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[twankydawg]

Cross Promoting Is Worth It For Dana White
By Michael Rome
Posted on Sat Dec 15, 2007 at 11:03:13 PM EDT

On tonight's HDNet fights, Randy Couture suggested that he was not retired, and his next fight will be against Fedor Emilianenko. He'll do it in the UFC if Dana is willing to cross promote, or he'll wait out his contract and do it then. Below the fold is my opinion on why Dana White ought to do this, and probably will, if Fedor's management is actually serious about it.


Is there any actual downside to cross promoting with M-1? As far as I can tell now, there is no danger to the UFC in doing it. M-1 has no meaningful television, and as far as we know, is little more than a shell company with the purpose of advertising and playing up Fedor. This is a massive money fight, it's a fight everyone wants to see, and frankly the UFC doesn't have that many "mega fights" on the horizon in early 2008. If Randy wins, he kills M-1, if Randy loses, M-1 probably fades back into the obscurity it's already in, or there is a potential for more money fights with Fedor in the future.
To those saying it'll never happen...I heard Dana on the radio in Sacramento the other day saying it's very possible he can still make that fight in the UFC, and to "never say never." I'm going to hold out hope, because if it happens the fight deserves to be seen by a huge audience, not a small number of hardcore fans. Obviously, I'll definitely take the latter situation over no fight at all, the fight needs to happen.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/story/200...3/670#readmore

Looks like I'm not the only one thinking that this fight could still happen in the UFC.

[Diegonightmare]

Agreed, read that story earlier...

Interestingly, this quote:

M-1 has no meaningful television, and as far as we know, is little more than a shell company with the purpose of advertising and playing up Fedor.

also sums up the skepticism I feel toward M-1 for the time being I just get a strange vibe from them.

[NixHex]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

Agreed, read that story earlier...

Interestingly, this quote:



also sums up the skepticism I feel toward M-1 for the time being I just get a strange vibe from them.

What's with all the top-calibur LW's fighting for them?

[twankydawg]

Originally Posted by Diegonightmare

Agreed, read that story earlier...

Interestingly, this quote:



also sums up the skepticism I feel toward M-1 for the time being I just get a strange vibe from them.

Yeah, it almost seems like they want to have Fedor to build from and hopefully add someone with deep pockets to make it grow from there. Alot of the guys involved with this are shady. They may be able to make it by adding Fedor to other cards and attaching themselves to other orgs events to gain some credibility. That's why they are looking to cross promote.

[b0sH]

It would be a monumentally stupid decision to promote something alongside M1. Currently M1 has 0 mainstream publicity, the casual MMA fan isn't aware of Fedor or M1. The UFC aims to keep it that way.

M1 at the moment isn't competition to them, why give them a massive leg up by putting their poser boy vs UFCs and especially in a fight that Randy could very well lose.

As a fan I'd love to see it, I work in sports media and if some1 asked me professionally whether this was a good idea I would strongly warn them off it.

[2mcgrath]

i dont know if dana will do this or not.i could see why he might.but i can also see a big reason he wouldnt.and that reason is because he would be promoting and helping build m1 up.which i dont think he would do

[Maniac]

Originally Posted by b0sH

It would be a monumentally stupid decision to promote something alongside M1. Currently M1 has 0 mainstream publicity, the casual MMA fan isn't aware of Fedor or M1. The UFC aims to keep it that way.

M1 at the moment isn't competition to them, why give them a massive leg up by putting their poser boy vs UFCs and especially in a fight that Randy could very well lose.

As a fan I'd love to see it, I work in sports media and if some1 asked me professionally whether this was a good idea I would strongly warn them off it.

Agreed. I doubt this ever happens.......Dana and Zuffa aren't that foolish. The only way I see this happening is Randy waiting out his contract.

I hope I'm wrong though!!!!

[thebwit]

Dana and Zuffa aren't stupid, but they would make it if some of the following were in place:
1. It took place at a UFC event - this is probably the biggest issue
2. It took place inside a cage
3. The marketing of M1 was limited to only Fedor - ie no one else from M1 on the card
4. It would only be a 3 round right - the title would not be on the line

If Dana truly believes that Randy is the #1 and that Fedor isn't in the top 5, then this is a no brainer. Randy beats Fedor, no one will really care about Fedor ever again as he will be forced to fight non top tier fighters.

I would also through in a clause to Randy that says if he loses - he can only fight for the UFC and no other organization. Cause lets face it if he loses, he probably would retire for good.

[The Natural994]

I think it would be a terrible idea for Dana to have it. Not too many fans are clamoring for it and the casual UFC fan would rather watch...are happy with the mainstream people like Roger Huerta, AA, GSP, etc...more mainstream fighters from the states are a bigger sell than Fedor. Too much to lose and not enough to gain with this fight...Esp. if Randy loses in the UFC to the guy who wouldn't sign.

Let Fedor rot away in M1 and Randy sit at home.

[FidgitUK]

I don't see it happening in the UFC for one reason. Fedor's people won't let him fight Randy in a cage/octagon.

Always thought Randy's chances increase significantly if he gets Fedor in a cage as opposed to a ring. I reckon Fedor's management may think the same especially after the wave of Pride fighter's having problems in UFC debuts. Whether this is purely down to fighting in a cage/octagon is debatable and really isn't the point.

End of the day Fedor has more to lose and I don't think they will want to take any chances when and if this fight happens.