M1’s offical statement MMA Junkie:
M-1’s Official Statement on Brock Lesnar’s victoryM-1 would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his UFC heavyweight title victory as well as acknowledge Randy Couture’s return to active competition after a layoff that lasted over a year.
Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.
We’ve invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silfva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was “overrated” and that his “record was irrelevant.” They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.
It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters.
We believe that the UFC has determined that it’s much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.
While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.
For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we’d like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that “Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point.”
Jerry Millen, M-1 Vice President
This will not happen for many reasons. Firstly, Fedor would likely beat Brock Lesnar. How would that benefit the UFC? Dana’s policy on hating Fedor is based mostly on his contention that Fedor hasn’t fought any of his heavyweights. That makes him unproven in White’s eyes. What happens if a fighter not under UFC contract smashes the new golden boy? Not only does that prove Fedor’s status, but it shows the UFC isn’t the only game in town for the best fighters on the planet. Dana has shown he is all about having total control. That is why the UFC is still still relegated to Spike and not on a major network. He will not relinquish control, nor should he.
What control would Dana White have over Fedor Emelianenko? If Lesnar lost to him, who in the UFC stable could beat him? Fedor has half the notoriety but is twice the fighter. He has a huge reputation with the MMA hard cores but hardly any mainstream recognition. That means the PPV numbers might not even top Couture/Lesnar. I would be the first to savage my privates if a Fedor stepped into the cage with Lesnar, but Dana won’t do it. Under the current circumstances, he shouldn’t do it either. Get Fedor under contract with the UFC. Then spread out some paper towels for MMA fans all over the globe.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:24 am
Very true Chad, White will never let a man not under contract beat his new “Champ” unless he can control him. Fedor is a beast of a man in the ring. Lesner VS Fedor would be the greatest match, but as for numbers, yea Fedor is only really know among the hardcore fans of MMA, but that would be one hell of a match.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:26 am
Fedor would SMASH Lesnar faster than I’d smash Eva Mendes.
Dana White is this generations Vince McMahon and it makes me bitter because I’ve been following the UFC since my Pops ordered the first PPV back in the day.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Personally, I don’t want to see MMA organized the same way that Pro Boxing is; with numerous “undisputed” title holders in every weight class across multiple organizations. Dana White/Zuffa have made the UFC the premier MMA organization and have pushed the other players in MMA to the “minor leagues”. Thankfully, it’ll take more than one highly talented heavyweight outside of the reach of the UFC to change that reality.
I’d love to see this fight, but there are some names inside of the UFC that deserve a chance at Brock’s new belt. Once the Mir/Noguera winner has had their turn, and Fedor signs on to the UFC and beats a Heavyweight gate keeper, then I’d be the first in line to see Fedor pound Lesnar, or whomever is holding the belt at that point.
November 19th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Iza,
Agreed on all counts and I also have been watching UFC for more than ten years now and recall the old days of dark arenas and pitting different fighting styles against one another. Then White came…and it got better. The old days were great but the sport would’ve died had White not intervened. It was beeing run into the ground in the late 90’s.
November 19th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I thought that Brock would lose to Randy (and I was wrong), I also would think Brock would lose to Fedor (who knows what would happen), but I would love to see that fight. I would also love to see a Fedor vs Couture fight still (A better match size wise for Randy). After Fedor fights Andre Arlovski and gets the remaining fights finished with his current company (Affliction) I would love to see him go and fight some top opponents in the UFC (Couture, Lesnar, Carwin, Dos Santos (maybe?), Gonzaga, Kongo, Mir, Nog (again), O’Brien, Velásquez’s, etc, etc). In the end, there is a huge list to fight from and until he fights top fighter after top fighter, he is not the best fighter, end of story.
Only time will tell if this ever happens, but lets hope not to much time passes before this happens.
November 20th, 2008 at 10:56 am
Imagine: Fedor’s G-n-P vs. Lesnar’s G-n-P. Seeing both in one fight would be RIDICULOUS, but it won’t get that far. Fedor hits harder than anyone I can think of other than Chuck in his prime, and it is more than enough to knock Lesnar on his ass. If Brock were to end up on his back in this fight he would be finished in seconds. He doesn’t yet have the instincts to withstand the fury of Fedor’s G-n-P, though I have noticed Brock has a pretty decent chin. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see Fedor slam Lesnar. Randy looked like he could have done it on a better day, but Fedor could do it twice on a bad day. Can’t wait to see Brock’s face covered in bloooooood!!
November 21st, 2008 at 10:37 am
I think White has to step up more and try to get fedor in the ufc. Who knows maybe that is what they need to take them to the next level. Fedor is the best all around fighter in the world no doubt. Lesnar would lose more quickly than tim silvia most likely.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:46 pm
It is clear that most of the people here have only seen fedor fight once maybe twice. If you have watched multiple fights you would see that Fedor doesnt have the greatest chin and would have lost at least a couple of times had his opponents had more experiance in finishing fights. The fact is he is a great fighter,not the best. i still believe Anderson Silva holds the pound for pound spot though.I would rather see a fight against Silva and Fedor at 205 than Lesnar and Fedor. << been UFC fan since day one over 15 years ago.
November 21st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Fedor has never fought anybody with half the athletisicm Lesnar has. Not saying he would lose but it wouldnt be an easy fight by any means. Couture was supposed to be the #2 best guy behind Fedor and look what Lesnar just did to him, with not even one years experiance.
November 22nd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Anderson Silva- Pound for Pound the best weight cutter in the world. Silva walks around at 235, why not fight fedor at heavyweight?
Fedor will never fight in the UFC because of the aforementioned control Dana wants on everything, and theres no reason the best fighter in the world should submit to an ego-maniacs wishes.
November 24th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Fedor has got to get past Arlovski. Assuming he does that, it’ll be three UFC heavyweight champs that he will have beaten. Noguiera twice in Pride, and Sylvia.
The last time the deal fell through, it was because Fedor’s camp wanted $2 mil per fight. This isn’t asking much, when you’re getting the best heavyweight in the history of the sport. Along with PPV cuts and endorsements, the UFC A-listers are making close to that as it is.
Fedor’s camp will not sign because they won’t play ball is the demands the UFC is making. You can look at what happened to John Fitch as an example of the UFC strong-arming fighters. This won’t go with Fedor’s camp, and Dana is forced to call them “Crazy fucking Russians”.
Until the UFC changes its policy on how it treats fighters, or forks over a ton of $$$, you won’t be seeing Fedor in the octagon.