Why Signing Fedor Emelianenko Is A Bad Idea

Fedor Emelianenko one of the few fighters with a legit claim as great of all time announced he is interested in returning to MMA. Of course this has already set of tons of speculation of where he could fight. Could he finally join the UFC? What about Bellator which is run by Scott Cocker who he's worked with in the past? WSOF could potentially put itself on the map if they could sign him. Well I'm here to say that if a promotion wound up signing Emelinenko they will wind up regretting it.

Lets start with facts Fedor is thirty eight years old. For every fighter like Randy Couture that defied the odds into middle age there is someone like BJ Penn. Try as he might by moving up and down in weight, taking time off, changing his camp Penn hit a wall had three horrible final fights. While time off might have helped Fedor heal up old injures it could also mean he's very rusty since he hasn't been training. When George Foreman launched his comeback to boxing after over a decade off it took him several fights to begin looking like an elite heavyweight again. Would Fedor be able to last long enough to knock off any rust? And that's if he's able to even get close to fighting elite competition.

Part of the reason Anderson Silva had surpassed Fedor on many pound for pound lists was due to level of competition Fedor had begun to face. His last win on a major US card was over Brett Rogers. While Rogers was viewed as an up and comer at the time. After the loss to Fedor though Rogers never developed into an elite fighter. He was cut from Strikeforce after ___ losses in a row. The night fight for Strikeforce is where it appeared Fedor was heading for the end. He was submitted by Fabrico Werdum. After that loss he was badly beaten up by Bigfoot Silva and in his final Strikeforce fight he was knocked out by Dan Henderson. So you have a fighter whose beast days were in a company that is long dead in Pride. The last time fans in the US saw him it was losing three in a row. There are a large number of MMA fans that never saw Pride outside of Best of Pride the TV show and UFC Fightpass.

Fedor did win the final three fight of his career to date. However those were not against elite fighters. One was against Jeff Moonson an aged fighter who has not been an elite fighter in years if he ever was one. Another was against Pedro Rizzo a star from the UFC dark days but again hadn't scored a big win in a long time. Also none of the three fighters he beat have even gotten close to an upper level promotion since their fight with Fedor. How many new fans are going to be willing to watch WSOF or Bellator if they sign him and have him main event a show? And remember a big reason to invest the big money it will take with Fedor will be to hopefully win over new fans. How much will an aged fighter long removed his last quality win really draw?

Another question who would he really fight? The lion share of elite fighters in general are under UFC contracts. Bellator does have some good heavyweights in terms of attack pure curiosity the best option might just be Kimbo Slice. Of course I wouldn't hold my breath on either fighter agreeing to that or various reasons. I can't recall any heavyweight WSOF has with out looking it up first I admit. Now on flip side to that of course any young fighter that would beat Fedor would have a big win to build his career on.

Now lets to the real reason why I think any company signing Fedor would be a bad idea. Financial he wouldn’t be worth it. Fedor and his M-1 Global company have had numerous negotiations with UFC parent company Zuffa. Many has criticized Dana White for not being willing to make a deal. White claims it on Fedor and his people as they are unwilling to consed on several demands. A big one if co promotion. M-1 Global also puts on MMA events. The UFC simply wants to pay Fedor as a fighter. By Co-promoting an event that would mean he would paid extra money. A great deal extra including cuts of the tickets sales and pay per view buys. I understand why Fedor would ask for this stuff as it's his body on the line and numerous boxers have similar deals.

That said I also don't blame the UFC for refusing him. The UFC doesn't need Fedor Emilenko. Having him and doing a big fight with Lesnar or Couture could have done huge business. The UFC was making huge money and they still do very well. Affliction a company that spent huge money and singed Fedor giving into his demands because they wanted him and believed they needed him it was dead after two shows. Now to be fair Affliction was spending so much odds are it may not have lasted but the large money owed to Fedor as both a fighter and as a promoter didn't help things. Than there is Strikeforce. Scott Cocker did run a good show and the promotion lasted for several years. Like Affliction they signed Fedor when a UFC deal didn't happen.

And people that worked for Strikeforce admit why Fedor did help draw good attendance and ratings the money he was owed due his deal meant those shows didn't make huge money for Strikeforce. Many people look at Viacom and assume “They have billions they can pay anything.” Except that's not how business works. Companies are not just looking to make profit they are looking to make maxim profit. If Bellator does sign with Fedor and say he draws two millions dollars worth of business. But if they have to spend 1.5 million it may not make sense for Viacom's suites. And than look at the end of Strikeforce. It's backers pulled out partly due to the fact they saw how much money was being spent on fighters with out big returns. And what happened the UFC swopped in and bought out Strikeforce.

The one company that would be able to last if they signed Fedor would be the UFC. Fedor wouldn't be seen as a make it or break it deal for the company. The UFC like the WWE is for wrestling or the NFL is for pro football is the seen by many as the only whole industry. People use the term Ultimate Fighting when talking about the sport. For Bellator who has done a lot to close the gap on the UFC the last few years but who have they done that? To large part it been reaching out and signing former UFC fighters to contracts. Many of those fighters are names like Tito Ortiz, Rampage Jackson, or most recently Josh Koscheck. All fighters that entered on losing streaks. All fighters the UFC seemed to not be overly interested in. And in Jackson's case he fled back to the UFC. Bellator has already tied up a lot of money in older fighters how much would Fedor really add? Also I'll be interested o see what happens when notable Bellator fighters such as Pat Curran or Pitreco Pitbull are free agents will they depart like Eddie Alvarez did?

There is no denying the legend Fedor has become over the years. But Strikeforce showed simply having Fedor doesn't mean you will last forever. And what if he start to win? Does it really say Fedor's back Fedor's still the best? No it doesn’t' because no matter how much people may like to deny it the best talent is in the UFC. Fedor winning would simply send the message that Bellator has such a thin Heavyweight roster even a fighter well past his prime can come in and win. Fedor is a legend but he's not worth money and he doesn't bring the creditability either at this point.