar wanted to dominate then he would jump over to the UFC and become the best. Again u can't be the best NFL player if u are still playing in the NCAA.
You people need to be patient b4 you start writing everyone off. Strikeforce has a good heavyweight division and as much as I want to see Fedor in the UFC matchups like Fedor vs Werdum vs Overeem vs Barnett are still a good measuring stick to Fedors position as a top HW.
I don't believe everything that Dana White spews...sorry. I remember the last time that he said this drivel and went to Pride with Chuck Liddell to showcase how poor Pride was. Chuck got beat down badly, Dana White never co-promoted again, bought the company and took it's fighters. He is unprofessional and unethical, the fighters that don't need him won't fight for him. Why should they?
Thank you! These comments that brock is done hes finally exposed are killing me..Hes very fresh to the sport only 7 fights but look at that list of names no one else in the world could jump into that witrh as little experience as he had. Thats impressive as hell relying solely on athleticism and pure fighting instinct to win the UFC heavyweight championship. Then after beating the legend randy couture who knows every trick in the book, people dont give brock the credit he deserves he beat the champion in his 4th pro fight (impressive) then from there he has to fight the number one contender of the ufc heavyweight division every fight no easy road no gimme fights, with lil experience he was thrown right into the deep end and hes held his own pretty well.
Randy Couture whom he won the belt from was a 47 year old light heavyweight if I recall.
Well keep recalling, because he was also a 3 time and current hw champion in the UFC when fighting Brock. Call me crazy but i think that still requires some kind of skill, but what do I know..And I guarantee fighting that 47 yr old "light hw" was a much tougher fight than the 40 yr old lindland..it was also for a belt in the UFC
Good excuse, actually any will work. Excuses are like armpits, everyone has them and they all stink!
Lol, where does this come from? Chuck went 2-1 in Pride....
YouKnow nothing!
What excuse did Dana and Brock use when Fedor offered to fight Brock anywhere in the world at any time for free?
What Excuse did Dana come up with when Couture left to fight Fedor?
He got a court injunction to stop it. Dana is more responsible for Fedor not being in the UFC then anyone.
ya by offering him more money than any other organization, by offering to make him the highest paid fighter in the ufc. No fighter is bigger than the company, and thats how fedor and his people act like thats the way it is whatever company he is with Of course hes not going to co promote for one fighter. The Ufc is already a success, they're not going to change their business plan to help build up a small struggling organization that could cut into their profits..and damn right get a court injunction against randy. They offered fedor everything but co promotion for their bs company. fedor and fink dont negotiate they want it all or they go elsewhere. But only a bad businessman would let Randy ( the face of the company, the face of mma) go off the reservation and fight another legend for another company, that would be plain stupid. Fedor is the man, but Look how UFC has grown and built their product is the last 4 yrs, Fedor hasn't done the same, its safe to say his stock has slowly been dropping since the end of Pride. Even if he rematched and beat werdum, I dont think that would really change anything. The only fight out there is Overeem, then after that he belongs in the Ufc where hed fight the best every fight not just some payday once a year, or he should retire while hes on top so that debate could go on forever. I beleive he should beet Overeem and retire on top, not too many can pull that off and go out that way
Don't care who you are if anyone in the HW div hits you clean on the button it's good night sweetheart, brock, cain , fedor all of them COULD lose to anyone else at that weight. It's stupid to speculate, look at Tod Duffee's lats fight. Who called that one?
Holy breasts, I thought that the dude in the thumbnail image for this article was Jerry Springer!