Vadim Finkelstein: We will offer the UFC a fight between Velasquez and Fedor
Posted on November 22, 2011, 04:04 PM by Anton Gurevich
Russian sports portal Championat.ru posted an interview with M-1 Global boss Vadim Finkelstein, who revealed about his promotion's plans for the next year. According to Finkelstein, M-1 Global will offer the Ultimate Fighting Championship a superfight between its newly-revived ace Fedor Emelianenko and the former Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez. M-1 will be working for the fight to take place in Moscow, Russia, taking a full responsibility of organizing duties:
"We are determined to move forward, and would like to offer the UFC a fight between Cain Velasquez and Fedor Emelianenko. M-1 Global would take a full responsibility of organizing the fight sometime during 2012 in Moscow, Russia. I can guarantee Dana White great revenue from this fight, and a record-breaking attendance. M-1 Global is ready for dialogue, and would be happy to consider an option of organizing such tournament with combined efforts. I will make an offer to "my best friend" pretty soon, so we'll see what he has to say."
Finkelstein continued, claiming that Velasquez has a highest interest to fight someone like Emelianenko, as part of his quest to win back the UFC Heavyweight title:
"A lot of fans want to see this fight, but it's all up to the UFC. Velasquez is coming off a loss, and is no longer the UFC Heavyweight Champion, so instead of climbing the ladder again, he could just fight one of the greatest fighters in the history of MMA. Last Sunday's event proved how big is the interest for Mixed Martial Arts in Russia. So if we can put this fight together, we'll need something bigger than Olympic Sports Arena.
As for now, our main goal is to finalize the remaining details of Fedor's next fight in Japan, but the idea of Fedor vs. Velasquez is still something we'll be working on simultaneously."
Unanimous Decision victory over Jeff Monson cut Fedor Emelianenko's three-fight losing streak that started with a shocking defeat in just 69 seconds to Fabricio Werdum via armbar-triangle choke, mauling by the "Bigfoot" Antonio Silva, and the TKO from the titanium hands of Dan Henderson. Emelianenko, could get another psychological boost with a victory over Satoshi Ishii in Japan, who is undoubtedly a heavy underdog against "The Last Emperor". The bout is expected to headline DREAM’s traditionally stacked New Year card at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on December 31st.
So what do you think, LowKick’ers, could Emelianenko vs. Velasquez be a blockbuster bout with a record-breaking potential? Do you think Cain Velasquez has nothing to gain and everything to lose in a potential fight with Fedor? Use your keyboard.
Comments
"M-1 Global would take a full responsibility of organizing the fight".
No way this happens in these terms. NO WAY.
ufc(dana white) doesn't co-promote as what i remember but its a very interesting fight
sorry fedor, you dont get to fight cain after you just finish beating monson. you prolly couldn't get pass sean mccorkle, on your road to the ufc. find that cave you call a gym in moscow and get lost, jerk
Dude you just broke the record for getting most weaks within 1 day
No kidding, this makes about 100x less sense than fedor fighting in the UFC a couple years ago, Fedor wins one fight after his losing streak and they expect the UFC to come after him again. The only thing that will come out of this is perhaps profanity laced 30 second segment from a Dana White interview.
Sounds like they are looking for one last big payday, and this is a hollow offer, Vlad knows this wont fly, Dana would not send Cain to a M-1 organized event.
this is stupid why would they want fedor to fight a beast like cain!!!This is too stupid to happen cains going to beat fedor easily because fedor doesnt have the championship caliber that he once had!!!!
Dana will scoff at M-1 and Fedor! It's too late for this offer...Fedor doesn't have the same marketability as he did before...Maybe, if he accumulates 2 or 3 more IMPRESSIVE wins, he may be hired by the UFC...A boring fight with Monson, an irrelevant fighter, won't DO.
You are right Borealis. Imagine how many co-promotion offers Dana will get if he changes his policy. Why would he? Dana BELIEVES he already has the ten best HW's in the world. There would be no point from his perspective..
Fedor can't even beat werdum and now tries cain wtf!!!!!hes gettin older and weaker!!!!
Dude... Fedor can beat any1, i think he is done as an elite fighter..but never know
not gonna happen.
Im sorry, but the only way this happens is if Cain somehow gets cut for some really stupid reason.
No matter what Fedor does in the remainder of his career, I cant see him ever making it to the UFC.
I think fedor would have to split from M1 before there was even a slim chance of it
LOL fedor beats jeff monson and his management expects to have earned the ufc's respect? comon im one of fedor biggest fans but the managment sounds extremely naive to me
"No co-promotion" Vadim, you god damn leech
lol these guys do these fake offers to get there name out there come on ufc doesnt co promote and from what Dana seems to be saying he doesnt want anything to do with these promoters Val just stay in Russia and play it safe.
ps... you dont want Cain ... Cain will retire Fedor
Fedor can beat Cain.
really he beat monson, who has no stand up skill, weak take downs and no striking power. and he beat him by decision, sorry i'm not impressed, maybe he should go dig up another fight with hong man choi or even better retire while is still thought of as one the best ever, more fights equal the total destruction of his legacy.
I am not basing anything on the Monson fight. Cain also has the ability to beat Fedor. The fact of the matter is though, Fedor can still beat anyone on any given night.
PSS...M1 is under "other" on this site need i say more....
Wouldn't happen with m1 global involved and Cain would most likely smash Fedor. Probably looking for revenge after loosing the title. I feel bad for his next opponent.
This dude has a better chance of getting pregnant before Dana allows M1 to promote anything related to the UFC.... especially since the FOX deal is in place.
2 ****s are fighting to RULE mma
Dana : Vadim
Why does everyone hate on Dana? He has definitely helped MMA grow as a sport more than any other promoter. I'll admit that Vadim is an idiot, but you have to cut Dana some slack. Dana is a good business man and promoter.
What a bunch of bullsh**.. This is why Fedor cathes so much heat, these M1 dudes really are ''crazy russians'' like Dana has been telling people for years. Never ever gonna happen, why not let him join theUFC on a short term deal ?
HAHA. I'd love to see that fight but that's never going to happen. Dana was only interested in Fedor when he was undefeated but now he's had 3 straight losses. Does M1 really think that a win against Jeff Monson means ANYTHING? To fight against a top contender in the ufc, you need to be in the ufc, and you need to slowly earn it by climbing the ladder and waiting your turn. Fedor hasn't done any of this. I think it'd be an entertaining fight though. Fedor is always entertaining with his striking and ground n pound. Also fedor has never really been knocked out whilst boxing (only the hendo punch on the ground wobbled him) so it'd be great to see him box with velasquez. I think Velasquez would prob KO him though
" you need to be in the ufc, and you need to slowly earn it by climbing the ladder and waiting your turn"
Are you sure? Can I say Brock? Chael?
Poor JDS has to beat up so many guys before getting the title shot!
Your spot on about JDS, the UFC stalled his progress and fast tracked Cain and we all know why. I brought it up on once and got slammed and weaked. As for Chael your barking up the wrong tree he smashed Nate Marquardt, and Okami before fighting Silva. Brock sells 1m ppv and was thrown in at the deep end. The best example would be Dan Hardy he beat Davis and Swick to get a shot GSP.
True there are exceptions. I'd say they fast tracked brock because they thought he had the best chance at earning it. The heavyweight division wasn't as good back then (Randy had the belt?) and they didn't want to have to wait too long to give Brock a serious fight. Brock's Plus he DID have 2 fights in the ufc before a titleshot (as opposed to this fedor offering of instant titleshot).
These guys must be high.
I understand you all from a fan perspective. But think about this. Fedor already has a legacy. Be gets paid about 3 x more than Silva or GSP per fight. He owns part of M1. He owns the rights to his fights. Henie the highest paid MMA fighter grossing and net ever. He has not faced the best lately but he has gotten paid far better than the best. So in terms of his children, family, community, and church he has won every fight.
This fight would be great. There's much emphasis on the business aspect here for some reason, as if any of you run a company. I personally think this fight would be sick, and maybe Russia can't be tapped by the UFC any other way. It's one time guys. One time. Think big picture and stop attaching yourself to other people's overblown egos. While the fight may never happen, all MMA fans would give this a "go" I would think.
I agree that for sake of one fight, it would be great!
I don't think DW would go for that just because he is afraid that Cain can loose to Fedor. If DW was 100% sure that Cain KO Fedor, he would go for it because it would be very easy money for him: everything is organised, DW and Cain shows up for 3 minutes, Cain KO Fedor and they get paid.
I personally think that Vadim has done an excellent job promoting MMA in Russia and still organising fights in the States. People just hate him because he did not let Fedor fight in the UFC. But Vadim has organised excellent fights for Fedor, but it was all Fedor's fault and his training camp that he had lost 3 fights.
Yes I agree, one minute Cain is the best in the world, the next he's KO'd. In terms of the Russian MMA market this fight is enormous.
doubt it will happen but if it did it would be one hell of a fight, even with fedor being 1-3 in last 4
ARE M-1 THIS DUMB OR JUST REALLY IGNORANT. those bitches are realy pissing me
hahaha, little too late buddy, Fedor not important anymore as far mma concern. i love Fedor but he should retire now so not to ruin this legacy.
Maybe if Dana already had his MMA "World Series" tournament master plan ready to go, then the fight could have happened. I don't think many people would have a problem with Fedor representing Russia. But for now, don't see it coming together.,
Fedor can beat JDS in standup fight. Cain got just wrestling and weak standup.UFC HW are one dimetional axept Overeem
even Reem i would say
that comment shows not only that you are a noob to mma, but that you are also a complete ignorarant dumbass.
don't take yourself so seriously, you little punk.
and learn to spell if you're gonna call someone ignorant! haha
Fedor should MAN up and do what Alistair did to get to the UFC! If he really wants to fight the best, he needs to stop hiding behind M-1 global and go to the best show in town.
A ploy on the part of Fedor's management team; which they hope will result in Fedor fighting in the UFC in the near future.
is this guy ****ing stupid? fedor lost 3 times in a row all coming by different form of stoppage against people he was supposed to beat. velasquez who up until 2 weeks ago was undefeated and suffered his first loss at the hands of the best striker in the heavyweight division. fedor isn't qualified to fight cain velasquez
oh yeah? after seeing their respective last performances, can you really say Cain would beat Fedor?
lol are you serious? Fedor faced jeff monson for ****s sake. has he ever been relevant? cain fought Junior dos santos someone who is legitimately the best striker in the division. he has knockout power in both hands and has been beating legitimate opponents to earn his way to the top. Cain losing via knockout to the best striker in the heavyweight division is still better than Fedor facing a nobody in order for him to try and rebuild his reputation that he tarnished by running from the ufc.
they have to sign Fedor to the UFC,if it's co-promoted it will not happen!
this would be the dumbest thing to happen since kimbo slice entered the octagon. Somewhere right now, Dana is laughing his ass off.
PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE it will never happen but PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE! That would be an awesome fight. If Fedor is focused he can win.
Vadim Finkelstein vs Ed Soares fight of the century.
Fink knows Dana would not accept the fight--so why offer?
Does Dana need Fedor after 3 losses to (now) UFC fighters?
Hardcore fans know who Fedor is--or was, but will Fedor put butts in seats now? He never pulled ratings before and he didn't fill stadiums at his peak.
The UFC HW division is looking good with new blood, and will look better after additional Strikeforce HW's are signed.
Dana hates M1--and he is never--I repeat never will co-promoting with them. Dana was not impressed with Fedor before he lost 3 in a row, but now? After a LHW KO'd him?
Is Fink that delusional? I don't see how this is good PR for Fink. The only way I can make any sense out of this is that Fink is desperately appealing directly to the fans with some vague hope that fans will convince Dana to make the fight happen.
No matter which way you look at this proposal, Fink evidently does not get it. The UFC will never sign Fedor as long as he is with M1--and even if he was a free agent, I doubt even then he would be signed.
Fedor's ship has sailed, and he will never fight top competitors again--because the UFC has all the top talent locked up. He had his chance and he blew it.
Actually, I think Finklstien is really that nuts.
after all of what happened i still think fedor is a top hw and i will always think that to this date he has not been taken to a decision. i really dont know what to say other then let the fighters fight, please for the rest of use fans let the fighters fight
Fedor - the owner of the M-1 ;)
who gives a **** about this fight!!!! how could anyone think that the UFC would be interested in this fight? no disrespect to fedor, but he is not on the same level like Velasquez anymore. And this whole co promoting thing does not work, the ufc didn`t want it in the past and i`m sure they don`t want it now. as if they would let velasquez fight fedor is moscow. thats just stupid.
Fedors and Wanderlei Silva are at similar points in their careers they are both still relatively young but have had so many fights that their bodies are deteriorating
This fight would be a blowout
In the words of sonnen "it really is amateur hour"... ****ing Finkelstein
Finkelstein must be looking to get cussed out & made fun of.
How does bullcrap like this even make it to print??
With DW never say never. He says one thing and later says the opposite. He does not care if he said "never", if the money is there, he would say "listen, I do want to deliver a good fight".
Moscow is bigger than NY and Toronto, if Fedor / Monson can make 22,000 seats, Cain can make over 70,000 easily. Russians have not problems with money these days. DW has nothing to loose there if he is really sure that Cain can beat Fedor. I doubt that he is 100% sure, he learned his lesson with Chuck Liddell at Pride.
But what I really think, that M-1 can organize a fight with Werdum and Big Foot in Moscow since both of them have not signed with the UFC. Both of them can make more money in 1 fight in Moscow than in 5-6 fights in the UFC and retire.
Be serious... Dana has everything to lose and nothing to gain. He doesn't want a one and done event that gives M-1 standing. If Fedor gets serious about fighting in the big leagues, Dana will take him if and when he signs with the UFC (not gonna happen, don't get your hopes up).
There might be a few Russian fans who will buy the argument that Dana is protecting his fighters from Fedor, but seriously, M-1 co promotion deals are leech city. No way it happens.
Finkelstein sounds like a ****! Is he trying to get Fedor killed? Cain would absolutely crush him.
why you say that? can you compare both fighters record? my god I will definitely stop visiting this page...
UFC doesn't negotiate w/ terrorist.
Reasons it won't happen:
- It's in Russia
-Fedor isn't that good anymore
-M1 sucks and the ufc doesn't to be co-promoting
-Bad revenues
-Cain can make more money in the UFC
-Fedor isn't as good as he used to be
-record-breaking attendance? absolutely not
UFC's rules:
-they organize it
-they are the only organization who gets money out of it
-they organize fights with THEIR fighters
-big fights in north america (mostly)
The only way this fight happens:
1. The UFC buys M1 which includes all the fighters.
2. The UFC signs with Fedor for a fight
3. This fight, if so big it is, happens NOt in russia
4. They make money out of it and they are the only big organization in mma.
And thinking about it when will the ufc buy M-1? 2012 or 2013? Would be nice to see this.
M-1 does not really carry any assets that the UFC wants, nor are they a threat to the UFC's business. I can't imagine a purchase by the UFC is forthcoming. The UFC is much better served if M-1 keeps developing Russian prospects that they can snatch up when they get good enough to compete on the national stage.
I am pretty sure Finkelstein is playing this up for the Russian fans. They love Fedor and I'm sure a few of them are willing to look past the fact that it makes no sense on its face and believe the angle that Dana is afraid of Fedor.
The truth is, there will be no co promotion, so unless Fedor is willing to sign with the UFC it's not going to happen. There's a reason the UFC has been successful, and keeping their own brand rather than co-promoting is central to their business model. I mean, if you want to see what a disaster co-promoting is, look at Fedor's stint in Strikeforce.
I would personally love to see Fedor fight in the UFC; I think he could still claw his way back into top 10 status and have some really fun fights if he remains dedicated and fights smart like he did against Monson.
That said, it will never happen. There's a reason it's called "Soviet style negotiations," and M-1 plays that role to the hilt--and the UFC is too smart to get caught in a bad deal with M-1.
Fedor needs to leave m-1 and get a decent training camp behind him.. MMA has evolved and so should he,i think he still has what it takes to be a top 10 HW. maybe a cut to 205?
lol anything remotely resembling criticism of fedor gets weaker up