Issue 049
May 2009
The Fedor Factor: Okay, so Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko could be described as the most decorated, best heavyweight (possibly of all time) in the history of mixed martial arts. But that sobriquet of ‘best’ needs to be underlined with a caveat.
Time was when Emilianenko could claim all of the above, possibly more. Yes, he has beaten seven former UFC heavyweight champions. Yes, he has an inspiring aura as a fighter, and yet, at present the Russian fighter simply does not merit the kind of sums being shovelled into his bank account.
Look at it this way: professional sport is a market economy, not a meritocracy. Emelianenko’s job is not simply to beat people up, which he is undeniably very good at. It is also to sell pay-per-view television, and this is where he comes up short.
He remains a pay-per-view black hole. They cancelled the Affliction press tour last December as Fedor did not want any of it – he was simply not interested. My argument is that he does not sell himself as a market force.
On that basis Emelianenko is not worth the millions of dollars he is paid. I’m not saying he should not earn such sums, merely that on business principles, he is arguably not only the most overpaid man in MMA, but in any sport today.
Let’s have a look back. In the Pride show in 2006 in Las Vegas, he faced Mark Coleman. It made 38,000 buys on American pay-per-view. Emelianenko received a major pay day. The figure is not clear, but he rarely earns less than $1.5 million for a contest.
In April 2007 he faced Matt Lindland in a Bodog fight in Russia, which was on pay-per-view in the US. It registered a paltry 13,000 buys. It was reported by some sources that Emelianenko received $1.5 million for that, too. It cemented the end of Bodog because they lost so much money.
At the first Affliction event, in Anaheim, California, he earned $300,000 (plus a reported signing fee of $1 million) for beating Tim Sylvia at the first ‘Donald Trumpeted’ event. He will probably have also been paid a bonus. Industry insiders believe he earned $2 million.
With an estimated gate of $2 million generated from the 11,000 people in the arena (and that is being generous) and industry estimates at between 70,000 and 90,000 pay-per-view buys, revenue for the event is also likely to have been at a loss.
At ‘Day of Reckoning’, the second Affliction event (with Golden Boy Promotions involved), Emelianenko’s stunning knockout of Andre Arlovski may have earned him closer to the $2 million mark, as Arlovski was paid $1.5 million for his part. Logically, there is no way that Emelianenko would have been fighting for less than his opponent.
Attendance for Day of Reckoning was just short of 12,500. Many would have been complimentary tickets, generating at most a gate of around $1.5 million. Industry estimates placed pay-per-view at less than 70,000. Overall, then, another loss.
Point being here that it’s hard to argue against his arch-antagonist Dana White, the UFC president, that the Russian is simply a big fish in a small pond. Clearly, White wants Fedor in the UFC. Emelianenko may never join the UFC. Who knows? Personally, I’d like to see him fight the UFC champion and their current raft of contenders within the confines of the UFC.
Save your hate mail. Emelianenko may be the best fighter in MMA, maybe the best ever, but it’s not only about what he can do in the ring. It’s about him being overpaid.
Demian Maia – the new Royce Gracie?
Is it beyond the pale to suggest we see the successor to Royce Gracie in Demian Maia, with his mesmerising BJJ submission skills? The way he played what he called “a form of physical chess, staying two moves ahead” to submit decorated wrestler Chael Sonnen, by textbook triangle choke at UFC 95, was breathtaking.
The worry is that he insists he does “not want to hurt people”. In the long run, that may be his downfall. It’s hard, from this leather-topped desk, not to like him even more – knowing that he is also a graduate in journalism. He told me that if his MMA career had not been sustainable he would have written about politics, business, and science. For now, for Maia, the sword is clearly mightier than the pen.
Dan Hardy – stalker of opponents
Finally, Dan Hardy, the ‘Picasso of Pain’ as I like to call him, revealed a startling pre-fight technique in looking ahead to his opponents. “I’m almost like a stalker with my opponents,” he told me. “I had pictures of Rory Markham everywhere, his fights on my iPod, his face in my mind.” I’d like to know what a sports psychologist (or even a clinical psychologist) would make of that one. Whatever, it works for Hardy.
He looks like the next UK UFC star in the making, despite (much like Michael Bisping) receiving an avalanche of detractors in the USA after his pin-perfect counter left-hook KO of Markham at UFC 95. Hardy looks to have some future in MMA.
Gareth A Davies is boxing and MMA correspondent for The Daily Telegraph
...
