Fedor: Just the biggest paycheck on the roster?
UFC president Dana White blasted Fedor’s signing with Strikeforce earlier this month just before UFC 101 in Philadelphia, claiming that…
UFC president Dana White blasted Fedor’s signing with Strikeforce earlier this month just before UFC 101 in Philadelphia, claiming that at the end of the day, M-1 and Emelianenko would put the San Jose, Calif., based company out of business, while also stating that he knew the deal he offered the Russian was above and beyond what anybody else had on the table.
“I guarantee you the deal he got at Strikeforce isn’t even in the (expletive) universe of what he got (from the UFC),” White stated. “The deal he got at Strikeforce probably isn’t even the deal he had at Affliction. They have no money.”
The biggest hurdle for Strikeforce now that they have Fedor is how to promote him. Emelianenko is widely thought of as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on the planet, but he’s never proven to be a big pay-per-view commodity in the United States, and Atencio believes that’s still a tremendous job ahead of Scott Coker and company.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Fedor is the No. 1 fighter in the world. He’s fought; he’s proven that,” said Atencio. “It’s not like he’s fought easy fights. But nonetheless he still has the hurdle of making a huge name in the U.S.”
Time will tell if Fedor Emelianenko will wind up to be the biggest fighter in the U.S. or just the biggest paycheck on the Strikeforce roster.
