Fedor Will Not Return To StrikeForce

Gold Chain · Post #1 » by **Gold Chain** » Thu Aug 4, 2011 6:58 pm

As Per Helwani Twitter :

Dana just said Fedor's Strikeforce days have to come to an end.

skflives · Post #2 » by **skflives** » Thu Aug 4, 2011 10:10 pm

I knew this would happen. Dana White's ego just wouldn't let an opportunity to say he cut Fedor pass. But its just as well. With the harsh terms they would have imposed on a new contract Fedor probably would have passed anyway.

SpReEfOrAlL · Post #3 » by **SpReEfOrAlL** » Thu Aug 4, 2011 11:34 pm

skflives wrote:I knew this would happen. Dana White's ego just wouldn't let an opportunity to say he cut Fedor pass. But its just as well. With the harsh terms they would have imposed on a new contract Fedor probably would have passed anyway.

He went 1 and 3, and probably is by far the highest paid guy on the roster. What does Dana's ego have to do with this? Most people would get cut after going 1 and 3. Especially with what Fedor makes.

Post #4 » by **CPT** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 1:35 am

Not surprising.

Where does he go though? Back to Japan? I guess M-1 is the most likely, but who is he going to fight?

SDM · Post #5 » by **SDM** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 3:59 am

They made just under $600K door and Fedor supposedly makes $1.5M. Can't run a business like that, especially on a loser.

skflives · Post #6 » by **skflives** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 11:25 am

SpReEfOrAlL wrote:
skflives wrote:I knew this would happen. Dana White's ego just wouldn't let an opportunity to say he cut Fedor pass. But its just as well. With the harsh terms they would have imposed on a new contract Fedor probably would have passed anyway.

He went 1 and 3, and probably is by far the highest paid guy on the roster. What does Dana's ego have to do with this? Most people would get cut after going 1 and 3. Especially with what Fedor makes.

Well Scott Coker, the guy who supposedly ran Strikeforce for Dana White and Zuffa, had said he was interested in bringing Fedor back despite his losses a day b4 Dana White announced he was cut.

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news/Sc ... force.html

Strikeforce CEO, Scott Coker, unsurprisingly states his desires for both Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson to fight for Strikeforce again after their bout on July 30 according to bloodyelbow.com.

Emelianenko and Henderson headlined the Strikeforce event on July 30 which ended in Henderson toppling "The Last Emperor" via TKO in the first round after being stunned himself earlier in the fight.

"If you look at that fight, I think it stands right up there. If you look back at the history of Strikeforce, which is relatively a newer company, I think the ones that stand out in my mind are, in our early days, Frank Shamrock fighting Cung Le - that was an unbelievable match-up. And Nick Diaz fighting Paul Daley this year - unbelievable fight...I think this one probably tops those two. So arguably one of the best fights in the history of our company." Coker said.

Losing both men can significantly affect Striforce's pay per view buys for its future events. The promotion already loss one of his main draws in Nick Diaz who signed with the UFC to contest George St. Pierre for his welterweight title at UFC 137.

Other Strikeforce stars in Cung Le and Jason Miller have expressed their interest in fighting for the UFC, with the latter already signing on with the promotion to coach the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter.

"As far as fighting in Strikeforce, I hope we have them both (Fedor and Henderson) back." Coker said.

So I guess you're right. Dana White and Zuffa had nothing to do with this.

Starkiller · Post #7 » by **Starkiller** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 12:44 pm

I don't wanna be the one screaming foul, but it does kinda come off as spiteful from Dana. Not saying that's what it was, but it's easily believable that it could be.

K1NG · Post #8 » by **K1NG** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 1:18 pm

IMO, I think a lot of people would still pay to watch to Fedor fight.

SpReEfOrAlL · Post #9 » by **SpReEfOrAlL** » Fri Aug 5, 2011 8:23 pm

K1NG wrote:IMO, I think a lot of people would still pay to watch to Fedor fight.

Id pay to watch him in marquee fights. I no longer would just pay to see him fight like i used to though. Its not because of the losses. Its how bad he has looked in the losses. He has looked sloppy.

Post #10 » by **CPT** » Sun Aug 7, 2011 2:23 pm

I think this is a case where spite and business coincided.

It's true that Dana White would probably not pass up the opportunity to cut Fedor, but it's also true that he would put the past behind him for the good of the business. Only in this case, paying Fedor what has been reported (though not officially) or anywhere close, plus giving in to copromotion just makes no sense. If he truly made $1.5 million for his last fight, he is making about 5-10x what he should be, given other fighters' reported salaries. Even if it is $400k (his reported salary for either the Silva or Werdum fight, I can't remember), it's still pretty high, given the other headaches associated with having him fight for your organization.

I'm also not sure how many people would buy a PPV just to see him fight. The Bodog and Affliction numbers certainly don't indicate strong drawing power. He's drawn relatively well for Strikeforce, but that's either been on free TV or paid cable. With the UFC machine behind him, he probably could have drawn quite well, but at this point I don't know.

skflives · Post #11 » by **skflives** » Sun Aug 7, 2011 10:56 pm

^^^ Well to be quite honest I don't think you can really judge how well of a Pay-per view draw he was (b4 the 3 consecutive losses) based upon Bodog and Afflictions events. This promotions were horribly organized and did little to generate any actual buzz. It also didn't help that these were basically one shot events without shows preceeding them to build up a loyal audience. They were basically counting upon hard core fans to buy the pay per views but most hardcore fans of Fedor have become pretty adept at finding ways to catch free streams of the fights online (myself included). I never pay for pay per views but if Strikeforce had made Fedor/Hendo a pay per view I might have bought it to support Strikeforce but at the end of the day I am more loyal to my wallet than to any fighter or fight promotion.

Cammo101 · Post #12 » by **Cammo101** » Sun Aug 7, 2011 11:24 pm

Fedor would have been a fine PPV draw in his prime with the Zuffa hype train behind him. Not Chuck or Tito level, but he would have been an Anderson Silva type draw.

dean12 · Post #13 » by **dean12** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 7:40 am

Spam.

HMFFL

funkatron101 · Post #14 » by **funkatron101** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:44 pm

dean12 wrote:He just Leave the Strike force he is doing good in the UFC events,this is good news for his fans.

Start over.

Post #15 » by **Shaazzam** » Tue Aug 23, 2011 2:51 pm

I think CPT drilled it. Dana would keep him around if there was a whack of money to be made.

But the allure and mystery is gone, Fedor has been exposed. It would be a tough sell to casual fans.

Elden Payton · Post #16 » by **Elden Payton** » Tue Sep 6, 2011 1:32 am

CPT wrote:I think this is a case where spite and business coincided.

It's true that Dana White would probably not pass up the opportunity to cut Fedor, but it's also true that he would put the past behind him for the good of the business. Only in this case, paying Fedor what has been reported (though not officially) or anywhere close, plus giving in to copromotion just makes no sense. If he truly made $1.5 million for his last fight, he is making about 5-10x what he should be, given other fighters' reported salaries. Even if it is $400k (his reported salary for either the Silva or Werdum fight, I can't remember), it's still pretty high, given the other headaches associated with having him fight for your organization.

I'm also not sure how many people would buy a PPV just to see him fight. The Bodog and Affliction numbers certainly don't indicate strong drawing power. He's drawn relatively well for Strikeforce, but that's either been on free TV or paid cable. With the UFC machine behind him, he probably could have drawn quite well, but at this point I don't know.

Great Post.