“Fedor is not afraid to come [to the UFC] and fight or do any of that stuff,” White said as a guest on ESPN’s Jim Rome is Burning. “He’s got nutty managers. These guys are from Russia. They come into America and try to strong-arm (us) into some deal that we won’t want.”

Fedor hit the free agent market after the whole “Affliction: Trilogy” debacle, and was once again courted by White and the UFC.

After weeks of intense talks, neither side would budge on the final, and most crucial, sticking point - co-promoting shows with M-1 Global. M-1 Global, the MMA organization that represents Emelianenko, refused to ink any deal which didn’t allow them to enjoy half of the profits and costs, something that the UFC would not do.

“Go do that to the butcher down the street in Russia,” White continued. “It doesn’t work here in the United States. If this guy wants to come and put himself up against the best fighters in the world, he’ll eventually make it to the UFC.”