WSOF insists it can afford to sign Fedor Emelianenko, offers to put him on NBC

Ever since former PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko announced that he would be making his return to combat sports, mixed martial arts (MMA) fans have been arguing over whether "The Last Emperor" would sign with Bellator MMA or Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Hey guys, aren't you leaving someone out?

That's what World Series of Fighting (WSOF) executive vice president Ali Abdel-Aziz is probably wondering, as he told MMA Fighting that not only is his promotion "making moves," but it also has the capital to afford anyone from Emelianenko to Brock Lesnar.

His words:

"We can afford Fedor. We can afford Brock Lesnar. We can afford whatever we want to afford. But somebody has to move the needle, and I think Fedor definitely moves the needle. If M-1 is interested in doing stuff with us, I'm open to do it. I don't know if any other promotion would do that, but we are open. I think NBC would entertain the idea and I think bringing in someone like that can really move the needle. He's one of the guys that moves the needle, that we can write big checks for. It depends what Fedor wants to do. He can come here and be the biggest star, we can put him on NBC and NBC Sports. Or he can go to UFC or Bellator and be one of their guys."

WSOF can afford Emelianenko or Lesnar, but definitely not Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Knowing Fedor, he'll probably end up fighting for M-1 Global over in Russia. Then again, he does have that working relationship with Bellator MMA President Scott Coker, and if we're to believe UFC President Dana White, "The Last Emperor" was also considering a career inside the Octagon (this guy is ready just in case).

The next few weeks are going to be very, very interesting.