The UFC's courtship of Fedor Emelianenko, which has been ongoing for nearly two years, ended again at the end of last month when the Russian heavyweight signed with Strikeforce. Ever since Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, purchased Pride FC in March 2007, the UFC has been in hot pursuit of Fedor. Despite the years of pursuit, Fedor has yet to meet in person with UFC President Dana White or UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta.
A lot of rumors have circulated about the offer that the UFC presented to Fedor. According to Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer newsletter, both sides met on July 28th. Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta were present at the meeting, as was Fedor's manager Vadim Finkelchtein, while Fedor listened in on a phone line and never said a word.
As reported last month, the UFC deal leaked to the internet by CBS Radio MMA host Carmichael Dave was for six fights at $30 million. According to Meltzer, that number is not accurate. The UFC presented Fedor with a three-fight deal, thinking that the fewer fights would be more enticing for Fedor as opposed to a longer term deal. The actual number was a $2 million guarantee per fight, plus a sliding percentage on PPV buys, so Fedor's per-fight take could have reached $5 million. While there was no $30 million offer, if he won the championship and the sport continued to draw the numbers it's doing now, he could have earned more. However, it is unclear if he could have been cut after a loss, a clause common in UFC contracts.
Most of the rest of the points are consistent with the Carmichael Dave report. Fedor was offered an immediate title shot with Brock Lesnar, with M-1 Global receiving a cut of the Lesnar - Fedor PPV (which would likely be the biggest PPV in MMA history) on top of Fedor's salary. With the sliding percentage he was presented on top of the $2 million guarantee, if that show did 800,000 buys (which would be a huge disappointment), Fedor would come out with a $3 million payday. However, if the show did a more realistic number like 1.5 million buys (which is a little less than what UFC 100 drew), he'd pocket more than $5 million, the biggest one-night payoff in the history of the sport, in addition to M-1 Global's take.
Fedor would also be able to don the M-1 Global logo on any of his attire and on his banners, and would be allowed to compete in combat sambo, a point of contention in their negotiations in 2007.
As reported before, the deal was turned down - like in 2007 - because M-1 Global wanted to be 50% co-promoters of and show headlined by Fedor, which means getting 50% of the profits after Fedor's cut. The negotiations ended shortly after M-1 Global refused to budge on that point.
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