Last week the UFC tried once again to sign the world’s best fighter, former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, to a multi-fight contract. The negotiations, like those that came before them, were a frustrating clash of cultures, leaving UFC President Dana White shaking his head.
“I was fucking miserable, miserable. Because we couldn’t make this deal,” White said during his Friday press conference. “I was so confident we were going to get this done because we were willing to do it. We were willing to make a deal at almost any cost… To turn down a deal like this, you don’t care about proving you’re the best in the world. You don’t want to fight the best in the world. You don’t care about money. How do you deal with something like that?”
Earlier in the week it seemed likely a deal would get done. The UFC was so desperate to sign the sport’s hottest free agent that many of the sticking points that preveneted previous deals from getting done were no longer an issue. They agreed to allow Fedor to pursue Sambo competition, agreed to let his promotion M-1 Global advertsise their logo on t-shirts, banners, and anything else the Russian champion wanted to bring into the Octagon with him. This was a significant concession. When the t-shirt manufacturer Affliction made plans to run their own shows, their products were banned from UFC broadcasts. Zuffa didn’t want to allow competitors to advertise on their product. For M-1 Global and Fedor, they were willing to make an exception. It was a public indication of what those close to Zuffa knew all along: White and Fertitta were desperate to make a deal.
“They sometimes let their heart control their brain,” an insider said. “It’s like when they paid too much for PRIDE. It makes them crazy that we don’t have this guy in the company.”
On Wednesday, as it became clear that a deal was slipping through their fingers, the UFC made an effort through their close media allies to turn the public sentiment against the Russian. For years, the blame for Fedor’s reluctance to step into the Octagon was placed on Zuffa’s shoulders. They wanted to be sure that this time, fan displeasure was focused on Fedor. Carmichael Dave, a Dana White confident and California radio host, announced that Fedor had turned down the most lucrative contract in the history of the sport. The UFC, according to Dave, had offered a six-fight contract worth $30 million. On top of that, both Fedor would receive a PPV bonus potentially worth millions.
While the MMA media dutifully jumped on the rumor, anyone thinking about it for a moment had to be skeptical. The contract wasn’t just for more than the UFC had ever paid a fighter before. It was for, literally, ten times more. After making some calls I was able to get sources close to both sides to flat deny the terms being reported to Dave and other sources close to White like theWrestling Observer Newsletter. The public relations campaign did its job remarkably well. Even media outlets generally pro-Fedor turned quickly on the fighter.
Dave was right about one thing: it was the biggest contract ever offered a fighter not just in the UFC, but in MMA history. The actual offer included a guarantee of about $1.5 million per fight for three fights, three times the downside of any other UFC contract, as well as PPV bonuses for performance. The Russian side wanted all of their money up front. Those close to the fighter remembered vividly that fighters were stiffed after a major show in Japan when the promoter went into hiding. It was easier, they told me, to get the money up front.
Zuffa was unwilling to bend on this point. Their contracts rewarded performance, not just in the cage, but at the box office as well. “If he’s as valuable as they say,” a confidential source said. “Why are they worried about the PPV backend? If he is unbeatable, why are they worried about the possibility of him being cut if he loses? This is absolutely the best offer we can make them.”
The Fedor offer was controversial inside the company. Many were concerned about a big money offer to the Russian, because once you bought him for that price, you were stuck with them. To detractors, Emelianenko was fat and unimpressive looking. How would he look standing next to the mammoth Brock Lesnar trying to sell a fight. And, to make matters worse, Fedor couldn’t even speak English. An already stretched promotional team would have to go into overdrive to sell this to the public. “And you know his team is going to be a pain in the ass,” the source finished with a sigh.
In the end, the Russian team insisted on a final point: co-promotion. They weren’t satisfied with merely the largest contract in history. M-1 Global wanted to work with the UFC to promote the shows Fedor appeared on. They would take on half the workload and wanted, in return, half of the profits.
“These guys are going to come in and co-promote? How the hell are they going to ever co-promote anything?” White said. “It’s basically them coming in and saying ‘We’ve got this guy and some people say he might be the best heavyweight in the world, so for that, we want half your business.’ Yeah, okay. That shit probably works in Russia.”
In 2007, when negotiations had fallen apart, White made things personal with Fedor and his management by going into full attack mode. He called the Russians names and eventually turned on the fighter himself. For the past two years, White has maintained that Fedor was barely a top 10 heavyweight. He tried much harder this time around to keep his temper. Those close to him say that he finally understood that a proud Russian was less likely to shake off a serious insult than an American used to our bombastic, in-your-face culture. But after maintaining a generally respectful tone throughout the negotiations, White let off a little steam at his Friday press conference.
“He got offered a fuckiing assload of money,” White said. “A ton of money, everything he wanted. He can go fight in sambo every fucking Thursday night if he wants to. He can do everything he wanted to. We showed them nothing but respect.”
White again put the pressure on the team surrounding Fedor, suggesting that, even if they would have wanted to agree to a co-promotion it could have never happened. “People from other countries just don’t walk in and jump in business with the Fertitta brothers,” White told the press. “There has to be full background checks and all kinds of crazy shit. It doesn’t work that way. It’s impossible; it will never happen.”
Inside the Fedor team it was thought that White was insinuating that Emelianenko had surrounded himself with mobsters who would be unable to pass muster under scrutiny. Many internet reporters picked up on the character assassination and it is often discussed on message boards as a given. Yet no one has been able to connect the dots or make a specific accusation of organized crime activity. To many of the Russians, this ethnic stereotype is a sign of American ignorance. When I asked about this rumor, I was dismissed out of hand.
“You Americans watch too many movies.”
Negotiations have broken up and White’s insistence on airing dirty laundry and his decision to go into attack mode has left the sides as far apart as ever. Source close to the Russian say thay White personally is one of the main reasons that Fedor is turned off by the idea of working with the UFC. The soft-spoken Russian is not comfortable with White’s demeanor or his casual attacks on the Russian’s character and intelligence. Emelianenko is now considering an offer from Strikeforce and negotiating with promotions in Japan. With Josh Barnett surfacing in Sengoku, the fight originally scheduled for the third Affliction show could be resurrected in Japan.
Jonathan Snowden is a former lawyer, radio DJ, and television producer. He has worked for the U.S. Army and the White House Communications Agency, is trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the Army Combatives Program, and currently works for the Department of Defense. You can buy his new book Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting at your local book store or online
