M-1 exec: Fedor Emelianenko will fight Brock Lesnar for free

[Rappy Veteran]

First, it was Randy Couture. Now, it's Brock Lesnar.

Each time former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (31-1) adds another win to his already impressive career total, fans from across the world call for the Russian to face the UFC's reigning king.

Emelianenko toppled the previously undefeated Brett Rogers at Saturday night's Strikeforce and M-1 Global co-promotion, "Fedor vs. Rogers," and those requests have already begun again. While the UFC's unwillingness to co-promote has proved an insurmountable roadblock in the past, M-1 Global USA vice president Jerry Millen has a simple solution: do it for free.

"If these guys in the UFC truly wanted to fight Fedor, they'd find a way," Millen recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "Come to his training camp. Come to Stary Oskol, and we'll do three, five-minute rounds in the ring or the cage. We'll do it for fun.

"If you really want to fight him for competition, and it's not about the money for the guys in the UFC, then tell Brock Lesnar to jump his ass on a plane, take a train, and come to Stary Oskol. If these guys really want to fight Fedor, then come to Stary Oskol and lets get it on there for no money."

UFC president Dana White has often been less-than-complimentary in regards to Emelianenko and Millen's partners at M-1 Global. Some critics of the Russian fighter have suggested Emelianenko's refusal to fight in the UFC was a result of his desire to keep his nearly unblemished record intact.

Millen finds the thought of Emelianenko "ducking" stiff competition laughable.

"[Emelianenko] loves fighting," Millen said. "He loves the competition of it, and he'll fight any comers. That's why when I hear these jerks say, 'He's ducking the UFC. He's afraid of Brock Lesnar' ? Frank Mir's like, 'Oh, he's afraid of us' ? give me a break. That's the biggest bunch of bull I've ever heard. Fedor's not afraid to fight anybody."

As he always has, Millen maintains the only thing stopping "The Last Emperor" from fighting in the octagon are the terms being offered by the UFC.

"It's got to be a good deal," Millen said. "When you sign with the UFC, most guys sign their soul away. Fedor doesn't have to sign his soul away, number one, because he's at the top of the game, and he's doing very well without signing with the UFC. So he doesn't have to sell his soul. He's the kind of guy that won't sell his soul.

"If you ever see Fedor (in the UFC), if that ever happens, it's going to be a very fair deal."

Millen said he believes the UFC has been great for the sport but that the contract terms offered by the promotion aren't always in the best interest of the organization's athletes.

"The fighters in the UFC are great, but the UFC, to me, is the WWE model," Millen said. "They want to own the guys. They have their own rankings. There's a lot of fighters out there that are undiscovered that don't get a chance to fight in the UFC, so they're not going to get ranked because they're not going to fight the guy that's ranked No. 4.

"The UFC is the Q-tip of MMA. It's great what they've done for the sport, but PRIDE was there before that. Strikeforce, King of the Cage, Cage Rage. There's a lot of promotions out there that helped the sport, and when I hear people say that the UFC has made MMA what it is, the UFC has made MMA what it is in America. Not worldwide."

As a part-owner of M-1 Global, Emelianenko may not ever make a UFC appearance. But Millen said if Lesnar, Mir or any other UFC heavyweight wants to face the current WAMMA heavyweight champion, Emelianenko waits on the other end of trip to Russia.

"I get so sick of hearing, 'Oh, he's afraid,'" Millen said. "That's the biggest bunch of crap I've ever heard. [Emelianenko] is an athlete. He's not afraid of somebody beating him up. He gets punched in the face all the time. What would he be afraid of? Losing? He's not afraid to lose. He's at peace with losing. That's all bull.

"Dana will talk his trash. Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, they're all trying to goad him. But honestly, [Emelianenko] doesn't listen to any of it. It doesn't affect him. He just does what he does, and if you want to fight him, come on. He'll fight you. Bring it."

MMA Junkie

[Zoom7000]

Sign you soul away? Maybe for the non big name fighters. But Dana offered Fedor an amazing deal! If he's so willing to do it for free, then why the hell didn't he accept the UFC's crazy offer?

I agree, Dana does chat crap most of the times, but when it comes to recent events with Fedor, the only people who chat crap are M-1 Global!

[veritas310]

I'm with you Zoom, I haven't always been a fan of Dana White, but I believe the UFC as a whole is a superior organization that has the top fighters (regardless of the nationality of fighters). A free fight in Russia? I'm sure Millen's running his mouth with this as he knows no one is actually going to fight, for free, at Fedor's training center in Russia, let's be real. Fedor is a very talented fighter, no one is disputing that, I just think a lot of MMA fans would like to see him fight other competition than StrikeForce has to offer. Unfortunately it looks like that won't happen for awhile.

[Bubbabyte]

I read this yesterday and find it laughable. FIrst of all i guarantee fedor doesn't feel the same way, it's just another M1 global guy talking out of his ass. The UFC does not ask you to sign away your soul but they have nothing to gain by cross promoting, they're already at the top. Negotiations have to be a 2 way street and it seems as though M1 global is not willing to give up cross promotion, and the UFC doesn't want to cross promote, so how is the UFC problem when they are both unwilling to budge. If fedor really had any desire to fight the top guys he would be doing it, but instead his crew just want to self promote. Now the next HW contender is Werdum?? You gotta be joking, the guy BARELY beat antonio Silva and was doing horrible in the ufc, now he deserves a title shot??? Way to challenge yourself fedor.

[revvo]

Now the next HW contender is Werdum?? You gotta be joking, the guy BARELY beat antonio Silva and was doing horrible in the ufc, now he deserves a title shot??? Way to challenge yourself fedor.

You're implying that Lesnar as the heavyweight champion with a 4-1 record isn't a joke? The whole UFC's heavyweight roster is a joke.

[TheElite]

You're implying that Lesnar as the heavyweight champion with a 4-1 record isn't a joke? The whole UFC's heavyweight roster is a joke.

:laugh:

[phend-one]

I enjoy UFC a great deal, but it's come down a long way over the years. It's becoming a over marketed soap opera towards the likes of WWF. The UFC claims it's the largest world organization, but to be honest, to those who have travelled around the world, how big is UFC when no one knows about it except for Americans (maybe some in Europe now that they hold events there)? I mean they bought Pride, so shouldn't they have part of the camp in Japan/Asia? It's not exactly global when they start ignoring parts of the world except their own construct.

A couple of the fights like Hughes and Serra went from extreme bad blood trash talking to instant respect at the end of the fight. What suddenly makes two people who have always despised each other suddenly want to give hugs and talk in good sportsmanlike conduct? The organization plays off "bad blood" to try and generate ticket sales. I could live without it.

Dana White has always been a promoter first and foremost. That's what he's being paid to do. The sport and its fighters are merely the product. In a way, you can't blame him for doing what he's doing. But it would help if he put his money where his mouth is and stop talking all that trash and get two titans in the cage together. He and is organization claims a international or global dominance in the MMA world, so prove it. Put Lesnar in the cage with Emelianenko. Give the paying fans something to talk about if it's all about the sport. Didn't think so.

But I have to admit, those that did reign in former Pride MMA have not done considerably well in UFC (Cro Cop) and those that left Pride came to dominate UFC (Iceman).

What I'm waiting for is some Shaolin monk to come out of the forest, fight and destroy the champion and then disappear back into the shadows.

[Bubbabyte]

You're implying that Lesnar as the heavyweight champion with a 4-1 record isn't a joke? The whole UFC's heavyweight roster is a joke.

I'm not implying that at all, I've never hopped on the lesnar bandwagon. I don't think he deserved a title shot when he got one and i don't think he deserves to be the #2 HW in the world according to rankings. But his last 2 fights against Couture and Mir were both more impressive then Fedor's last 2 fights AND they were against higher HW Contenders. I didn't agree with the decision to have Lesnar fight couture for the Belt, but as much of a Lesnar hater as I can be, He's proven himself as a Contender more so then Werdum ever has. The UFC Heavyweight Roster is far from a joke, it's the best it's been for a while. So maybe Fedor is the #1 rank for HW.. name anyone else in strikeforce HW division that could compete with any of the top guys in the UFC.

Here's the top 10

#1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World: Fedor Emelianenko

2. Brock Lesnar

3. Frank Mir

4. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

5. Cain Velasquez

6. Randy Couture

7. Junior Dos Santos

8. Brett Rogers

9. Shane Carwin

10. Fabricio Werdum

Werdum is #10 for a reason, as is Rogers, neither of which IMO could beat anyone on that list.

[Bubbabyte]

I enjoy UFC a great deal, but it's come down a long way over the years. It's becoming a over marketed soap opera towards the likes of WWF. The UFC claims it's the largest world organization, but to be honest, to those who have travelled around the world, how big is UFC when no one knows about it except for Americans (maybe some in Europe now that they hold events there)? I mean they bought Pride, so shouldn't they have part of the camp in Japan/Asia? It's not exactly global when they start ignoring parts of the world except their own construct.

UFC is about as worldwide as a sport can get, name another american sport that crossed over to Europe. (yes i'm quite aware its not created in the US, but the company and product are mainly US based) So they don't do shows in Japan, who cares. I'm not 100% on this but off the top of my head i would assume its due to regulations, MMA in japan is regulated much differently then it is anywhere else, much different rules, guidlines etc.. Like i said, don't quote me on it but if i had to guess, that's why.

A couple of the fights like Hughes and Serra went from extreme bad blood trash talking to instant respect at the end of the fight. What suddenly makes two people who have always despised each other suddenly want to give hugs and talk in good sportsmanlike conduct? The organization plays off "bad blood" to try and generate ticket sales. I could live without it.

So you're comparing the UFC to the WWE because 2 fighters who have bad blood are respectable and show class at the end of a fight? I seriously don't get this. I mean of course when they promote the fight they focus on the bad blood if it exists, but if they were "creating" this bad blood wouldn't it exist more often? I mean if they do it for ticket sales according to you wouldn't they do it every fight?

Dana White has always been a promoter first and foremost. That's what he's being paid to do. The sport and its fighters are merely the product. In a way, you can't blame him for doing what he's doing. But it would help if he put his money where his mouth is and stop talking all that trash and get two titans in the cage together. He and is organization claims a international or global dominance in the MMA world, so prove it. Put Lesnar in the cage with Emelianenko. Give the paying fans something to talk about if it's all about the sport. Didn't think so.

Again, why is Dana to blame for not getting this fight together? M1 Global is CLEARLY the issue in that they want to co promote, when the UFC does not need or have to. If M1 Global is not willing to budge on their stance, why should Dana? How is he at fault..lol I'm sure as a promoter he would love nothing more then Fedor vs Lesnar, it would surely be one of the top PPV's in MMA history, but it's not his fault for not wanting to plaster M1 global on everything in the UFC when it doesn't benefit the company in the least.

[bokajinn]

As much as I enjoy seeing Lesner with the title... I think that Carwin will win vs Lesner. If the fight is going to happen. I know Lesner is a big MOFO, he held down Mir while he punched him in the face.... But i think the engineer will be the victor in this fight.

[monaroCountry]

I'm with you Zoom, I haven't always been a fan of Dana White, but I believe the UFC as a whole is a superior organization that has the top fighters (regardless of the nationality of fighters). A free fight in Russia? I'm sure Millen's running his mouth with this as he knows no one is actually going to fight, for free, at Fedor's training center in Russia, let's be real. Fedor is a very talented fighter, no one is disputing that, I just think a lot of MMA fans would like to see him fight other competition than StrikeForce has to offer. Unfortunately it looks like that won't happen for awhile.

The UFC is definately a bigger organisation compared to M1, but is hampered because it doesnt co-promote with anyone else. M1 can put out better fights because they have some very good fighters including the best in Fedor. The killer blow is M1's willingness to co promote with the best fighters from Strikeforce, Dream etc.

Now the UFC was the one to approach M1. Fedor doesnt need the UFC, he is already highly paid by M1, is well known in Asia and Europe, and can use Strikeforce to become known in America (Strikeforce has a wider coverage - free to air). The UFC also doesnt need Fedor but it does have allot more to loose.

Fedor as the number one fighter doesnt need to chase challengers, this should be the other way around, Brock should chase Fedor. Millen/M1 has already put out a challenge to Brock/UFC/Dana to go to the Fedor Fight Center in Stary Oskol. This complex is owned by Fedor, his long time coach (Voronov) as the director.

Pictures from the opening