Jan 3, 2009 - UFC President Dana White gave an interview to a Brazilian TV show last year in which he made some interesting comments about the best MMA fighter who's not in the UFC, Fedor Emelianenko:
Asked whether Fedor will ever fight in the UFC, White said, "Who knows? Every time you think you've got some traction with these guys and you're going to do something, they spin off and do something dumber than before. These guys keep making stupid moves. The problem is Fedor doesn't control his destiny, his manager does. These guys are from Russia. It's a whole nother world in Russia, man. Listen, in all the dealings we've had with Fedor, I've never even met Fedor. He doesn't control his destiny, his manager does."
Fedor's manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, doesn't appreciate the way White talks about him.
Finkelchtein said this in an interview with Five Ounces of Pain this week:
My own opinion is that Fedor is never going to set foot in the Octagon. That's a real shame for both Fedor and for the UFC, and most of all for MMA fans.I think a lot of the problem is whatever Dana puts into these interviews. Maybe that's his style? Maybe there's a reason why he goes out there and calls us "crazy Russians" and things like that.
I'll tell you one thing, we would have really been "crazy Russians" if we had signed that contract that they had offered. Fedor is an athlete who deserves a certain amount of respect and recognition. We don't make the rankings. We don't decide who is the number one fighter in the world, consensus wise. These are things that are out there in the world.
I think in my dealings with those guys, everything has always been very cordial and very friendly. But publicly, they've created - and I don't know whether they have an inferiority complex - but I don't know what it is. But they're trying to create a monopoly and I believe that regardless that bubble is going to pop because very soon, the sport is going to become bigger than them.
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