Report: Fedor signs with M-1
Loretta Hunt of The Fight Network is reporting that Fedor Emelianenko has agreed with sign with the fight promotion M-1.
Fedor has close ties to M-1 through his manager, Vadim Finkelstein, who, according to Hunt, is no longer M-1′s owner. Finkelstein has reportedly sold M-1 to an American-based entertainment company that plans to infuse the promotion with a large amount of capital.
Emelianenko, who is technically still the PRIDE heavyweight champion, is the promotion’s first major acquisition. The promotion has its sights on promoting shows globally and could hold a card that will feature Fedor as early as January or February.
For more details on Fedor’s signing with the “new” M-1, just click here.
Sam Caplan is the President of Combat Sports Media, LLC, the parent company of FiveOuncesOfPain.com. CSM is a B-2-B outsource solution in the MMA industry and provides PR, web management, and other consulting services to MMA companies. Clients of CSM include the Combat Sports Championships and Showtime.
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Sam, you going to move Fedor down on your rankings now?
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Not trying to bust balls here, but do wanna get a point across. Fedor isn’t “technically still the PRIDE heavyweight champion” anymore, and I’m surprised how hard it is for people to drop the name title. He would be considered “the last heavyweight champion of the now defunct PRIDE organization”. It’s not a details thing I’d point out usually, but it’s a very telling symbol on many sites that the mind set has not fully changed to a post PRIDE world.
I don’t know what to think of this. If I’m Fedor, I don’t care about some bloggers (or many bloggers) rankings, and I only sorta care about someone elses idea of what my legacy might be. If I’m Fedor, I’m thinking of getting paid today with enough money that I and those around me are taken care of for life. In theory, that’s what he’s done. Still, this organization and what he surrounds himself with, that element, just seems ominous to me. I have this feeling like we went from a Yakuza scandal in Japan last year, and now he’s jumping to a Russian mob scandal. I hope the guy gets his money, and selfishly weap for myself for not getting the Couture match, but think this isn’t quite the end of this story.
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Johnny:
I’m not trying to bust balls either but you’re factually incorrect. PRIDE’s offices in Japan may be closed but the company itself hasn’t been declared inactive. Read Zuffa’s most recent statement about PRIDE. Until PRIDE is legally shut down or Fedor is formally stripped, he’s still technically the PRIDE heavyweight champion.
If you want to talk about a public perception of PRIDE’s business prospects you’ll get no argument from me that it’s dead. But legally, it’s still a company.
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Steve:
Have you even seen my rankings? I had already moved Fedor down even before this announcement.
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