Fedor has been very clear that he wants Russian MMA and Russian MMA fighters to succeed, and has no desire to have to beat another Russian. A fight with Sergei was never going to happen. Bellator has a lot of problems when it comes to promotion and matchmaking, but not booking Fedor vs Sergei isn’t one of them. It’s an unrealistic fight that was never going to be made.So Sergei Kharitonov is fighting Cheick Kongo and Fedor Emelianenko is fighting Tim Johnson. Seems to me that Fedor vs Sergei and Kongo vs Johnson would make a lot more sense and probably bring in more viewers.
Also, this idea that I see ITT that they went with Johnson because he’s cheapest to pay is ridiculous too.
ExactlyCould be but there are better fights to make. Overeem, JDS, and Barnett aren't signed to any MMA promotions and I don't think Overeem's kickboxing deal is exclusive.
I’m sorry, an idea like that *is* ridiculous. You really think that Bellator decided to put together this big event in Moscow, headlined by Fedor in his last fight ever in Russia (maybe last fight ever period), and said “Ok, let’s make sure that when we book the main event, Fedor fights some cheap bastard so we can cut a few corners”?? That’s silly.It's not that ridiculous tbh. Nobody knows who Johnson is. He has 11k followers on Instagram. That's less than most Instagram thots. He has no leverage when it comes to negotiating. He probably took the fight for 50k and another 100-200k of sponsor money. Compared to someone like Reem or JDS who wouldn't pull up for less than 300k. Going to Moscow to put on a show isn't cheap and a guy like Johnson allows Bellator to cut some corners.
I’m sorry, an idea like that *is* ridiculous. You really think that Bellator decided to put together this big event in Moscow, headlined by Fedor in his last fight ever in Russia (maybe last fight ever period), and said “Ok, let’s make sure that when we book the main event, Fedor fights some cheap bastard so we can cut a few corners”?? That’s silly.
I’m sure money factored into the negotiate with JDS or Reem or whomever, but probably in the sense that we’ve talked about: Bellator is trying to move away from being a legends league, and doesn’t feel like geriatric Reem or JDS is worth paying 500K for a 6 fight deal. Coker was willing to do one-off deals, and obviously that wasn’t going to interest those fighters.
We all like to play Fantasy Booker—myself included—but there has to be some reality in the fantasy too, you know? It’s easy to say, “I’d book Fedor to fight JDS!” But those deals aren’t always a reality. And yes, the fact that they didn’t get done could definitely speak to Coker’s shiftiness as a promoter too.
So let’s play Fantasy Booker. Who should Fedor fight?
JDS, Reem, Werdum? Off the table. They want more than the org is willing to pay, or a longer fight deal than the org is willing to negotiate based on their age/status. It’s sucks, but here we are.
Kharitonov or Minakov? Fedor won’t fight another Russian, so forget it.
What are we left with? Who are the current ranked HWs on the roster?
And that’s the fight that was booked. Fedor simply fought the highest ranked HW that was available to fight. Has nothing to do with cutting corners. “But Jake Hager would be a better fight”—bullshit. If Fedor fights Hager, he’d get shit on by mouth breathers for “fighting another pro wrestler can.” Ppl say Fedor should fight fellow legends, but when he fought old ass Rampage he got shit on for that. Book him against the #3 HW who just fought for the interim belt, and somehow people shit on that too. Unless you can make the legends fantasy match of someone’s dreams, Fedor gets shit on by fickle MMA fans no matter who he fights.
- Ryan Bader, Champ—tied up in the LHW Grand Prix. Plus, while I’d like to see Fedor have a rematch in which he’s not totally riddled with injuries like the first one, he doesn’t really deserve a TS at this point.
- Valentin Moldavsky, Interim Champ—teammate of Fedor’s, so def not happening.
- Tim Johnson
I get that, but Coker also said that Fedor gave him a list of names that he was interested in, and they set about trying to get some of of those deals done.Noone is shitting on Fedor bro, everyone is shitting on Coker for booking him a borderline unwinnable fight in Russia for him to retire on. People wanted someone like Hager because they wanted him to go out on a win.
I get that, but Coker also said that Fedor gave him a list of names that he was interested in, and they set about trying to get some of of those deals done.
You (and others) will probably just chalk what I’m about to say up to me being a Fedor fanboy, but this is actually a very winnable fight for Fedor. It’s not borderline unwinnable at all. I’m actually thinking of making a thread when we get a bit closer to fight time, analyzing this fight and making the case for exactly why Fedor is winning this.
This makes more sense though mitrione is cut they could have kept him for one more. They werent going to have fedor fight a russian and johnson already just fought kongo in a boring fight. People who will watch will tune in to fight fedor regardless hoping he wins.Kongo vs Fortune
Sergei vs Mowry
Fedor vs Mitrione II
Minakov vs Vassel
To me, Bader was a much more unwinnable fight. I mean, technically it was winnable, and I do think Fedor could have a better performance if he hadn’t been riddled with injuries. But an explosive wrestler with good strikes and dynamic movement was always going to be tough for current Fedor. Johnson though is a fat, slow, plodding, overextending striker who is available for Fedor’s counter. And while Fedor is not the grappler he once was, I see no reason why Fedor couldn’t take him down—he certainly took 260 pound Mir down. Fedor is a few years older now, but also getting his left knee fixed up seemed like it made him much more mobile.I dunno, he's a HW so he always has a punchers chance but Johnson is pretty sturdy, isn't going to get taken down by 2021 Fedor and can crack on the feet. I think Johnson will be at least a -400 favourite come fight night.
It makes more sense, but I don’t think Mitrione was just cut—his contract was up.This makes more sense though mitrione is cut they could have kept him for one more. They werent going to have fedor fight a russian and johnson already just fought kongo in a boring fight. People who will watch will tune in to fight fedor regardless hoping he wins.
I count 3 currently on the roster—Barnett, Machida, and Hager. And whatever is going on with Barnett is questionable AF. Why would Machida make more sense than a top ranked heavyweight? Fedor has 2 fights left on his contract, and it’s up in the air as to whether he’ll retire after the Johnson fight. Johnson is a winnable fight, and Fedor arguably could get a TS if he wins (obviously the interim title situation with Moldavsky would have to be worked out). Judging by Fedor having entered the HW Grand Prix, he obviously had goals for his return.Fighters that would have made more sense then Tim Johnson to fight Fedor in Russia
Barnett
Anderson Silva
JDS
Werdum
Overeem
Wanderlei Silva
Bigfoot Silva
Mitrione
Hager
Machida
Manhoef
That's 11 including 4 actively on the roster. Am I missing any?
I have zero desire to see Fedor in fights that even resemble meaningful in 2021 and it's everyone not named Fedor's job to tell him that. The only way this is justifiable is if everybody did tell him that and he insisted on a highly ranked guy anyway. That's it.I count 3 currently on the roster—Barnett, Machida, and Hager. And whatever is going on with Barnett is questionable AF. Why would Machida make more sense than a top ranked heavyweight? Fedor has 2 fights left on his contract, and it’s up in the air as to whether he’ll retire after the Johnson fight. Johnson is a winnable fight, and Fedor arguably could get a TS if he wins (obviously the interim title situation with Moldavsky would have to be worked out). Judging by Fedor having entered the HW Grand Prix, he obviously had goals for his return.
Fighters that would have made more sense then Tim Johnson to fight Fedor in Russia
Barnett
Anderson Silva
JDS
Werdum
Overeem
Wanderlei Silva
Bigfoot Silva
Mitrione
Hager
Machida
Manhoef
That's 11 including 4 actively on the roster. Am I missing any?
I count 3 currently on the roster—Barnett, Machida, and Hager. And whatever is going on with Barnett is questionable AF. Why would Machida make more sense than a top ranked heavyweight? Fedor has 2 fights left on his contract, and it’s up in the air as to whether he’ll retire after the Johnson fight. Johnson is a winnable fight, and Fedor arguably could get a TS if he wins (obviously the interim title situation with Moldavsky would have to be worked out). Judging by Fedor having entered the HW Grand Prix, he obviously had goals for his return.
It’s not an obsession at all. But the emphasis on it is because that is why the fight makes *some* sense.What's this obsession with "top ranked HW" and why such emphasis on it? Fedor isn't ranked so it should be pretty obvious that this isn't an important element in 2021 Fedor fights. Especially when there is like a list of 15 fighters out there who would be far more interesting to the target audience.
After Johnson, Fedor has one more fight on his contract. I’ll cross my fingers that they can make a deal with Evangelista Cyborg or Scott Smith for youI have zero desire to see Fedor in fights that even resemble meaningful in 2021 and it's everyone not named Fedor's job to tell him that. The only way this is justifiable is if everybody did tell him that and he insisted on a highly ranked guy anyway. That's it.