PRESS RELEASE:M-1 President Vadim Finkelchtein Responds to Dana White's Name-Calling; Invites UFC's President to meet Fedor at "Day of Reckoning"...
For over a year now UFC President Dana White has used an open forum to label the management of Fedor Emelianenko, led by M-1 President Vadim Finkelchtein, as "the crazy Russians."
For much of that time, White has influenced the United States media to reflect his beliefs, as Finkelchtein tended to urgent matters of business -- namely promoting his M-1 Challenge and managing fighters such as Fedor and Aleksander Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi - instead of engaging in a war of words.
However, during a recent M-1 Challenge event, Finkelchtein responded to White's statements in an interview conducted by M-1 executives Joost Raimond (serving as Finkelchtein's translator) and Jerry Millen (serving as the interviewer).
Thanks to a three-part YouTube series, members of the U.S. MMA media are finally being presented the other side of the story so that they can form an opinion for themselves.
During the interview, Finkelchtein was asked by Millen what he thinks when he's referred to in the press by White as a "crazy Russian."
"Dana White has a tendency towards arrogance and everything not Dana White is either crazy or stupid," Finkelchtein began to respond through Raimond.
"All this stuff about us not wanting to work with UFC is just utterly and completely untrue," he continued. "We've always been completely open to basically working with anybody, including the UFC, because our goal has always been to put the greatest fighters against each other. And if the greatest fighter is a part of the UFC, fine; let's put him up against our best guy and see how they do."
Raimond added that Finkelchtein indicated that the UFC is very protective of their market share but that M-1 isn't looking to take the UFC's "pie" away, that his promotion simply wants to share some of it.
Finkelchtein also responded to a question from Millen regarding comments made by White during a November press conference in Toronto to promote UFC 94. In the interview, which can be seen on YouTube, White responds to a question from a fan regarding Fedor fighting for the UFC by stating at one point that he has never even met Fedor.
White's claim that he has never met Fedor is accurate, but it's also a situation that Finkelchtein is more than willing to rectify.
"The invitation is right there," Finkelchtein expressed through Raimond. "If Dana wants to sit down at the table, he can come to St. Petersburg -- he is very welcomed here. He can meet up with (me); he can meet up with Fedor. It's not a problem at all."
Finkelchtein indicated during the interview that he has traveled to Las Vegas in the past to meet with White. And if White does not have time to travel to Russia, Finkelchtein extended him an open invitation to meet the WAMMA heavyweight champion in Anaheim, California before he competes against Andrei Arlovski on Jan. 24 just prior to Affliction and M-1's "Day of Reckoning" event.
"We're not going to eat the UFC pie, but we want to share," said Finkelchtein. "The invitation stands. They are welcome at any point in time, and definitely at the Jan. 24 event. We'll talk about it (and) discuss it. We're open to any kind of deal."
Below is the full three-part video interview with Finkelchtein:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
5 comments:
Wake up Dana, I know it is a business and that your arrogance is only a reflection of you wanting to do things your way, but if you care about your fans then lets work on re-building the heavyweight division. Randy is to old, brock has no real experience, gonzaga is inconsistent, kongo has no killer instinct, and 2 of your past champs have left. It is time to bring quite possibly the greatest heavyweight of all times to the UFC where he belongs.
Signed: San Remo
Agreed. White's arrogance gets in his way just as often as it helps him. He deserves a lot of credit for what he's done for MMA in the US, but that doesn't mean he should act like a petulant six year old and defer to name calling. He needs to realize he is not the show, the fighters are the show.
What it boils down to is that Dana is a control freak. If he cant control the situation or person he will resort to belittling and ridiculing the person or situation in order to take away their credibility. The fact is, he wants Fedor so bad he can taste it. He can only blame himself for not signing Fedor. The "crazy Russians" only wanted Fedor to be able to compete in combat Sambo tournaments but Dana's controlling nature would not allow it. The cat is out of the bag now, even with the language barrier, Fedor is highly marketable and the "crazy Russians" now see it. The only way he will get Fedor now is by co-promoting an event with M1. But, now Dana's pride will be the only hurdle. Sadly, I dont think that Fedor will ever be in the UFC. A man with an ego like that will never admit he is wrong. Dana, you are WRONG.
I'm not sure Dana White is wrong. The UFC has succeeded where so many other organizations have failed by building a brand that's as big as any of its fighters.
White isn't going to co-promote an event with M-1. It's not part of the UFC's business model, and for good reason. It benefits Fedor's promotors to make this demand part of the deal, but it doesn't really benefit Fedor. I think that's the point.
He's also not going to let Fedor beat their champion, capture the UFC heavyweight title and then go fight immediatly for someone else. Binding Fedor to fight exlusively for the UFC for multiple fights would be something the UFC would insist on.
As for the combat Sambo tournaments, I have a hard time believing that was the real deal breaker in the negotiations between the UFC and and Fedor. Champions in just about every martial art you can think of have competed in the UFC. I may be wrong, but I strongly suspect the deal breaker was either money or some shenanigans with M-1.
Ilike how m-1 is above Affliction on their t-shirts ,What are they gonna do when fedor's career is over who are they gonna leech onto,you know why dana has'nt met Fedor because he might agree with the UFC .that puke handles everything and has his hands in everything if fedor met with dana it could be the honey commercial all over again.
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