Originally Posted by Sherdog.com

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Fedor Emelianenko, the top-ranked heavyweight in the world, will not fight in the UFC unless Dana White and company agree to co-promote with Emelianenko’s partners at M-1 Global.

M-1 Global CEO Vadim Finkelstein made that clear Wednesday at a news conference. Finkelstein confirmed that M-1 Global had negotiated with UFC officials as recently as Tuesday.

“We are open,” Finkelstein said. “We do want to work with the UFC. We do want to work with other promotions.”

Finkelstein said the UFC made a new offer to Emelianenko, and M-1 Global made a counteroffer. However, Finkelstein said Emeliananko would not proceed without a co-promotional effort between M-1 and the UFC where they shared expenses and profits.

Finkelstein also communicated that the UFC's representation in the media of his negotiations with the organization has not been accurate. He said Emelianenko has been made completely aware of any deals, past and present, that have been offered.

“I have 100 percent faith in Vadim and M-1 Global," Emelianenko said.

M-1 Global also pressured the UFC by saying they are in talks with other shows, including Strikeforce.

“We're not going to wait,” Finkelstein said. “We have to move forward. It might be that very soon we will be able to announce a deal with another promotion. I'm going to tell you that we're only going to work under co-promotion conditions.”

Other notes

• In addition to Strikeforce, Finkelstein confirmed that M-1 Global is in negotiations with a “few other companies." Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker was present at the conference in the audience.

• Gegard Mousasi will leave Sunday and prepare one week in Holland before returning to the U.S. for his light heavyweight title bout against Renato “Babalu” Sobral at Strikeforce “Carano vs. Cyborg” on Aug. 15 at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

• M-1 Global suggested it could take legal action against Affliction regarding the cancellation of the Aug. 1 event. "We're exploring all options at this time, legally, with regard to Affliction and what we believe took place," said Mark Hines, attorney for M-1 Global and Emelianenko. "We're not prepared to say where we're going to go with this, but I can promise you and I can promise Affliction that if something was done wrong, somebody will be held responsible."

Originally Posted by MMAWeekly

As a report from the L.A. Times surfaced on the Internet on Tuesday, that Fedor Emelianenko and the Ultimate Fighting Championship were all but done negotiating a deal that would land the No. 1 ranked heavyweight in the world’s foremost mixed martial arts promotion, Fedor’s management gathered a press conference on Wednesday that far from confirmed such reports.

In fact, the press conference in Anaheim, Calif., only served to confirm counter reports that the two parties were still far from finalizing a contract.

The UFC made initial offers that M-1 Global countered, with company president Vadim Finkelchtein saying, “The UFC has their champions; we (M-1 Global) also have our champions and our representatives. We offered to have a co-promotion.”

He says that the UFC met the counter “very quietly.” The UFC has been resistant to holding a co-promoted event, even in attempts to land Fedor.

“The UFC made a different offer that was a very good offer,” continued Finkelchtein, but it still hasn’t been enough to bridge the gap between the two parties and they remain at an impasse.

The door is still open for those that hope to see Fedor Emelianenko in the Octagon across from Brock Lesnar or Randy Couture.

“Maybe not now, but maybe later,” Finkelchtein said of further progress being possible.

Fedor’s camp on Wednesday also announced that the fighter would grace the cover of the upcoming mixed martial arts video game from EA Sports.

“EA Sports (on Wednesday) will announce that Fedor Emelianenko will headline the EA Sports mixed martial arts fighter game due October next year, also along with Gegard Mousasi and Renato Babalu Sobral, who will also be in the game,” announced Jerry Millen, M-1’s vice president in the United States.

Although UFC President Dana White has remained steadfast in his comments that the UFC will not work with fighters that ink a deal with EA Sports, it is unlikely that Fedor’s already signed agreement with the video game company would create a chasm too wide to cross. Current UFC fighter Randy Couture also had a deal in place with EA Sports before he returned to the promotion last year.

Originally Posted by mileycyrusfan11
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I had a feeling there was more than just interest in other promotions that was keeping Fedor back.

Originally Posted by King TE
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Like who? Strikeforce? lol. UFC is the best place for him to make the most money and have the most interesting match ups. However, M-1 actually think of themselves as a top promotion want to ride UFC's coattails. UFC stands to gain nothing from the deal besides a couple good PPV buys featuring Fedor.

Originally Posted by CCS
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If he does sign they better not fucking let him squash Lesnar in his first fight. Let him fight Couture, Mir, Kongo, or anyone first before they let him murder Lesnar. I say this because I'd like to see an actuall competitive fight between the two. And at this point that's something that Brock just cant do. Fedor would pretty much kill Brock right now. Therefore they need to put it off and build anticipation. Let Brock play the heel outsider that's taking over MMA and let Fedor play the part of the savior. I'm not saying to put it off for years, just to like July or December 2010.