Fedor has proved his name time and time again, for anyone who ever doubts his skill, talent, power, well just watch his fights and I garuantee you shall see a completely different level of Mixed martial artist. Yes, this fight was a joke and its sure he got a good payout for it. But are we going to condemn him for making a living? Theres only one fight that everyone wants to see fedor fight today and thats the couture fight.
And if you want to point a finger at who’s in the way for that one, point it at moneybags Dana White.

source: http://www.yarennoka.com/news/detail.php?id=1198590481

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Brad, that’s all the more reason why it’s such a shame to see him fighting a dude who’s 1-0 when there’s so much better competition for him out there.

I’m not one to advocate for a UFC monopoly. I think that greater competition only benefits the fighters and the fans. But there are other matchups they could have made if they wanted to give Fedor a serious fight. Josh Barnett is a good example. But instead they chose Hong Man Choi simply to make a quick buck.

I just hate to see the man who may be the world’s best fighter misused in that way.

Couture is a class act and a sentimental American favorite, but enough is enough. He beats Tim Sylvia (a heavyweight who EVERYONE knows was completely overrated) and Gabriel Gonzaga (a man with 1 win against top competition), and all of a sudden he is the #1 Heavyweight in the world? Fedor would destroy him, especially if Randy takes him down and attempts to maintain top position. He would get submitted, no doubt about it.

Fedor is, hands down, the best fighter in the world. Stop the nonsense.

I’m not saying that my perspective is perfect, but these guys are all adults and they are entering into contracts with eyes wide open on both sides. The nature of a contract is that both sides are gaining something in exchange for something they have of value. Leave the emotion inside the cage or ring where it belongs.

Just my opinion.
Matt

My problem is that I’ve heard this same point over and over for the last few months, and it always leads me to the same conclusion that was somewhat cleared up recently. I’ve always argued that we as the fans did not know what was written in those contracts that Finkelstein and company turned down. It was recently cleared up by Fedor himself, and many fans simply said that his management didn’t give him the clear facts and he should have signed with the UFC.

Here’s my point in a nutshell. In order to be the best, he needs to fight the top talent. The UFC harbors the top heavyweight talent in the world with the exception of Josh Barnett. What exactly are you willing to give up in order to call yourself the absolute best fighter in the world, if not ever in mixed martial arts? That’s what it came down to with Fedor. Instead of being a negotiation of what should the UFC give up, it became a negotiation of how restrictive can we make what Fedor wants to do. Then the UFC can simply tell him what to do and make money off of him in every way imaginable. There’s a fine line between the two sides that should please everyone, and it seems that the UFC is starting to show signs that they want to get rid of that line and just swallow the other side.

So, according to the quotes from Fedor, the contract was ridiculously restrictive of what he could do. He had to sign his rights over. He had to basically get permission to do anything. The contract also locked him in the UFC if he was champion for an indefinite amount of time. I’m also sure that some of those lesser demands such as Sambo and signing Red Devil fighters were ignored as well, but they seem to have less bearing when you consider the restrictiveness of the UFC contract.

Should we seriously criticize him for signing with M-1 and taking one NYE circus bout? I don’t think so. I think we should just sit back and see what unfolds. If the contract was truly that restrictive, there is absolutely no way a fighter of his stature should sign it just to prove he’s the best.

Fedor is suppose to be the best, but fights no one . When is the last time he fought a true quality fighter ? Not hunt, coleman , a 185 Lindland ? Big Nog ? please he almost lost to Herring. He signed with a unknown M-1 why, cause of crazy clauses that will let him fight sambo ? sambo ? are you kidding me ? This is the reason why we cant see the greatest fight in mma history ? sambo ?

The UFC is the only place that a fighter has the ability to cross promote himself. How many other mma fighter show up on network shows ? espn? sports illustrated ? hbo ? Hollywood movies , please wake up ? Sure there are other markets outside the U.S. but what do they broadcast ? American television. Maybe Maybe some quirky game shows but the bottom line Hollywood is unmatched in terms of money and popularity anywhere in the world.

Bottom line Fedor might be the best but is afraid to find out. Say what you want about Randy but he runs from no one. To the point that he went as far as resigning to get a match with Fedor. Fedor can fight all the freak shows he wants and people can back him up as much as they want but in order to be the man you gotta beat the man . He hasnt. he been fighting boys and grandpa far to long to be considered the best anymore. END OF STORY, PERIOD !

Dana simply doesn’t know how to treat his guys. In most corners of martial arts, respect is paramount to pretty much anything else, and when Dana comes out and says “So and So is a joke, he’d get destroyed by so and so”, these flippant comments really don’t sit well with anyone not sitting in a trailer with a purposely torn Affliction shirt.

You take someone like Fedor, who is all class and respect, and try to treat him like so much property, it’s not surprising that he would shy away from someone like Dana and his ilk.

I believe fully that because the UFC wants to completely monopolize the market, that it is they, and not the Fedor or Randy’s of the world, that are the problem. If they would simply be willing to co-promote a little more, and yes, spread the wealth around a bit, this entire situation could be resolved very easily.

i think it takes guts for Fedor to put his reputation on the line for a freak show, most fighters would be too scared to lose even though the chances of winning are high

of course everyone wants to see Fedor fight, even Fedor says he wants to fight some heavyweight talent. people always say he dodged top notch competition from the UFC. having nogueira and sylvia fighting for an “interim” belt should say it all. and i agree with Leland, if the UFC’s so great, why is one of its biggest stars having so many issues? yes it has to do with Fedor but to Randy he makes it out to be more than that

The fact is Fedor may be the best in the world, but we haven’t seen him against a credible opponent in his own weight class in at least a year, maybe more depending on where you rate guys like Hunt and Coleman these days. It’s a shame, is what I’m saying, and it’s really a shame because he could still make tons of money in the UFC, where the real competition is.

I also don’t think it helps to chalk it all up to cultural differences. Just because other cultures might like a freak show fight more than Americans, it doesn’t make it any more right or wrong. That argument has a weird sort of MMA relativism to it. Is a bout with no meaningful ramifications okay only in Japan, and only around NYE?

My point is that if Fedor wants to be the best he needs to fight the best. If he doesn’t, if he just wants to get paid without being tested, fine. But at that point he stops being a serious fighter and starts being a pro wrestling circus act. He’s not at that point yet, but he’s edging closer, and that’s troublesome.

i think it’s pretty crappy that since the UFC is the biggest organization out there that they have the power to offer absurd deals and contracts that hurt the fighters, knowing that the fighters either have to accept or be forced to fight weird giants in japan.

i also think it’s pretty awesome that fighters like Couture and Fedor are standing up for themselves and saying no. even if it means my not getting to see them fight in the near future.

however, i also think that ben has a good point – how do you want to be remembered and who do you really want to fight? maybe taking a bad deal with the UFC is worth it in the long run – in many ways, the UFC IS MMA right now, whether we like the way they run their company or not.

in the end, the best we can hope for is that M-1 turns into more than a company that rents Fedor out for bar mitzvahs.

it will be interesting to see how the fight promotion facet of the sport evolves in the next decade or so, that’s for sure.

Another problem is that people are too busy whining about this purely entertainment bout. It was a fight to get ratings in Japan, that’s all it was. It wasn’t a fight to determine if Fedor should maintain his #1 ranking in the world, or a fight to show everyone his dominance, it was to get ratings. Get over it. Stop making it look like this fight has some bearing into how people should view Fedor. He got paid, and that’s that. Let’s move on.

Fedor has the ability to destroy top competition inside 2-3 minutes against nearly any opponent. If he does that to someone like Josh Barnett or Randy Couture, it wouldn’t matter how many crappy circus fights he battled. Let him make his money now, and when a legitimate fight comes along and he loses, I’m sure criticism will run rampant. Fact is, he’s still the slickest transition fighter in the game, and has a chance to beat nearly anyone at any point in any fight.

nice! maybe fedor will fight virgil next.

and just to play devil’s advocate… weren’t there a ton of articles before the fight with choi, saying how the new year’s shows are traditionally more for “show” and less an attempt at putting on a legitimate competition? at least in the case of fedor’s bout anyway. americans arent the only ones who follow mma. different cultures have different tastes. yeah, the matchup was absurd, but i think at least part of that was intentional.

not to say that he isnt tarnishing his image, but i think it’s a bit of a rush to judgement.

@ Huckaby

Show me an article that does better. There’s a bit of a problem with having 20 journalists covering one event, things are going to be the same.

But they’re not going to write it the same way, and that’s what makes these writers who they are.