The big question for tomorrow will revolve around the former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Sylvia, who stated in the past that he was displeased with the amount of money that Brock Lesnar was getting from the UFC, will make an official announcement tomorrow according to his blog post, and the news will be featured on tomorrow night's Inside MMA show on HDNet. With the news coming, the rumors are flying around as to where Tim Sylvia may end up after Friday's announcement. Let's go through the list:

1. EliteXC:  I'm more inclined to believe that Sylvia is moving to the promotion that can give him more exposure to a national audience. Sure, Sylvia has been a boring fighter in the UFC, but that was against top competition in the world. Against EliteXC's potentially lackluster talent pool, Sylvia could be a big problem for their list of heavyweights. He could also line himself up with a shot at Fedor if EliteXC can manage to actually sign him.

Since Tim Sylvia wants more money, EliteXC could be the way to go if they happen to have the finances to move forward. Most fans believe that EliteXC is banking everything on the CBS deal, but the fact is that one successful event could lead to huge things. A big name sponsor could step in, and fighters will receive more money for their own sponsors. That's exactly where Sylvia can make his money.

2. Golden Boy: I've grown tired of hearing what Golden Boy could supposedly do for the sport. There isn't enough talent out there right now for the promotion to make a splash in the sport. I don't see Sylvia going there, and there are even doubts as to whether the promotion will even take off now.

3. M-1 Global (American Division): MMAonTap seems to think that this may be a possibility, and some fans have emailed me regarding the probability of Sylvia going with his agent, Monte Cox. To be perfectly honest, Sylvia should only consider this if M-1 Global plans to still work with events such as EliteXC, Strikeforce, and other promotions. He can maintain a working contract in M-1 Global for the events that they are still planning, and then move to fighting some big name battles on CBS in EliteXC under the M-1 Global name.

4. UFC: The UFC is always in the running, and it could be that the UFC has simply given him the contract that he desired. According to the Fight Network, that isn't the case, and he will be moving away from the UFC.

5. DREAM/WVR: Highly doubtful. His drawing power remains in the American market, so I imagine he'll look for the higher payouts here.

Where will Tim Sylvia end up? I imagine he will either sign with EliteXC outright or move to sign with M-1 Global's new American promotion with Monte as a non-exclusive fighter. Either way, he's going to probably going to be making an appearance on CBS, and he could be more exciting while fighter the lesser competition in those promotions. Will Tim Sylvia make a big mistake in signing with a promotion like M-1 Global that may end up going under by the end of the year, or will EliteXC's recent rise to network television convince Sylvia to sign with ProElite? Both promotions could ultimately die out, and where would Sylvia be then? It's a huge decision that we'll find out tomorrow.

It looks like the show is over for M-1 Global. Sherdog.com’s Greg Savage confirmed earlier reports that Fedor Emelianenko was headed to free agency in an interview with M-1 Global’s CEO Monte Cox. Cox stated that Fedor had never signed a contract with the promotion, and that the letter of intent only prohibited him from fighting outside the promotion while both sides were talking money.

Cox stated later that attorney fees from the negotiations went “well into six-figures” without ever getting a contract signed. He also said that Fedor’s side commanded a significant amount of money that would have made it much harder to be successful.

Fedor’s demands

One of the issues that came up in the article was regarding the amounts of money that Fedor was requesting in the contract negotiations. Although we don’t have specific numbers, the question comes up as to whether or not it was Fedor’s management and Fedor himself asking for large amounts, or if M-1 Global simply blew their wad on the signing bonus and simply couldn’t pay for a fighter like Fedor to fight at over $1 million per fight.

In researching Sibling Sports back when M-1 Global first broke onto the scene, it was evident that Sibling didn’t have a large amount of money to play with. Their finances didn’t show any large backers like the Fertittas, and their business sense was mostly in theatrical events instead of sports. We still remained optimistic because of the addition of Fedor to the promotion, but logical minds prevailed in predicting this downfall.

This is likely a case of both sides being at fault. M-1 Global has held at least one small event in Europe, but has likely not made a big profit from the event. They spent $1.5 million dollars on a signing bonus to Fedor Emelianenko and have yet to create a roster of fighters or a larger stage event in the States or in Europe. With little to no money coming in and a lot of dollars moving out, it’s likely that the penny pinching is about to begin. Fedor’s demands were likely too massive for M-1 Global to deal with as well, and as Cox stated in the interview, he feels that the promotion can now turn a profit without sinking big money into Fedor. I tend to agree considering Fedor isn’t a draw in the States… yet.

Differences in philosophy

Another issue that sprouted during the interview was the differences in philosophy between M-1 Global’s American division and their division in Europe that was being handled mainly by Fedor’s management team and M-1 Mixfight administration. Cox had this to say about the dealings:

"We have different philosophies," Cox said. "It's just the way that it is. For me, I'm not as concerned about all the glitz and the glamour of the show; I just want to have good fights and I want to make money. That was my goal."

I expected this to be a problem for the promotion in terms of production ideas for different regions of the world. It should have also been expected that Cox would likely have a much different view of how to run an event since he is much more an organizer of small promotions in the Midwest than giant productions like the UFC or EliteXC.

I admire Cox’s stance on producing good fights. For far too long, we’ve seen some terribly lopsided battles on Japanese cards that have produced ratings to an extent, but were nothing more than a spectacle. Those fans who hated those fights still need to understand that spectacle makes money in Japan, and that’s likely where M-1 Global Europe was heading.

In the States, I’m not so inclined to believe that unbelievably giant Koreans taking on WWE wrestlers would produce the same type of ratings, but different kinds of spectacles can produce the same type of hysteria. Kimbo Slice is one of those guys. He may not be the greatest technical striker in the game today, but his legendary status that has accumulated through Youtube videos has only helped in grabbing viewership to see him knockout a recognizable name from the past.

In the end, I think it still comes down to money when we talk about differences in producing an event. From the quote, it sounds as if M-1 Global Europe wanted the production values of PRIDE and M-1 Global in the States wanted quality fights with less production values. Monte’s idea would be a much better business model to make money by far, and it was probably the best idea for the promotion in its infancy. Creating PRIDE production values costs a lot of money, and I’m sure that was a deciding factor as well to break off the partnership.

Final thoughts

Zach Arnold called it… I bow to the Nostradamus of FightOpinion.com. The interesting part about all of this is that it very much seems like M-1 Global had less money than what was originally thought. Fedor’s demands were extremely high, and their European division wanted “glitz and glamour” over actual quality in their fights. The differences amount to one side wanting PRIDE, and the other side wanting HDNet Fights, and we all know what happened to PRIDE. Monte Cox made a smart move regardless if M-1 Global in the States succeeds or not.

Last year, Zach Arnold at FightOpinion requested my presence on one of his radio shows that talked about the announcement regarding Sibling Sports buying M-1 Mixfight and creating a new global mixed martial arts promotion known as M-1 Global. In that discussion, the question came up as to how many actual events will M-1 Global be able to pull off before folding. Unlike myself, Zach was very skeptical as he always is about these new promotions, and my excitement over Fedor Emelianenko actually fighting blinded my vision. Zach figured that maybe one event would happen before the bolts would begin to unscrew, and it seems that his prediction has come true. He was right, and now more news is coming out that supports the idea of M-1 Global going down.

In surprising news, Fedor Emelianenko apparently only signed a letter of intent with M-1 Global and never signed an actual contract with terms. I can't begin to contemplate what was going through Sibling Sports' CEO Monte Cox when he heard about this news. He either knew about this, or was once again completely in the dark regarding the news. Sherdog.com reported that Cox declined to comment which points my thoughts toward Cox possibly being bewildered at what's going on.

First rule in contract law: You have to actually sign someone to a contract for law to actually apply. M-1 Global really has no way to keep him in the promotion or commit him to any terms that they may have reported in the past. The only stipulation reported was the return of the $1.5 million dollar signing bonus, which Fedor will likely return in order to pursue other opportunities.

I'll focus on Fedor's potential in another piece, but for now, what's going to happen to M-1 Global? I'm going with Zach Arnold's Nostradamus prediction that the promotion will likely fold soon. Small time profits in Europe don't seem to be the aim of the promotion, and it looks like Monte Cox is running the same small time promotion he did in Iowa only in Europe. I highly doubt it will last much longer without any names to put into the promotion or attract for televised events.

We could see a M-1 Global collapse by the end of the year.

Tim Sylvia's recent comments regarding the possibility of leaving the UFC and heading to M-1 Global were refuted on his own forum this weekend. In the new quote, Sylvia had to say this:

"well let me just start off by saying people r f***ed up by saying that i want to leave the ufc. I dont its my home and i would love to be there for the rest of my carear. Second I didnt say i wanted or even was thinking about m1 u guys (forum users) asked about it and I told u my manager runs it thats it, so please dont take shit out of context. Some of u people are going to get me in trouble with the ufc."

It could be perceived that Tim is covering his ass. The UFC has strict clauses in their contract that restrict fighters from speaking with other organizations and publicly talking about other organizations, contracts, and any other business dealings. Not only will Tim not want to be in breach of his own contract, he's probably keeping his options open, especially if the UFC decides that the exodus of heavyweights is bad for business.

M-1 Global is still going to be his primary suitor considering the two talents in Aleks and Fedor. Arlovski, Rothwell, Monson, Rizzo, Hunt, Barnett, and others could follow suit and make the Heavyweight division in M-1 Global rival that of the UFC's own division. Sylvia can't fool us. Unfortunately for Sylvia, he still has one fight remaining, and he may find himself in Arlovski's shoes, waiting out his contract until the very last month.

Tim Leidecker over at Sherdog has given us another update in the European and Asian markets of the MMA world with a story regarding Bodog's recent moves in the Russian community. In his article, he mentions the feud between Bodog and M-1 Mixfight that occurred over the Clash of Nations card that featured Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Lindland. In interviews that were done at Sherdog some time ago, Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor's agent and M-1 Mixfight promoter, mentioned that he had done all the legwork in setting up the Bodog event, and even brought in big name VIPs such as Vladmir Putin, the Russian president. Bodog denies those claims and states that they 100% financed the event and held their end of the bargain.

Let's think on a larger scale though. Considering the fact that Vadim Finkelstein has the connections in Russia to produce a mixed martial arts event that will sell, it has been perceived that Bodog's initial thoughts were to use Finkelstein to get to those connections and then move on to do their own work in Russia. That thought is now becoming a reality.

Bodog will hold a Russian event known as "Russia vs. The World". It'll feature fighters such as Zuluzinho, Ibragim Magomedov, and Andrei Semenov. Although not a star-studded cast of great fighters, there is some interest in the event in Russia due to the popularity of a few of the stars. Semenov is featured on a Russian TV series that is equivalent to the U.S.'s Prison Break, according to the article. Semenov was thrown off the Red Devil Team for the decision to fight with Bodog instead of M-1. There must be some money being thrown around by Bodog if Semenov was willing to leave Red Devil to fight for Bodog.

The bigger picture

Has Bodog managed to sabotage M-1's plans already? According to the article, M-1's non-exclusive agreement structure has had its first lapse. Daniel Tabera, an undefeated Light Heavyweight prospect, has signed on with Bodog to fight on the card, but he's on contract with M-1 Global non-exclusively. This presents a problem because their events are two weeks apart, and it will cause Tabera to be unavailable for the M-1 Global event. Unfortunately, it seems that M-1 didn't take the lessons learned from the American market when creating these contracts.

Other promotions have stipulations that bar fighters from fighting two weeks, three weeks, even a month before and after their matchup in the promotion. HDNet has been in the spotlight with this clause. Sean Salmon was hurt badly in the Strikeforce Middleweight Tournament, and had to pull out of his fight with Jason Miller with only two weeks until their showdown. Luckily, Tim Kennedy stepped in. It's situations like those that should be considered when these contracts are made.

We may now have a turning point for M-1 Global. Will their attitude toward Bodog in Russia cause them to become stiffer on their contract clauses or possibly go non-exclusive so that Bodog cannot tap into the younger Russian talent? It's very possible considering Bodog's biggest MMA market is Russia.

A power struggle has begun in Russia in the mixed martial arts market. Fedor holds the reputation as being the best in the world, bringing fighters in to want to train with him, but Bodog seems to be offering more money as it tries to pull in more fighters within the market. The two are destined to clash, and it could mean more restrictive contracts from both promotions. It could also mean less opportunity for fans to see upcoming talent in action in the States.

Although a win for Alexander could put a nail in the coffin for the showdown between Fedor and Barnett, it seems highly doubtful it would end the possibility. It would most certainly make it less intriguing for some fans, but Barnett is dangerous enough to be considered competition to Fedor's skill. He's also one of the only heavyweights out there with the kind of skills that can potentially defeat "The Last Emperor".

The most prominent question asked about this rumor is for what reason would M-1 Global book Alexander instead of Fedor. Why would they risk Barnett being defeated and not cashing in on the Barnett vs. Fedor super fight?

Here's some reasons:

1. Rematch of the PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute fight between the two, Barnett won their first encounter.

2. Barnett wins, and M-1 Global's marketing department plays a revenge angle for the Fedor vs. Barnett fight. It has been used before in PRIDE.

3. Barnett simply hasn't fought a real MMA fight in over a year and wants a fight that he believes he can handle before taking on Fedor.

4. M-1 Global doesn't feel they can sell Fedor vs. Barnett effectively in the U.S. or feel it will produce more buys in Japan.

Do any of these reasons fit the bill? My take is that Josh Barnett simply isn't ready for Fedor just yet. With an April card in the United States, I'm not entirely convinced that they can sell Barnett vs. Fedor. It may be a better sell for another card in Japan where both names were established PRIDE veterans.

Fedor vs. Schilt and Alexander vs. Barnett should produce Fedor vs. Barnett, but that's a wish that may not come true. It's not entirely impossible that Alexander pulls off an upset. Schilt, on the other hand, still doesn't have the ground game to beat top 10 heavyweights, expect another Fedor win.

In any case, the fight will most likely happen within the year. Relax and enjoy the other mixed martial arts action for now.

Some interesting words from Tim Leidecker over at Sherdog.com regarding M-1 Global's expansion into Europe and their #1 fighter's potential opponent for an upcoming M-1 Global event. The headline of the story revolves around the plethora of fighters that M-1 is courting as possible opponents for Fedor Emelianenko.

In the article, Leidecker mentions Semmy Schilt as moving up the ranks as being a possible opponent for Fedor. While setting up an event in Holland at Amsterdam Arena may sell this type of fight out and put M-1 Global in the black on the event, Semmy Schilt is not a dangerous opponent for Fedor.

In their first fight, Fedor controlled much of the battle and even had full mount in some cases. The only real challenge for Fedor was posturing up, but the battle was early in his PRIDE reign. We can most likely assume that Fedor's skills have improved significantly from that time considering his dominance over the entire Heavyweight division of PRIDE.

Schilt's main weapons are his kicks and standup, but he has virtually no ground game when it comes to fighting in MMA. His K-1 career blossomed and he recently won the K-1 Grand Prix Final. His MMA career never amounted to anything spectacular for the very reason mentioned before, his ground game. Fedor will most likely be able to put Schilt down and finish him the second time around.

Rothwell is also in the running

Ben Rothwell is a name that is also mentioned if the promotion decides to make a splash in the U.S. in the Spring. Their February date has been pushed back to April, but it still looks like an event in the States will happen. Schilt wouldn't be a draw here, but Rothwell is definitely more well-known due to his IFL stint. How much he's well-known is a different matter.

Regardless of Rothwell's popularity, it does make for an American fighter against arguably the best fighter in the world. How would he do against someone like Fedor? Rothwell has been primarily fighting standup fighters with the exception of Ricco Rodriguez, who had his takedown game completely nullified for most of the fight. Fedor is a different story.

For the most part, Fedor should be able to put Rothwell down and defeat him via submission just like all the other bigger heavyweights he's defeated in the past. There really is nothing Rothwell does that is special.

European expansion

M-1 plans on holding an event in the Netherlands called M-1 Global Challenge that will be in conjunction with SLAMM, a kickboxing promotion in the country. According to the article, a 20 bout mega-show will take place with M-1 Global's name on the bill. The event will hold a K-1 portion and a MMA portion.

The names on the MMA card definitely give fans some interest. Gegard Mousasi (18-2) is a crushing Middleweight fighter who should definitely be in a major promotion like the UFC. M-1 has picked him up, however, and will have him headline the Global Challenge MMA card against Dave Dalgiliesh at Light Heavyweight. It'll be intriguing to see if Mousasi's extra weight will affect his speed.

Although grabbing up the talent in Europe is a good approach to tapping a resource that the UFC hasn't dipped into very deeply, the level of skill from German fighters hasn't been that impressive in the past. Even some of the fighters on the bill are exactly primed for major upsets of top talent in the world. Of course, we can state the obvious. The more exposure, the more interest, and the more interest brings more opportunities for those fighters to be invited to train somewhere else.

The one prevailing idea about international talent floating around is that since the UFC has such a strong base in the U.S. and U.S. camps are seeing many fighters come to their gyms to learn the wrestling base that is so relied upon in MMA, the UFC really does have a hold on international fighters as well as indirectly as it seems right now. Hopefully M-1 Global won't lose their talent to those camps and subsequently having fighters go to the UFC.

Main Event: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Hong Man Choi

I'll be brief with this matchup. Fedor is arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world. People have recently criticized his strength of opponents as a reason to demote him to #2 or #3 in the world, but he still has an unbelievable combination of skills that can easily defeat nearly all MMA fighters within his weight class with ease. His transitional game is the most overlooked aspect of his skillset that I believe will continue to put him above even fighters such as Josh Barnett or Randy Couture. With that said, Fedor should easily defeat Choi with in the first round by submission.

Choi exhibits an immense size and weight, towering over 7 foot tall and at around 350 pounds. He is primarily a K-1 striker, and during this bout, the use of knees will be disallowed due to the height discrepancy. This hurts Choi's chances, but had they been used, Choi's slowness would have still been his ultimate weakness. Choi's last performance against Jerome Le Banner was terrible, and if it was any indication as to how he would perform in this bout, Fedor should have no problems.

Shin'ya Aoki vs. Bu-Kyung Jung

Originally, this bout was to feature K-1 HERO's Middleweight tourney champion Gesias “JZ” Calvancanti, but he suffered a torn ligament and had to pull out. A huge disappointment. Now, the rubber guard master that is Aoki will take on Bu-Kyung Jung, a 2000 silver medalist Judoka.

Without going in-depth, Aoki should easily defeat the judoka. Although Jung will have some excellent throwing skills and abilities in the clinch, Aoki's submission game is nearly unmatched in the weight class. He went from potential defeat to a win fairly quickly in this matchup.

Hayato “Mach” Sakurai vs. Hidehiko Hasegawa

The first of the matchups that should be interesting is veteran Hayato Sakurai vs. DEEP champion Hidehiko Hasegawa. A battle of opposite styles, Hasegawa will be looking to get Sakurai to the ground for a submission or do enough damage to squeak out a decision win. Sakurai will undoubtedly be seeking the knockout.

Hasegawa has had problems recently. He dropped a battle at DEEP 31 to Dong Hyun Kim, but then rematched him at DEEP 32, which ended in a controversial draw that many people felt Kim won. Either way, Hasegawa hasn't had impressive streaks of greatness. He's dropped a number of decisions to mid-tier competition, and hasn't defeated any opponents that were overly impressive in their careers.

Sakurai, on the other hand, has fought some of the best competition out there. In his last fight, he dominated recent TUF winner Mac Danzig and knocked him out cold in the second round of their PRIDE battle. He defeated Joachim Hansen, Jens Pulver, and won a hard fought decision over Shin'ya Aoki. With 7 wins in his last 8 fights, look for Sakurai to continue his dominance. Sakurai should be able to TKO Hasegawa sometime after the midpoint of this fight.

Kazuo Misaki vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama

Akiyama has recently been allowed back into the MMA scene in Japan after the “lotion” incident against Sakuraba that landed him on suspension indefinitely. In his comeback fight against a tough Denis Kang, Akiyama showed something that many fans didn't think he could do. He knocked out Kang with a vicious uppercut that completely incapacitated Kang and stunned the crowd. Regardless of the greasing incident, Akiyama does have some great judo skills in the clinch, and obviously has the ability to knock his opponent out. Does he actually have the technical striking skills or was it just a lucky punch? It's not known yet, but this should be another test to see if Akiyama will approach top 5 status.

Misaki has fought some of the best in the business. He defeated Kang in a close split decision, beat Dan Henderson and Phil Baroni, submitted Ed Herman, and has went through much of his career avoiding being knocked out. He's never been defeated by a punch, and has only lost once by TKO due to his arm being broken. Akiyama has stated in the press that Misaki is a much better fighter than him, and he believes it is a honor to battle him, but the fact is, Misaki isn't a finisher and Akiyama is.

Misaki will have range on Akiyama, but Akiyama's clinch skills should be able to work against Misaki. Misaki hasn't had success in defending against the clinch in some of his losses. It will definitely depend on what level Akiyama's takedown game is at. I think Akiyama has more of a skillset that can do a bit more to edge out Misaki via decision.

Gilbert Melendez vs. Mitsuhiro Ishida

A matchup that has provided some anticipation to US fans that have seen Melendez fight in Strikeforce. Melendez has an excellent wrestling and takedown skillset that is accompanied by a solid striking game. Melendez's claim to the top 5 ranking has to do with his win over Tatsuya Kawajiri at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. He also recently defeated a tough veteran in Tetsuji Kato while nursing a broken hand. This may all sound impressive, but Ishida will be a tough test for the Cesar Gracie student.

Ishida Is 15-3-1 with 11 of his wins by decision. He doesn't have tremendous knockout power or a dangerous submission game, but he does have great wrestling technique and a solid takedown defense that has frustrated opponents in the past. Melendez still has an edge in the striking, and he has a rock solid chin in case he gets surprised. Even if this fight doesn't go to the floor, Melendez should be able to defeat Ishida in the standup game. Ishida will most likely look for top control, and Melendez has a great training team that is proficient in jiu-jitsu and wrestling to counter anything Ishida can do on top. Melendez via TKO, third round.

Makoto Takimoto vs. Murilo Bustamante

Takimoto shouldn't be a significant problem for Bustamante. Bustamante hasn't beaten upper-echelon competition, but he has fought some of the best in the business and taken them the distance. He did beat Matt Lindland at UFC 37, Minowa at Bushido 9, and recently beat Dong Sik Yoon at Bushido 13, and Ryuta Sakurai for a second time at DEEP 29. He has some significant power in his hands, and a good submission grappling background in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He should make his Brazilian Top Team camp proud in this battle. Bustamante by decision.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Luiz Azeredo

This fight could be a big problem for Azeredo as he doesn't exhibit enough striking defense or offense to stop Kawajiri's “crushing” power. Although Azeredo has avoided being knocked out by some great standup fighters, he still has a susceptible chin. Kawajiri should have a power advantage, striking advantage, and can nullify the submission attempts with his excellent wrestling. Kawajiri should take this one by pure power and striking ability, first or second round.

Mike Russow vs. Roman Zentsov

Russow is coming out of Chicago, Illinois with a 6-1 record. His only loss was to Kharitonov in his only fight that has been a significant test of his ability. He's primarily a submission fighter who will be looking to hit the floor against Zentsov, a standup fighter.

Zentsov has weaknesses in his game and is far from perfect. He's had some great wins in his career and some horrible losses as well. He has a much better striking game than Russow, but Russow will have more weight, size, and grappling ability. Many of picking Zentsov, but I'll pick the Chicago native from my home state via submission.

According to Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle, the UFC was offered a deal that would bring Fedor to the UFC to fight Randy Couture as part of a co-promotion between the two organizations. While this seems like a dream to many fans of mixed martial arts, the UFC rejected that offer. With that said, let's look at the pros and cons that possibly led to this decision. Did the UFC simply say that they just don't do co-promotions? Was there consideration in the possibility only to be dumped by specific reasoning?

The pros for M-1 and the UFC

For the UFC, the pros of this type of deal aren't completely revealed by just looking at the fight on paper. First, Couture is a legend in the UFC. If he brought his A-game to a fight with Fedor and won the contest, the UFC would be sitting pretty. Not only would they have the fighter that defeated "The Last Emperor", but Dana White would most likely make the generalization that the UFC has far superior fighters to the former PRIDE organization.

Leading up the event, the marketing and promotion of arguably the UFC's greatest fighter against the relentless, powerful, and nearly impossible to beat Fedor Emelianenko could garner record buy rates, although the UFC would most likely not promote Fedor well. It would take joint marketing from both promotions to really take full advantage of the PPV aspect. Nonetheless, the UFC would make a signifcant payday on the event along with some solid main card battles.

M-1 has the most potential to come out on top in this course of events, which may be the reason why the UFC simply said "no". First and foremost, what happens if Fedor dismantles Couture? Will that garner some interest in seeing him fight on U.S. cards in a different promotion from fans? It may to an extent. Mostly due to the availability of the cards. Fedor absolutely dominated one of the best Heavyweight fighters that the UFC has seen recently could garner up support for the new M-1 Global and giving it some interest here in the States, but we may never be sure to what extent since the event won't be happening.

It could legitimize Fedor's status as the best fighter in the world and cause fighters from the UFC to look toward fighting Fedor as well, creating interest in future co-promotions or fighters leaving toward the end of their UFC stints to take on Fedor. This is very doubtful, but always a possibility. It's evident that for M-1, a win by Fedor would give them exposure, a claim to the best fighter in the world inside their promotion, and the ability to have sponsors see Fedor and put their money into that promotion

The cons for M-1 and the UFC

The most obvious cons for both organizations is having their fighter lose to an opponent outside the organization. With no ability to turn around and promote the other fighter, it is definitely a problem for any promotion matching an equally great fighter against one of their own to allow a one-fight co-promotion. The biggest con for M-1 is obviously that Fedor being defeated would completely ruin the promotions credibility of having the best fighter in the world inside it. It may also stop other fighters from wanting to meet him in the cage or ring. Couture has stated in some interviews that he would not pursue Fedor is he falls before he reaches him. Other fighters may use that same mentality if Couture takes out Fedor.

With less chance of landing huge heavyweight talent and with no news on potential talent coming into the organization yet, we really have no gauge for how profound a loss would be for the organization. We can all agree that it would be devastating, but would it sink the organization? It's possible.

If Couture loses a battle with Fedor, the UFC doesn't have a lot of disadvantages. Couture is on the downside in his career in terms of age. He's fought at a tremendously high level, but many fans would simply attribute his loss to old age. The only real disadvantage to the UFC is the potential hype it creates for M-1. It isn't a high cost for a Couture loss however. The UFC will still have the best fighters in the world at their disposal, and will most likely continue to maintain that roster.

Final thoughts

Either way you look at it, the debate as to whether or not this deal would have been beneficial for both promotions if it had happened isn't really a debate. The UFC doesn't seem to benefit extraordinarily in this deal. They also don't seem to lose much either, which is great for them, but it gives M-1 more upside.

Let's just keep this simple. Obviously, the UFC doesn't want to acknowledge that another organization has what it wants. It won't help out other organizations expose their name either. That's the number 1 reason why this deal did not happen.

If we want to speculate a few other reasons, look at the pros and cons. The UFC gains to make a lot of money, but at the expense of acknowledging another promotion and giving casual fans a view at one of the most destructive forces out there. That could possibly help sell M-1 in the States by allowing more fans to see Fedor than his HDNet appearance at New Year's Eve. In the end, the card probably wouldn't make more money than a regular UFC event, and the UFC could probably produce its own card without Fedor that would make just as much if not more money than that type of event.

M-1 seems to have overextended their thinking in the offering of the deal. It looks as if they feel that a Fedor win would propel their standing, when it only helps slightly in exposing Fedor to the casual fanbase. They stand to lose much more than they will gain. The UFC seems to gain little, lose little, but will have helped M-1 at least get some exposure. That is something we know the UFC never wants to do. Look for this clash of the titans to occur in M-1 near the end of the year, or not at all unless the UFC changes their stance. The UFC could also slap a court battle on Couture toward the end of his contract if he decides to fight Fedor for a different promotion. One huge mess that the UFC really doesn't want to deal with right now, but will eventually cross that road.

It’s been more than eight months now since PRIDE Fighting Championships hosted ‘Kamikaze’ and what now appears to be the final event the all-but dead promotion will ever put on.  Sadly, PRIDE is something that the new generation of MMA fan never had a chance to directly enjoy.  By the time the UFC had began cultivating new fans in droves through the TUF series, PRIDE was blacklisted from mention and was basically left to Asia, over half a world away.  Regardless of the Dream Stage Entertainment Company’s scandalous collapse, the fighters that were developed in the promotion are still entertaining fight fans around the globe.  K-1 Heroes, M-1 Global, EliteXC, WEC and UFC all sport a roster of fighters that has been significantly bolstered by PRIDE refugees. Following the Zuffa initiated purchase of PRIDE, the Fertita’s inked a number of the A-list fighters to UFC contracts, deposing the now seemingly worthless PRIDE deals.  Dana White and the boys have proved both unwilling and unable to nab every top talent, most notably Fedor in the ‘exclusivity’ fiasco.  Emelianenko has landed the large contract but other champs and top-10 combatants haven’t, even as we approach a year since the MMA world shook with disbelief. 

Before the announcement of the New Year's Eve event “Yarennoka” this list was longer than anyone could have ever possibly expected it to be.  The event will host the first fights for Shinya Aoki, Kaz Misaki, Mitsuhiro Ishida and Ricardo Arona since the PRIDE days.  In short, this article could’ve been and would’ve inescapably been much longer. Aren’t you lucky. 

Below are six fighters that remain unsigned by a major MMA organization or have had their careers significantly impacted by the influx of PRIDE vets into their respective divisions.  There is a myriad of reasons why all are still unsigned, and each case is unique.  However, one thing rings true in each instance:  these guys should be signed by now. Maybe Santa will bring us one more thing to cheer about before 2008 is upon us.

1. Takanori Gomi

It seems like yesterday that Gomi was on top of the world, doesn’t it?  Gomi was PRIDE’s; well; pride and joy.  He was the Japanese homegrown star in the Lightweight division.   The 160lb Champ was on everyones shortlist of desired talent and MMA megastars.  But, here we are in mid-December, and still no Gomi sighting beyond FSN re-runs. The only thing keeping Gomi from being remotely forgotten by now is the persistent rumor mill that has churned out more false predictions that your local weather lady.   First, we heard the UFC for a BJ Penn rematch, something everyone and their grandma would pay top dollar to see.  After that dissipated, naturally focus shifted to K-1.  Geographically, it made sense, and another dream match-up awaited ‘The Fireball Kid,’ this one with the legendary Norifumi ‘Kid’ Yamamoto.  Then, word got around that a K-1 deal was unlikely, and fans scratched their heads in confusion.

Some have speculated that Gomi’s loss to Nick Diaz (yeah it was changed to a No Contest because Diaz was apparently stoned, but c’mon, it was a loss) is hurting his asking price.  Perhaps the most logical fight for Gomi would be an immediate rematch with Diaz in EliteXC; you’d think he would desire one anyway. Still, nothing has panned out.  The latest word is that former DSE executive Keiichi Sasahara tried to convince Gomi to participate in the Yarennoka card, but he apparently declined.

This forces me to ask what the hold-up really is. Is it money? Certainly after being courted by the four largest and wealthiest organizations in the business, someone would have paid the price if it was reasonable.  Is it mental? Gomi has often been criticized for his work ethic, and he has turned in some sub-par performances in the cardio department lately.  If he was willing to cut to 155 lbs, he would be a HUGE lightweight whose size would be tough for the division to handle. 

One last rumor I will address is one that I see as most likely being the outcome of Gomi’s odyssey.  There is a ‘new’ PRIDE in the works, backed by a company called World Victory Road Inc.  There has been talk that Gomi is in negotiations with them, and is likely to be the main event at the promotions debut in February ’08.  It all makes sense to me; Japan + being the #1 draw + fresh organization…I have my fingers crossed.