Vadim Finkelstein Gets the Last Laugh

[VCURamFan]

From MiddleEasy.com:

Every time I've been in the presence of Finkelstein, it's always been cautiously at a distance. Generally, he's surrounded by a crew of Russians, some of which look like skilled magicians and the rest resemble the entire cast of Bionic Commando. At one point, the phrase 'co-promotion' was the MMA world's version of 'winning'. Except, of course, it wasn't winning. In fact, it was failing horribly. When Affliction collapsed, Fedor became somewhat of a free-agent with a train of M-1 Global execs that closely followed him. Allegedly, Dana White offered Fedor Emelianenko a six-fight, thirty-million dollar contract with an immediate title shot and a cut of the PPV sales. It was also reported that Dana White would not only let Fedor wear as many M-1 Global logos as he wished, but he would also be allowed to compete in sambo. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal for anyone that wants money, but there was one thing missing from the deal that forced its implosion: co-promotion. Vadim wanted to have M-1 Global and UFC appear on every morsel of marketing, including posters, television commercials and on a plethora of objects at the event. Dana White put on his 'WTF are these guys talking about?' face and the deal was never signed. Dana White wouldn't budge, nor would M-1 Global and fans were forced to create an endless amount of message boards threads, often with the phrase 'Brock/Fedor would kill Fedor/Brock' wedged somewhere in it. The fans would never know who would win in that hypothetical match-up, but the following year after ZUFFA stopped negotiating with M-1 Global, we would see both fighters meet a loss within a four-month time span. The fight that would have sold out Cowboys Stadium at one point, suddenly lost much of its luster. New guys like Cain Velasquez and Fabricio Werdum emerged, and it's safe to say that both companies lost out on hosting perhaps the most watched MMA event of all time.

Scott Coker eventually inherited The Last Emperor (and M-1 Global's co-promotion demands), and he is currently 1-2 in Strikeforce. With four fights left on his contract, Coker not only states that he plans to have Fedor fight sometime in July, but that with ZUFFA's recent acquisition of Strikeforce, M-1 Global will still be co-promoting with the organization.

Props to M-1 Global president, Vadim Finkelstein, for using entropy to finally get the co-promotion deal he always wanted. Next up, M-1 ring girls in the octagon. Thanks in advance. [Source]

[rockdawg21]

Yeah but it's still co-promoting with Strikeforce which will be forgotten in a few years anyways. Casual fans don't have a clue that Zuffa bought SF anyways.

[flo]

I really don't get why co-promoting one fight is such a big deal (ie, a deal-breaker for Dana).

[flo]

Originally Posted by rockdawg21

Yeah but it's still co-promoting with Strikeforce which will be forgotten in a few years anyways. Casual fans don't have a clue that Zuffa bought SF anyways.

Hmm, you think so? I know a few casual fans and they were aware of the acquisition...

Zuffa may keep Strikeforce a separate entity (that's what I'm hoping for anyway); so it could be around for a while yet.

After the contract is up I doubt Dana will co promote anymore! As for why not co promote? Why should he? That's kinda like asking McDonald's to co promote with Burger King or Wendy's!

[JavierDLC]

Originally Posted by KENTUCKYREDBONE

After the contract is up I doubt Dana will co promote anymore! As for why not co promote? Why should he? That's kinda like asking McDonald's to co promote with Burger King or Wendy's!

Ahh not really I dont think so cause its only for one fight. I mean both the UFC and M1 would make rediculus amounts of money for just that one fight. So I dont see how either would lose..

Originally Posted by KENTUCKYREDBONE

After the contract is up I doubt Dana will co promote anymore! As for why not co promote? Why should he? That's kinda like asking McDonald's to co promote with Burger King or Wendy's!

More like McDonald's co-promoting with mini-burger.

[rockdawg21]

Originally Posted by County Mike

More like McDonald's co-promoting with mini-burger.

That's what I was thinking. UFC is worth billions and Strikeforce was bought for 15-20 million. M-1 is even lesser than Strikeforce and it's soon to be nothing if Fedor continues to lose.

I think Dana was totally right for not copromoting. Like he said, Zuffa has busted ass to get the UFC and MMA into the mainstream and turning a profit. Why should Johnny come lately come in and pay only 1/2 the costs for that event and recieve half the income? Plus, If he did copromte, that would set a precedent that would get other fighters wanting the same.

[Tyburn]

I'll tell you whats wrong with a co-promotion.

Do you know who Vadim Finkelstein actually is??? and do you know who Fetitta might possibly be?

...and knowing the answers to that, why would they EVER want to do anything together?

We may never know if Fetittas name and wealth is linked to European Mafia...but we DO know that Vadim Finkelstein absolutely is. Noone is wealthy in The Russian Federation UNLESS they are Mafia...OR Government...and there isnt much difference. Alright...so the skeptic in you wants to claim that Finkelstein just inherited the money or worked hard for it.

Really??

REALLY?

Then does anyone else think its strange what happened last year with Fedor on a political level? Does anyone even know what happened to Fedor last year? I'll tell you what happened....Fedor Emilianenko is on a list of Candidates with a VERY LARGE likelihood of a seat in Russian Congress...made all the more likely since he is running under the banner of the present United Russia party...a party that even in "democratic ellections", somehow manages to win almost 100percent of the time Our Friend Fedor is going to be a Political Communist people. He's already director of a State run University, or the Russian Equivilent...talk about a bloody day job...he puts the abstract extra cirricular employment of Mirko filipovic to absolute shame.

Now...why...when we saw what happened with Pride getting involved with the likes of Yakuza...would we want the UFC going anywhere near anything even remotely Russian Mafia or communistic...What next? UFC 130 in Moscow perhaps that will be their oh so innocent way of accidently killing off strikeforce...whooops, Dana white made a finger slip and strikeforce sinks into the Iron Curtain never to be heard of again