Legendary Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko—who celebrated his 50th birthday a month ago—believes that the failed negotiations initiated by the UFC were a deliberate attempt by the organization’s leadership to stifle his career.
"I had a face-to-face meeting with Dana White, but, honestly, I didn’t understand the point of his actions at all. He acted as if he really wanted me to fight for his promotion, yet previously—when I was a free agent—they didn’t sign me. It was always the same pattern: when I was available, I wasn’t of interest; when I was under contract elsewhere, suddenly offers would start coming in.
If you’re already under contract, you can’t sign a new agreement, or you’ll get sued. And while legal proceedings are ongoing, you’re effectively barred from fighting in America—you’re under a ban. As I see it, they simply wanted to strangle my career. If they had signed me, Strikeforce would have sued, and I wouldn’t have been able to fight for either organization—that’s all there is to it," the “Last Emperor” said in an interview with the Ushatayka YouTube channel.
Emelianenko also made it clear that he does not consider the head of the world’s premier MMA promotion to be a legend of the sport.
“Businessmen come in all varieties. There are cultured, decent people—you don’t even need a contract with them; a handshake is enough, and they keep their word. But when Dana says all sorts of nonsense—claiming at one moment that he wanted to sign me, then that he didn’t, then that he regretted not signing me, then that he was glad he didn’t… it just shows a man who talks without taking responsibility for his own words. That’s why his way of doing business doesn’t resonate with me. But if someone else considers him a legend—well, let him be a legend to them,” the heavyweight added.
It was his scammer manager.
That’s how i remember it with his ridiculous demands - including the building of an arena and co-promotion.
The arena construction announcement was fake news, but the underlying dispute between Dana White and Fedor Emelianenko’s management was real.
Here’s what happened in 2009.
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April 1, 2009 — the fake announcement. The UFC published an article titled “UFC Greenlights Construction of Russian Stadium,” claiming that Dana White had approved construction of a Zuffa-owned stadium in Russia. It was an April Fools’ Day joke, mocking the negotiations with Fedor’s team.
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The arena demand — disputed. Dana White repeatedly claimed that Fedor’s management, headed by Vadim Finkelstein, wanted the UFC to build an arena in Russia as part of a deal to sign Fedor. White discussed this publicly in 2009 and again in 2013.
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Vadim’s response. Finkelstein disputed White’s version of events. The central sticking point, according to M-1 Global, was that it wanted to co-promote events with the UFC, sharing costs and profits.
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What actually happened? Fedor never signed with the UFC. Instead, he signed with Strikeforce in 2009, working with M-1 Global on co-promotion.
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Verdict: The specific announcement that Dana White was building an arena in Russia was an April Fools’ prank. The claim that Fedor’s management demanded an arena was a genuine allegation made by White, but it was disputed by Vadim Finkelstein. There is no evidence in these reports that the UFC actually built or committed to building such an arena.
i know we all love fedor, but i get the feeling hes not very bright.
or hes like everyone else and is just full of shit
his handlers treated him worse than colonel parker treated elvis
And once again Dana did nothing wrong
lol
Dana is a brand first guy who has attempted to re-frame history in favor of that brand.
I’m sure Fedor’s handlers were corrupt too.
But even though I like some things about Dana – I’d never give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to anything business/contract related.
It’s kind of moot anyways..
By the time Fedor would have been in the UFC, he was already declining and past his peak.
Dana is a goof
I constantly tell people this when they talk about him vs Brock.
I continually find myself surprised at how often it’s overlooked.
Exactly right.
I worked for a company that did sponsorship deals with fighters back at this time.
We met with Fedor, who was super cool btw, but he had like 6 hanger on manager /business guys, they wanted millions of dollars and for us to build them a stadium in russia.
Keep in mind at this time we had Jon Jones and paid him in the 10s of thousands.
Vadim & Jerry Millen fumbled the bag.
It seemed like Fedor’s team were trying to handle him like he was the Mayweather of MMA or something. But then they fucked up and set him up in what turned out to be bad matchups for him.
lol he was way beyond and better than that
We got to see Fedor vs Tim which was cool. After Tim knocked out Gan, he called Fedor out, lol.
How that work out Tim?
obviously we all know dana is full of shit. he played a role here. but fedors are actually worse. and i dont think its that close
Worried about Dana when he had that bloodsucker Vadim doing just as much damage lol
Vadim was known to be a scumbag and i dont think anyone would disagree with saying Dana is untrustworthy himself.
So i imagine when you get two big egos in the room together, sparks will fly from both directions.