Dana White: 'The door is wide open' for Fedor Emelianenko to fight in UFC
by MMAmania.com on Oct 19, 2008 9:54 PM EDT
69 comments
Props: Boston Herald
Quoteworthy:
"The door is wide open. I want Fedor to come in and fight the best. At the end of the day, I’m a fight fan. That’s what I really am, and I want to see the best fight the best. Let’s find out if he’s the best. I want to do it.... I still feel the same way about Fedor [after beating Tim Sylvia]. I want to see Fedor fight the best in the world. People want to call him the best heavyweight pound-for-pound. Wait until he gets in and starts fighting some of these guys. I give him credit for fighting Tim Sylvia, but there are better guys out there than Tim."
UFC President Dana White softens his stance, indicating that he welcomes Fedor Emelianenko as a possible addition to his heavyweight division. White and Co. worked hard to bring the Russian on board after the collapse of Pride FC; however, talks broke down when the parties could not agree on an exclusive fight contract. Emelianenko now competes primarily for Affliction MMA and is apparently locked in to a deal that would prevent him from competing in the Octagon anytime soon. Unless, of course, the upstart promotion falls on hard times in 2009 and beyond. Even still, it would be a minor miracle if Emelianenko ever signed with the UFC ... he and his camp appear to mix like water and oil when it comes to working with UFC execs. Stranger things have happened, however. In the meantime, Emelianenko is penciled in to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski sometime early in the New Year, which is a fantastic and highly anticipated match up.
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Finklestein will never let it happen- “We want to be partners with the UFC.” GTFO
by NameNotRequired on Oct 19, 2008 10:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
the 2 biggest challenges for fedor are outside of the ufc in the likes of arlovski and barnett! if someone other than Nog comes out the winner of the ufc 4 man HW ‘tournament’, then that person would be 3rd in line after AA and barnett, but if Nog beats mir and then beats the randy/brock winner to unify the ufc HW belt, there will be no legit challengers in the ufc. and for those of u who think Nog is so much better now than when he fought fedor, keep in mind that fedor had about half the professional fights nog had at the time of their fights. fedor is the one who is drastically better now than he was when he fought nog in pride
by deuce 4 on Oct 19, 2008 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
If Fedor beats AA than he should be considered best heavyweight in the world, your thoughts?
Fedor vs Randy or Brock would be nutz.
by Robert on Oct 20, 2008 9:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fedor vs Brock is a fight that should happen as soon as possible. Imagine the hype the would build around that fight. I’d love to see Fedor tear Brick a new asshole.
by Spider Rulz on Oct 20, 2008 9:34 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
he would go home with his gargantuan arm. If Mir can tap him, imagine what Fedor would do.
by Bill Maher on Oct 20, 2008 10:45 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol, I think his biggest challenges are the LHW’s that just wouldn’t cut and anderson silva. Arlovski (who is one of my favorites) has never looked the same since getting ko’d by timmy. Barnett’s a good fighter, but i’d rather see silva,rampage (who would never fight fedor) or even forrest fight fedor.
by kevin (most moderated guy on mmamania) on Oct 20, 2008 10:56 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Now the door is wide open? give me a break! ok so dana goes from calling him a sideshow act and a farce even though he clearly was/is the top MMA fighter in the world even as he was trying to sign him but couldnt. Then he goes from that to a “new found” respect after 1 fight from that (silvia)? For a guy who claims to be a “true MMA fan” of the sport, he sure sounds lost and desperate. oh well, typical dana i suppose.
by blah. anything can/and will happen in MMA on Oct 20, 2008 2:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
hoiw many UFC champions does fedor have to beat in order to be considered the best by Dana? lol nogueira twice, coleman, sylvia, arlovski is next on the list… Dana really needs to just shut his mouth when it comes to Fedor because he makes himself sound pretty ignorant. I hope he is being honest with this statement and they can work something out to get him in there with “the best”
by brendan on Oct 19, 2008 10:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
the UFC needs to get Kharitonov and Overeem!!
by brendan on Oct 19, 2008 10:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why would they NEED Overeem? They already have people to feed to the good fighters.
by naturalshadow on Oct 20, 2008 6:02 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
HELLOOOOO!!!!! you missed one man….COUTURE!!! lol
by bradpittfightclub on Oct 19, 2008 10:39 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I wouldn’t want to see fedor in the ufc. Noone would even pose a challenge and im not even a fedor nuthugger.
by Jared on Oct 19, 2008 10:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think Fedor could have a ton of trouble in the future with both Brock and Carwin. He could beat them now, but I think in a year or two, he could be in serious trouble. If Brock ever slammed Fedor the way that Randleman did, Fedor would be pushing up daisies.
by naturalshadow on Oct 20, 2008 6:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
i bet he would just shake it off and break brocks arm off and shove it up his ass!
by Insain on Oct 20, 2008 7:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think Fedor will be signed by the UFC by the end of this year.
by sinister on Oct 19, 2008 10:10 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I think if he beats AA and then Barnett (if he quits ducking him) he might retire. The guy after all is loaded and he will be 33 soon.
by Bill Maher on Oct 20, 2008 10:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sorry Dana but you only have 2 top heavies in you organization in Randy and Nog (whom Fedor has already beat twice) and you f’d up a fight with Randy. This basically sounds like to me Dana is admitting his flub and that he needs Fedor more now than Fedor needs him.
by LouShine on Oct 19, 2008 10:11 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
yeah for sure… i think the ufc was trying to sign fedor on one of their exclusive “we own you” contracts and obviously fedor doesnt need that sh*t, affliction is giving him millions, why bow down for a less paying, more restrictive organization? i think fedor would retire before doing that
by brendan on Oct 19, 2008 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Affliction paid him 300,000 for his fight with Tim Silvia
by scott on Oct 19, 2008 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
that was his recorded salary, but he for sure made a percentage of the affliction revenue and probably another bonus
by brendan on Oct 19, 2008 11:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He made 300,000 from Affliction and 2 Million from M-1 who is who he is signed with.
by skwirrl on Oct 20, 2008 12:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Fedor may need the UFC if Affliction can’t start making any money.
by naturalshadow on Oct 20, 2008 6:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Good posts Brendan. Fedor will NEVER come to the UFC! Why? Because he doesnt need to! Brendan already pointed out that he has demolished a number of past UFC champions. Affliction is treating him like a king. Why would he want to constrict himself to the BS UFC slave contracts when he gets treated by a GOD by everyone else. He is shooting a action movie right now and he is the 1st mma fighter to own his own fight footage.
Fedor is doing better than any UFC fighter outside of the UFC. Next month he will compete in Sambo. He doesnt need Dana and his Crap!
Biggest challenges for Fedor are outside of the UFC, so why come to the Octagon?
by john on Oct 20, 2008 8:21 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
who’s out there though John? I agree he’s done well for himself financially, but I’ll always remember him as the guy who beat HMC, almost lost to lindland (boring middle weight) and almost got submitted by a guy with no submission skills (hunt). Yes he’s beaten nog, cro cop (is that really an accomplishment), but he needs to fight some top guys, not pro wrestling freak shows for the money in Japan. AA isn’t the same fighter he was before timmy ko’d him!
by kevin (most moderated guy on mmamania) on Oct 20, 2008 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I agree with most of what you said, except I think that AA is still pretty damn good. He may not be much on the ground, but he is probably one of the best strikers in the HW division.
by naturalshadow on Oct 21, 2008 2:15 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think that if Fedor doesn’t fight for the UFC in his fighting career, he will eventually regret it. Nowadays, he is fighting former champions. That isn’t the same as a champion. Sure he beat Nog twice, but fighters evolve so not everyone will be convinced that he is better than the current Nog or even the best in the world. If he came and conquered the UFC heavyweight division, he would easily be ranked the top heavyweight in the world and maybe even the best p4p fighter in the world. Being the best in the UFC means being the best in the world to a lot of fans. (not me in particular)
On a side note, I think that they will have Anderson Silva sign a contract extension upon his retirement just in case he decides to come out of retirement. This could cause problems and I could see Anderson not fighting his 6th fight left on his contract as a result of this.
by RyanHobbs on Oct 19, 2008 11:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol the ufc needs fedor, the ufc is the biggest mma organization by far without him and no one watched the affliction card with him and silvia, hell they couldnt sell out the building, fedor needs the ufc, maybe he will fight 3 times a year instead of once and wasting time on opponents like hong man choi
by LG on Oct 20, 2008 12:28 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
I think you misconstrued my words. You’re right, the UFC doesn’t need Fedor, but after the demise of Pride Fedor needed the UFC b/c there was no other place to go(see Hong Man Choi fight) and the UFC had all the top tier compition, but now that more time has passed and their HW division has thinned out, the UFC has more to gain for signing him than they did before.
by LouShine on Oct 20, 2008 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
yeah the heavyweight division is WEAK right now
by brendan on Oct 20, 2008 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The Heavyweight Division everywhere is weak. The only fights for Fedor outside UFC are against Arlovski, Barnett, Kharitonov. Then who else is there outside UFC?
Also lets not forget that Fedor went about 3 years facing weak competition in Japan, it wasn’t just Hong Man-Choi. After the Cro Cop fight who did he face? Lets see… Zuluzinho, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, Matt Lindland, Hong Man-Choi. Hardly top competition was it?
by Macho Bullshit on Oct 20, 2008 8:57 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He doesn’t need them. He is about to fight AA, then Barnett, then he can fight Sergei or Bigfoot. Plently of fights outside the UFC.
by Bill Maher on Oct 20, 2008 10:50 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol, bigfoot should start the double cycle now!!!!!
by kevin (most moderated guy on mmamania) on Oct 20, 2008 11:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Dana, please save your breath. We all know Fedor will never sighn with the UFC.
by belfort_fan on Oct 19, 2008 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Dana,
U always talk crap about me….I will beat anyone!
NO ONE CAN BEAT ME!
by Fedor on Oct 19, 2008 10:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
White couldn’t/wouldn’t sign Fedor, and publicly threw every insult in the book at him for the last few years. Now Affliction is riding on Fedor’s back trying to become a competitior. Obviously Fedor is staying away from White’s hooks for as long as possible. It’s pretty amazing how he has sustained $$$ big paydays, for awhile there it looked like he was destined to fight freakshows only, now he’s fought EX UFC champ Tim Slyvia and gets to fight EX UFC Champ Arlovski… all for big paydays. As much as I would luv to see Fedor fight in the UFC I kinda’ admire what he’s accomplished outside of it without bashing anyone or any orginization and in his own quiet way, giving Dana White the finger.
by THORAZINE on Oct 19, 2008 10:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I with everyone, I like Dana, but he need to just shut his mouth and not say things that are very obviously dumb. Fedor beat the current champ twice……That’s it !!!!!! nothing else needs to be said.
by riskreturngroup on Oct 19, 2008 10:35 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Not in all of our eyes, but Randy is the current UFC champ as of now.
by halljam2 on Oct 19, 2008 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
NO he didn’t beat RANDY, he WON’T fight him for some reason. Nog ISN’T and NEVER was the UFC champ. You do know Randy is the UFC HW champ right.
by Gord on Oct 19, 2008 11:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
whatever, champs defend their titles not cry about money and opponents and all that other nonsense… the UFC should have stripped couture as soon as he turned down the fight with nogueira, cotoure isnt champion in my opinion
by brendan on Oct 19, 2008 11:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Sure, the UFC has dubbed Randy “Champion” again, but NOG fights whoever whenever and doesnt complain, beat Tim fair and square for the title, and now they took it away pretty much. NOG is the most deserving person in teh UFC HW division right now, and I cant wait for him to fight Randy, I love Randy and however biased I am towards him, and try to convince myself that I want him to win, I cannot deny that NOG deserves it, and probably come out on top of this 4 man HW tourny.
P.S. Styles make fights, and to beat Fedor, you CANNOT be on bottom, and I think Randy has a better chance of getting on top then NOG, so thats why I would rather see RANDY/FEDOR then NOG again.
by The Anomaly on Oct 20, 2008 2:46 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Nog will beat Randy…..mark my words. Then the UFC has absolutely no reason to EVER call Fedor out again.
Dana’s worst nightmare lol.
by introvert on Oct 20, 2008 9:26 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
fedor needs to stop being a bitch. if he wants to prove he is one of the best he needs to fight in the ufc. i know what he has done in the past but thats in the past. he knows if he fights in the ufc he wont get anything handed to him like it is in japan in half of his fights. i think he is just scared because he saw what happened to crocop.
by djhbv23 on Oct 19, 2008 11:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
if u don’t have them on dvd, go youtube fedor’s fights with Nog! LOL, why would fedor want to come to an organization who doesn’t even have a champion worthy of challenging him? Nog was the top ranked HW in the world when they first fought and fedor made Nog’s submission attempts look amateur, ripping out of kimura’s n triangle’s, like it was a child tryin to submit him
by deuce 4 on Oct 20, 2008 12:01 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Why do all you guys think that if he doesn’t fight in the UFC he will never prove he is champion, their is more to the world than the U.S. and the UFC, you americans need to realize there is a whole world outside of you little 50 states. Fedor doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone Dana wants him to cash in on his fame, remember Dana is just a promtor not a god to MMA.
by Bigmcmac on Oct 20, 2008 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
He doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, but you can’t deny that the UFC is the preeminent MMA organization in the world and the US is the biggest market. And as far as all this fame of his that Dana is trying to cash in on, he isn’t well known to most mainstream fans. Whether you like it or not, the fighters in the UFC are more famous even if they’re less talented.
by GregC on Oct 20, 2008 12:27 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It’s all a mess right now. But you can’t say that Nogera is not the champ he fought a 5 round fight and won the Belt. Was Matt Hughs a real champ when BJ left? Same thing. Plus Dana is talking about all kinds of guys here if he means Randy he should say that, but when he says we got guyS, that meant the next one inline that he is talking about is Nogera. that is what I meant. Obviously he meant Couture (Champ1), and next Nogera (Champ2)
by riskreturngroup on Oct 19, 2008 11:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
The fact that there a some people out there who think Fedor still has to prove himself or even that Couture can beat him is mind boggling to me.
Randy couldn’t finish Sylvia in 5 rounds and yet it took Fedor 36 seconds but not impressive to Dana I bet.
by Rp on Oct 19, 2008 11:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Rp-Houston Alexander knocked Keith Jardine out in the first round but Forrest Griffin got knocked out by Jardine. Does that mean that Houston is a better fighter that Forrest? MMA math just doesn’t work.
by RyanHobbs on Oct 20, 2008 2:18 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
It wasn’t MMA math since I didn’t use the sylvia fight as a reason Fedor would beat him. Look at their careers and styles; I see no reason why anyone thinks he has a chance.
I’m talking about Dana not giving credit to Fedor as being the best; basically alluding to him not being impressed.
by Rp on Oct 20, 2008 3:39 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This happens with every Fedor thread (ppl calling Dana stupid, etc.). Why don’t you realize that Dana is just spewing BS? Hello, he’s done this with every fighter that’s not in the UFC except Saku. He did it with Nog, Rampage, Anderson Silva, etc. before they signed with the UFC. Then he bigged them up when they got to the UFC. Why in the fuck, as a president of a company, would you hype up something from another company?! Do you see the president of Coke talking about how good Pepsi One is?
by Pat on Oct 20, 2008 10:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Rp- Well in that case, Dana gave Fedor credit for taking out Sylvia right after that fight.
by RyanHobbs on Oct 20, 2008 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
as long as fedor fights arlovski come jan, im happy. he does’nt need the ufc and the ufc does’nt need him. dana was asked a question, he answered it. whats the big deal?
by b.w. on Oct 20, 2008 12:11 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
If Fedor will beat Arlovski and Barnett the only fight I’d be interesting to see is Fedor vs Randy. That’s it
by zheka on Oct 20, 2008 1:14 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
dana white is an idiot. the best heavyweights are not in the ufc. fedor would kill nog again like he’s done twice before. he would kill couture. lesnar is too green…fedor would kill him too. and mir? don’t make me laugh.
it took 3 rounds for nog to defeat sylvia….it took fedor 30 seconds. it took couture 5 rounds to win a decision over sylvia. fedor would destroy couture within a round.
fedor is right where he needs to be to be fighting the best. dana needs to shut his mouth. if dana white is a fight fan, then he should know the best HW fighters are right where fedor is.
by B_Hos on Oct 20, 2008 1:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
“I want to see Fedor fight the best in the world. People want to call him the best heavyweight pound-for-pound. Wait until he gets in and starts fighting some of these guys. I give him credit for fighting Tim Sylvia, but there are better guys out there than Tim."
Um…Dana, Fedor beat the shit out of one of your HW title holders….MULTIPLE TIMES!!!!!!!!
The other title holder was taken to a decision by the same guy Fedor dismantled in 36 SECONDS!!!!!!!
It’s funny how Randy beating Tim by decision was such an earth shattering event at the time, but after Fedor beats him down in 36 seconds, it’s “ther’s better guys ut there than Tim.”
Funny stuff.
by introvert on Oct 20, 2008 9:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
After AA and Barnet I want to see Fedor in the UFC. He does not need to go there and the UFC does not need him there. I would love to see it though. Dana pisses me off, he is so full of himself, just seems like a politician to me. I was routing for AA in this fight, but now I Fedor to win, just to add to his total of how many UFC Champs does it take to stop Fedor.
by mike on Oct 20, 2008 9:48 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Brock will come out of the heavy weight 4 man tournament on top. if fedor is man enough to step into the ring with brock that would be sick. brock would eat him for breakfast
by Bmo11 on Oct 20, 2008 9:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I actually agree. I think Brock will come out on top too. I would rather see Randy v Fedor though, and then if Fedor wins have him and Brock. Mir is the UFCs most overrated HW.
by mike on Oct 20, 2008 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Brock diclined a fight with HMC last year so what are you talking about?
by zheka on Oct 21, 2008 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
lol there are better guys than tim. like who, nog? yeah, the guy fedor pummeled twice????
by talking lots on Oct 20, 2008 10:37 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I dont think Mir is overrated. He just needs to stop being lazy and train hard like a champ. I want Randy and Nog and Brock vs Mir 2, regardless of how the tourny goes.
by Gweedo on Oct 20, 2008 10:51 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs
look dana just wants the last actionfigure to add to his collection.
fighters are like hotwheels to him.
he wants fedor to lose in his organisation to tell the whole world “see ufc has better fighters”
by MMANL on Oct 20, 2008 12:17 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
dana is the most inconsistent person.bashes fedor then needs him…tells mma 2006 boxing is dead.and when interviewd in a boxing media about the 2.4 million record ppv in boxing in 2007.he said—oh im glad somebody stepping up in the sport…i love that sport…what a liar
by filipino on Oct 20, 2008 9:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
i think fedor will never go to ufc after dana talk shit about him!!!
by B.J. on Nov 3, 2008 3:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
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