Comments on: Fedor Emelianenko’s first M-1 fight vs. Jeff Monson?

By: Sam Cupitt

Sam Cupitt — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 13:59:41 +0000

Any opponent for Fedor is risky, this is MMA. ANYTHING can happen. That is why it is a gamble for M-1 to set up a company solely based around one fighter rather than building up an organisation like Mark Cuban with lower tier fighters.

Its very risky for M-1 because one Fujitaesque punch from a Fedor opponent could not only knock out Fedor but also M-1.

By: perpetuum

perpetuum — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 14:59:15 +0000

I very much doubt this fight will happen. There seems to be all risk and no upside for Fedor. If he wins, he’ll have beaten a fighter with dubious name recognition who was recently manhandled by Tim Sylvia and is coming off a KO loss to perennial underachiever Pedro Rizzo. If Fedor loses, the mystique he has built up with the casual MMA/UFC fan in recent months will completely evaporate. It would also be a huge blow to M-1, who seems, so far at least, to be banking almost exclusively on Fedor’s drawing power.

On a related note, if the UFC is really smart, they will go out of their way to sign Josh Barnett, Mark Hunt, and Ricardo Arona. This would take 3 potential big match ups away from Fedor and M-1 and force them to continue contemplating risky matches with the likes of Monson and Rothwell–skilled, dangerous opponents with very little drawing power or name recognition.

By: bubbafat

bubbafat — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 00:10:56 +0000

Monson always seems to try to predict who he’s fighting before the contracts even written up. And then the fight doesn’t happen. I know he’s not signed but I still think that Big Ben Rothwell is Fedor’s (most likely) next opponent. He’s having contract trouble with Kurt Otto and the IFL, and he’s been one of Monte Cox’s guys for years.

By: UFC

UFC — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:35:05 +0000

:: whisper :: Rickson Gracie

By: garth

garth — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 18:36:41 +0000

While less, there still is a chance of him losing. Monson has world-class grappling skills, even though his MMA results of late haven’t been great. My question is what does M1 do if Monson beats Fedor?
And yes, as many people have asked in various forums, I would pay for a Fedor-Monson PPV, happily.