Dana done playing games, no longer interested in signing Fedor:

http://mmajunkie.com/news/19774/ufc-done-playing-the-games-no-longer-interested-in-signing-fedor-emelianenko.mma

LAS VEGAS – In case you were wondering if Fedor Emelianenko's recent loss to Fabricio Werdum might open up the possibility of the Russian making his way to the octagon, UFC president Dana White has a simple message for you: It's not happening.

Following Thursday's UFC 116 pre-event press conference, White said he has absolutely no interest in continuing his years-long pursuit of the former PRIDE champ.

"Now that he loses, now they want to say, 'OK, now we'll come over,' because he lost?" White asked. "I'm done playing the games."

Werdum shocked Emelianenko and the MMA world with a 69-second submission win over the Russian that snapped his incredible 27-fight winning streak. Other than a smiley face posted on his Twitter account, White has remained relatively quiet since the June 26 result.

While one might have expected White to gloat in the agony of the "crazy Russians," the UFC exec said he viewed the loss as inevitable and was simply glad to see a hole poked in the mystique of Emelianenko that he believes has been largely built by the media.

"Honestly, when he lost, you guys know there's been times when I have animosity with guys and you lose, and I'm like, 'Ha. Alright, there you go,'" White said. "But to be honest with you, I didn't have any of that for Fedor.

"In my opinion, the media pumped him up more than anything. When he did the fight, they were far from selling out. They did under a million-dollar gate. They had 400,000 people watch it on Showtime. It's not like anybody is really clamoring for [him to come to the UFC]."

The UFC exec said he has not any discussion with Emelianenko's reps following the loss. But White contends now, as he long has, that Emelianenko is not even a top heavyweight, much less a pound-for-pound great, and with the Russian's incredible run over, there's simply no reason to bring him to the UFC.

"To be honest with you, without joking around and no [expletive], I honestly and truly have not believed that Fedor is this great heavyweight that everybody thinks he is," White said. "Yes, back in the day in 2005 and before that, he was beating some great guys who were in their prime, and he was nasty. But to prove that you're the best in the world, you have to fight the best consistently. You have to consistently fight the best.

"It would be like calling the Lakers the world champions and they're playing some college team. It's not the same. I know that everybody can see the sense in that, but people just love to because he's not here they want to say, 'Oh, he could do this and that.' It's all mythology and [expletive]."

White said there was a time when Emelianenko coming to the UFC would have been profitable for everyone involved, but that's simply no longer the case.

"If we were to have come to a deal with Fedor, yeah, we could have put on a big promotion, and we could have found out (how goood he is)," White said. "People are going to say, 'Oh, he got caught in a triangle. Anybody can.' Yeah, anybody can, but it would have been a lot better if he came over here and lost to Shane Carwin, Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, than losing to Werdum."

Of course, now that Emelianenko is tumbling down most MMA pundits' rankings list, Saturday's UFC 116 heavyweight title unification bout between UFC champ Brock Lesnar and interim title-holder Shane Carwin will likely produce the sport's undisputed heavyweight king.

White said that's just what should happen.

"Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar, we know all their attributes," White said. "We know how good they both are. I have no idea what's going to happen on Saturday night. I have no clue. So to say that one guy could beat this guy, there's only one way to find out who can beat who, and that's fight, and [Emelianenko and his camp] aren't willing to do it.

"You don't the honor of being called the best fighter in the world when you won't fight the best guys in the world. Now doesn't that make sense?"

So with Emelianenko's run over and the majority of the world's best fighters competing within the UFC's octagon, it's unlikely that any fighter in any weight class will be considered a world No. 1 any time in the near future. It would seem to be the end of controversy for the UFC, but White said he's not expecting a moment of peace.

"I know it's fun because I don't have [Emelianenko] and he's not in the UFC, so it's fun to say, 'Oh, what we he do?'" White said. "And I guarantee you, get ready: (Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair) Overeem will be the next guy now. 'Oh, Overeem would beat them all.'

"Overeem got knocked out by Chuck Liddell at light heavyweight."

Too much great Fedor film in their library..they'll talk to him once his SF contract is over...they just won't be playing with no M-1...but once Fedor's SF contract is over, nobody, not even SF will be playing with M-1.

If anybody still buys Dana White's bullshit about Fedor, i'm sorry.

This is more him saying this to M-1 then anyone else, he'll give Fedor a look, but won't deal with M-1's bullshit.

M-1's worst nightmare has been realized in the last year. Gegard Mousasi left them and Fedor has been beaten.

LudoCain wrote:

M-1's worst nightmare has been realized in the last year. Gegard Mousasi left them and Fedor has been beaten.

Didn't they resign Gregard last week?

I don't know if they re-signed Gegard but i remember a Vadim interview a few weeks ago that said Mousasi was reaching out to them again.

Maybe Mousasi thought M-1 Global sounds better than 0-1 Global

get it?

I'll leave now.

The UFC may never pay Fedor what he is used to getting, with all these reports that he is the highest paid fighter in the business. With the loss, Fedor may have priced himself out of any hope of him fighting in the Octagon. But you never know.

fedor lost and the hype is gone and no need for dana to sign him. Plus like dana said if he did make him an offer it would be for a lot less. Fedor is still the man for anyone under 250lbs

Dana never wanted nor intended to have Fedor in the UFC.

More Dana:

Dana White - "[Fedor] He has completely overhyped by the media. I’ve been saying that all the time. The guy hasn’t fought anybody since 2005 and now he just lost. We don’t go out and try to sign people that just lost, we try to sign people that are on their way up and winning."

"I’ve said this guy was a fake, a phony and a farce and he proved it last weekend."

hahaha LA did you try to spell out Hello on the posts?????

I did, but it's backwards, thought about that when I started to but fuck it.

ahahha oh well I got it hhaha

Incase people wanted to see this

More Dana:

Dana White - "[Fedor] He has completely overhyped by the media. I’ve been saying that all the time. The guy hasn’t fought anybody since 2005 and now he just lost. We don’t go out and try to sign people that just lost, we try to sign people that are on their way up and winning."

"I’ve said this guy was a fake, a phony and a farce and he proved it last weekend."

damn man I understand gloating in his loss but Dana is kinda going overboard

Thought Kings or Wolfy would have something to say, guess not

lol, kinda? He's being so over the top about the whole thing that it's impossible to take him seriously. We'll see what happens when Fedor is available again.

until then expect more of this from Dana...

He's burning that bridge though, even more so...

Yeah. but it's much of the same ol same ol..the worst thing Dana has done to burn a bridge was start using influence over companies like Tapout and RVCA to fuck with Fedor's sponserships and money. I would think that is a bridge burner...atleast it would be a huge one for me.

I'm sure Fedor knows how Dana really feels about him. The word is he was listening in on the UFC/M-1 negotiations. I'm sure the truth comes out there.

Honestly though, when Dana speaks about whats going on in the UFC, what he thinks of the competitive status of fighters in the UFC, and his blogs, etc. I'm all ears. But when he's asked about anybody not under his banner, it's just a worn out gimmick not to be taken seriously. I really don't give a fuck what he has to say because it's not meant for fans like you or me anyway...It's meant for people who don't know better because those people out number the people who do by millions most likely.

My point is, Fedor works with a few promoters in M-1 who say BS to fit their promotional tactics as well. He knows the game. I don't think the trash talk was ever a big deal. It's Dana promoting and people love it when he gets all worked up and starts trashing people. He's been like that for a long time...

but if the Tapout stuff is true..and we know that he banned RVCA until they dropped Fedor..that's a problem and that could get to a point where pride comes into play when you are a free agent again. Promoters say things and change them all the time...but fucking with somebody's sponsers is fucking with their money and THAT could be a bridge scorcher. Maybe i'm overrating sponers but i'd imagine there is a huge difference in money coming in when you are sporting RVCA compared to Dan Henderson's brand that all the fighters on the card wear if they don't have a better one come fight night.

Dana's full of shit. He'd love to sign Fedor yesterday. It's all Fedor's values that Dana hates.

What is there to say? Dana is publically disinterested in Fedor and he has a load of marketable HW's on the horizon. Fedor is worth too much to come to the UFC. I'd say it's over. Now Dana will trash his legacy to protect the UFC brand. Not much to say.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

Yeah. but it's much of the same ol same ol..the worst thing Dana has done to burn a bridge was start using influence over companies like Tapout and RVCA to fuck with Fedor's sponserships and money. I would think that is a bridge burner...atleast it would be a huge one for me.

I'm sure Fedor knows how Dana really feels about him. The word is he was listening in on the UFC/M-1 negotiations. I'm sure the truth comes out there.

Honestly though, when Dana speaks about whats going on in the UFC, what he thinks of the competitive status of fighters in the UFC, and his blogs, etc. I'm all ears. But when he's asked about anybody not under his banner, it's just a worn out gimmick not to be taken seriously. I really don't give a fuck what he has to say because it's not meant for fans like you or me anyway...It's meant for people who don't know better because those people out number the people who do by millions most likely.

My point is, Fedor works with a few promoters in M-1 who say BS to fit their promotional tactics as well. He knows the game. I don't think the trash talk was ever a big deal. It's Dana promoting and people love it when he gets all worked up and starts trashing people. He's been like that for a long time...

but if the Tapout stuff is true..and we know that he banned RVCA until they dropped Fedor..that's a problem and that could get to a point where pride comes into play when you are a free agent again. Promoters say things and change them all the time...but fucking with somebody's sponsers is fucking with their money and THAT could be a bridge scorcher. Maybe i'm overrating sponers but i'd imagine there is a huge difference in money coming in when you are sporting RVCA compared to Dan Henderson's brand that all the fighters on the card wear if they don't have a better one come fight night.

Great post Kings

Who wonders if Dan Henderson though isn't privately kind of happy his brand is getting this much play.