Shortly after CBS announced that it would televise the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers fight on Nov. 7, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker spoke with FanHouse about the deal to put the heavyweight bout on network television, saying he views it as a huge step forward for MMA.Coker also said the CBS show will consist of four fights and will include Gegard Mousasi, Cris Cyborg, Jake Shields and Jason Mayhem Miller, and that Fedor's company, M-1 Global, has been a strong partner throughout the planning process. The full interview is below.
Michael David Smith: We had previously heard Fedor vs. Rogers would be on Showtime. How did the deal go down to put it on CBS?
Scott Coker: We just got a call that CBS was interested in doing that fight, and we were all in agreement that would be a win-win for CBS to put MMA back on the air. It's a great day for the mixed martial arts industry.
Will anything change for you, or is doing a card with Showtime basically the same as doing a card with CBS?
It's basically the same. We've worked hard with Showtime to do great fights with big names and star power, and I think we'll do that and then some with the CBS fights. It's a chance for us to show the talent we have on our roster to a big audience.
When will you know the venue for this card?
Early next week.
Any hints?
Sorry. It's a little difficult because basketball and hockey have a lot of the big arenas and we want this card to be in a big city and a big venue. I think we'll announce it on Monday or Tuesday.
Might it be in your home base of San Jose?
No. It will not be there. There's a hockey game that day.
Can you tell me any of the undercard fights?
I can tell you some of the fighters. You'll see Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields, Mayhem Miller and Cris Cyborg. It'll be a solid card, with the No. 1 heavyweight in the world and a great undercard.
It sounds like you're avoiding the boxing model of one big main event but not a big undercard.
Absolutely. We're going to have a great card that you don't have to pay $44.95, or whatever it is, and it's a stacked card from top to bottom, not just one fight.
How many fights will be on the CBS card?
Those details still need to be worked out but it looks like it's going to be a four-fight card, or maybe a five-fight card, with maybe a swing bout.
Will Shields and Miller fight each other?
That hasn't been confirmed.
Are Mousasi and Cyborg going to be fighting in five-round title fights?
Not necessarily, no. Cyborg has discussed moving up in weight class and Mousasi can fight at 185 or 205 or 220. We have to work out those details.
We hear all this talk about co-promotion, between you and M-1 Global. What role did M-1 have in getting this card together and on CBS?
Well, it goes back to when we purchased the assets of Pro Elite, that included the Showtime deal, and CBS had the option to televise some fights. But CBS had to feel comfortable, because the last regime kind of left a bad taste in their mouths. Well, now we've put together great fights on Showtime, and we've put together a deal with M-1 -- which is Fedor's company, he's part owner -- and that made CBS decide to activate the deal. M-1 has the best fighter in the heavyweight division, arguably the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and getting the deal done with them was good timing for CBS. M-1 has been a great partner, and they contribute a lot. It's a great relationship and we're looking forward to co-promoting this fight on Nov. 7.
As a fight fan, how historically significant do you think this is to have the heavyweight championship of the world on network television? That hasn't happened often in boxing, and it has never happened in MMA. How big a deal do you think this is for the sport?
It's a very big deal. Not just for our company, not just for Fedor, not just for Brett Rogers, not just for M-1, but for the whole MMA industry. It's a big statement from CBS.
Although I just mentioned that this is the heavyweight championship of the world, it's not the heavyweight championship of your promotion, is it? Alistair Overeem is your champion.
There's been some dialogue on that. I think we're going to give Alistair the opportunity to defend his belt early next year. I was promised by his camp that he'll be ready by February or March.
Is Fedor vs. Rogers going to be three rounds or five rounds?
Right now they're scheduled for three rounds. Hopefully if Fedor gets past Rogers, he and Alistair will get together.
Is it sort of a moot point whether it's three or five rounds? Rogers has never gone past the second round, and Fedor hasn't gone past the second round since he fought Mirko Cro Cop more than four years ago.
Yeah, I think that's right. It's not going to go the distance, let's put it that way.
You have a pretty busy autumn ahead of you. How many more cards will you do this year?
We have the Challengers on September 25 on Showtime, featuring Tim Kennedy, who we have a lot of confidence in as a rising star in the sport. Then we have another Challengers show the day before the CBS broadcast, Nov. 6 out of Fresno with Billy Evangelista fighting Jorge Gurgel.
So you're doing two fights that weekend? Won't that be rough for you?
We can definitely do it. We have the staffing to handle it. And then on Nov, 20, at a location to be determined, we have another Challengers fight, and then some time in December we'll do a Strikeforce fight that will be sizable.
It's a busy end of the year for you.
Yeah, and next year will be even better. You know, when we got started in the MMA business we were doing four fights a year, three at the HP Pavilion and one at the Playboy Mansion. Next year it looks like we'll have a schedule of 20 cards, all across the country. It's going to be a lot of fun, a lot of work and great for the fight fans.
What do you think the UFC will do to counter-program this card?
I really don't know. I have no idea. But I'm sure they'll come up with something.
They have Brock Lesnar facing Shane Carwin on Nov. 21 for their heavyweight belt. Do you view Fedor vs. Rogers as the true heavyweight title fight in MMA?
Absolutely. Fedor is the No. 1 heavyweight fighting in MMA. Everybody knows that. If you went out and asked 10 reporters who cover MMA who's the No. 1 fighter in the heavyweight division, I think you know the answer you'd get. Fedor is the guy. The whole thing about him ducking people? Come on. That's ridiculous. Here's a guy who fought Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira three times, beat him twice and had a no contest. He beat Mirko Cro Cop. He beat Tim Sylvia. He beat Andrei Arlovski. He was supposed to fight Josh Barnett. He hasn't ducked anybody. His reputation speaks for itself.
This is an exciting fight for the sport of mixed martial arts. The fans can tune in to CBS on Nov. 7 and see Fedor fight Rogers, plus Jake Shields, Mayhem Miller, Cris Cyborg, Gegard Mousasi, that's a great day for mixed martial arts. I'm very happy we're going to put MMA back on CBS and I'm looking forward to it.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
exactly.. fedor's never ducked nobody.. wanna fight him? come fight him!.. its the UFC that won't let their heavyweights fight with Fedor.. i honestly think Dana's afraid of exposing his HW champ for the fluke that he is. I'm not doubting that brock is all bad.. but he needs that record that will speak for himself, just like fedor. this looks to be quite exciting.. undercard looks like its gonna be pretty good too. mma fans should be nutting over this..
THANK YOU SCOTT COKER AND STRIKEFORCE!
Fedor id the world's best, HW or #4#.
I hope these guys eat the ufc up, i cant wait for the day the ufc has to share the wealth and mma fighters get paid like boxers.
jeeze richard,
me n you go round and round on this topic,
other than a few top name boxers, do you really think anyone else in boxing is really making any legit money.
furthermore, do you really think sf is actually going to pay more as well?
watch out what you wish for...because it just might ruin what you think you love.
do you really want mma to turn into what boxing is now?
i keep telling you....m-1 is un-scrupulous scum!
you know, i love fedor and think he is the greatest of all time, but because of his affiliation with scummy m-1, i have to root against him.
if fedor ever gets knocked out hopefully m-1 will go down the tubes.
neo it would be hard (impossible) to make the case that having the ufc own all mma is good.
having different organizations isnt the problem with boxing, its the corruption.
neo, if you saw what fighters pay out of their purse and actually walk with, you'd want them paid more too. remember, fighters arent getting paid for one night, they're getting paid for the last (minimum) 4 months it took them to get ready for that night.
yes, competition for fighters is good, and i think you're being hard on M1. i havent seen near the sleezy moves from M1 as i have the ufc.... fitch, the lesnar title shot, militech... theres more.
rich,
i have always agreed with you on the need for credible competition and that it is good for the sport. and that yes, fighters should be paid more.
but, until someone steps up and indeed pays more and stays a legit organisation, there is no way i can fault the ufc for there pay scales. you know ufc has costs as well, they don't get all of that ppv money....i don't know for sure what the actual break down is but direct tv, etc.. i'm sure take a huge cut.
just like fighters have costs so does each mma organization.
and again, we are not privy to the other compensatory ways the organisations help the fighters make money...bonuses, ppv%'s, appearences, promotional gigs, blah blah..
do you really think the maniac really made more than fedor when they fought....sylvia $800k/ fedor $300k???? yet, those were the numbers that were released.
that's why i think you've been unfair in your criticism to the ufc. now, i agree with you the ufc has seemingly done some petty things and if someone else does indeed step up and consistantly does the right things for the fighters and the fans then i will support and root for that organization.
so far, the ufc has done right by me, the fan.
let me explain one more thing on where some of my thoughts come from....
don't ask me why, but for some stupid reason i have always been a pro wrestling fan.
however, i've always considered myself a smart mark. that basically is just someone that knows it's fake but enjoys the show and storylines. and sometimes i don't really enjoy it either, i end up thinking it's stupid. but it is fun to talk about and critize with other smart marks. sort of like what we do here. and obviously i don't understand how people can get excited and jump up and down and pop when a pro wrestler actually wins, whereas with mma i do get excited when per say someone wins like when griffin beat shogun.....
here is my point, in the 90's when the wwe was number 1 and wcw was a distant second and alot of common thought was on how sleazy vince was, i still appreciated the product. wwf was trying to keep things fresh and move forward with younger guys while trying to keep integrity to their product. there was also wide consternation that the atheletes were not being taken care of financially as they should be.
well, along comes billionaire ted turner and buys wcw and dumps a sh!tload of money into it and basically out spend the wwe in what they were paying to the wrestlers, not only that, he gave them (the wrestlers) control over the product. and they (the wrestlers) started to make (big) money. and aside from the very beginning days of the nwo storyline everything else was lame.
as a whole, pro wrestling fans are pretty stupid. so the lamness of the product along with the name appeal of hulk hogan carried them for awhile without much notice.
wcw was now crushing wwf in the ratings war for like 97 weeks in a row.
vince came out swinging, realizing he couldn't out spend wcw. so, he put all his efforts in putting out a better product, which he totally succeeded in doing. eventually the inmates running the asylum at wcw ruined their own product. and vince was back on top and also bought up the competition.
very strong parallels to the ufc and pride.
now, was vince a choir boy? hardly!
did he rub people the wrong way? absolutely!
however, for the most part, is his product most concerned about what the fans want? yes!
again strong parallels to the ufc and everyone else.
now if wcw was able to pay what they were paying and still put out a good product and and and and still make money, then they would still be around and i would probably be their fan as well.
wcw had money to burn and the name of hulk hogan and that was it.
now we come along to m-1 and their one lone name... fedor the king of mma.
it is how they are doing what they are doing and their (m-1) claims of credibility that disturb me.
without fedor they are nothing.
but they act like they deserve to be on par with the ufc or anyone else.
name me one thing...anything... that justifies their claims of credibility that they have done on their own.
remember these are the same morons that thought it would just be okay to put a patch over an obviously offensive tattoo and be surprised when the cover up came off during a sweaty mma match. and what makes it worse is the guy is a complete no name.
it is their claims of credibility that i find offensive. it's like when chrysler shines up a car and says how wonderful it is, when it is obviously a piece of crap. or like when a politician tells you how moral and ethical they are. you can buy it if you want, i choose to be gullible in other ways.
i've never had much of a problem with sf and coker, however, when they start trying to tow m-1's credibility line is when they start talking crap.
m-1 is and never has been credible. they are complete scum. riding off the sweat of one guy, albeit the best.
so yes, unfortunately, i will be rooting for fedor to get knocked out (not that it's ever going to happen).
so that hopefully the vampires at m-1 will be exposed for whom they really are.
let me know what you think about what i've just written, it took me about 2 hrs.
neo, could you repeat that?
ok, i've responded twice, and wasn't smart enought to save it, and both disappeared into that cyber neverland, hopefully i remember to save this.
how can you not like a 300#er doing a backflip off the top rope; i'll watch it some, i actually think mma is safer.
fedor is a fighter and co owner of m1. what good is it for his future to surrender himself to the ufc? he is the greatest now or ever, but nothing lasts forever. i think its good business on his behalf.
neo, the ufc makes so many millions you and i couldn't even count it. theres so much money, and hardly any of it goes to the fighters that make it great. white and the frititas are the greedest, most using people on the planet. corrupt? come on.. the fratitas own casinos in vegas, they didnt get there selling church cookies.
i think you're a little hard on m1. at least fedor is willing to put himself on the line, what kind of people selfishly make money off others blood but are too chicken shet to do it themselves.
i know i can't believe i actually wrote all that. i think i'm going back to college and going to use that as a term paper. seriously, took me a minimum of 2 hrs. i'm not the fastest typer in the world.
oh that's not even debateable, pro wrestling is definately more dangerous.
all owners of everything, especially sporting event owners...make money off others. even vinnie mac with wwe. and he has gotten in the ring plenty of times and put his body on the line and bled like a stuck pig.
and i don't have a problem with fedor wanting to be an owner. i think it's great however, align yourself with people that are not so obviously so phoney. again i ask you .....
name me one thing...anything... that justifies their (m-1's) claims of credibility that they have done on their own.
fedor can, but m-1 by themselves can't.
fedor could have basically written his own ticket with regards to demands. but even that has it's limits, in respect to the ufc.
he got it with sf, because for sf, it's basically a no brainer, for now.
however, that doesn't mean m-1 deserves to be considered credible.
the ufc basically started this whole thing, zuffa and crew continued it and even got regulation and took mma mainstream.
sf and even koc have been putting on shows for years and established name brands for themselves.
fedor has been knocking mf'ers out for years and even prior to that he paved his own way with sambo.
m-1 comes out of nowhere, leeches off of 1 guy and claim they are a world class organization.
i can't believe you can't see through their bullsh!t.
it's rather quite unique and sad in a way for fedor. no matter who you are, you can't just come out of nowhere, make grandiose statements and then back that talk up with....crap. it gets exposed.
m-1 makes claims of credibility and how world class they are and then puts on a card with mark kerr in their main event?
how many people really paid to see that?
do you really think they could possibly stay in business and continue to put on shows like that, to showcase, whatever it is they do?
do you smell what the zoo is cooking here???
now, as far as all the money you think is involved here....we are not privy to all the numbers and again until someone else steps up and pays better, consistantly, i just can't pass judgmment on zuffa in that regards.
i mean really, they bought the ufc for a paltry 2mil, but noone else was beating the door down to offer more. there are tons of costs with putting on a ppv and if you don't think the top guys are getting cuts of that, then you are misleading yourself. it's not all going to zuffa. guys are making more now than a few years ago, especially the top guys. yeah maybe not boxing money, but look what that has done to their sport.
when pride was top dog, they were selling out 60k seat stadiums and obviously doing nice ppv #'s in japan. even then, they were not paying their fighters really big money in comparison to their numbers.
anyway, we could go round and round on this topic(whether or not-the ufc treats their fighters financially crappy).
and you could be right on this. remember i said could...but until someone else proves your point i will withhold judgement.
however, my main interest is to open your eyes on the m-1 topic.
jeeze, i can't seem to say what i want in 2 sentences. that's kind of what makes this back and forth banter so much fun...
makes me...think....oouchh!
dan went from driving a broken down jacked up blazer to having a mansion w/ millions of dollars in art work, chauffers, body guards... i think he raked in over 20 million last year. hes a 10% owner, so theoretically theres another 180 million for the fretitas.
you think out of 200 million theres a couple of fighters whose blood this was got deserve a little more?
rich,
excuse my ignorance, but dan who?
hendo? if so, i didn't know he has a piece of the pie.
and again, i'm not saying guys like guida or mike brown don't deserve more. or any of them. they all deserve more than 6k a fight. it's just that until someone steps up and consistantly pays more to those guys, how can i say that it is possible.
affliction, elitexc, bodog and even pride, all had business models that didn't survive.
how much do you think the tomato cans are being paid in the undercard of tonights mayweather fight?
in the pro wrestling example: wcw was paying huge guaranteed contracts and couldn't sustain being successful. vince refused to pay that or seemingly couldn't eventhough both were pulling in huge ppv #'s and had just as much if not more ad $'s than today's ufc.
point is i really don't know what is possible,
so i have to keep an open mind on why the fighters seemingly don't make more.
after all, how did hendo get 10%?
additionally, don't you think there are other owners as well?
and if some of them are indeed fighters, why ain't they speaking up?
the ufc went from being sold for 2mil to where they are now, because of the foresight and hard work of fertitta's and dana. it wasn't like they had a monopoly back then,
they absolutely deserve to make a sh!tload of money. and without them, hendo would have never possibly been able to earn 20mil.
for whatever reason, the zuffa business model has worked and until someone shows us that it can work and pays more than zuffa, then i just don't understand your judgments against the ufc.
if sf ends up being successful and pays the same, what will you say then?
like i said before, i just don't know if it's possible to pay anymore than they do and continue to be successful.
brock, randy, etc.. are all making a lot of moolah
and obviously more than what is disclosed to the public.
and obviously, more than what was possible 5yrs ago. so as the ufc has grown the fighters have indeed made more as a result.
it's all in the business model.
don't you think dana and crew appreciate what tim creduer and the rest of the guys put on, on wed. night. that was a great card and dare i say tonights ufc 103 will be considered a huge success if the fights even come close to what we saw on wed.
we've talked on this topic in the past and bottom line, i'll keep an open mind to be proven wrong, but take into consideration some of my points here.
why has noone else been able to be successful and pay more?
and again, if some the fighters are part owners
themselves and are privy to the numbers and they are indeed unfair, why ain't they speaking up?
hendo and randy seem like honorable guys?
or are they just greedy bastards too?
aside from this, keep a watchful and critical eye on m-1.
look forward to your reply.
sorry neo, that is dana, not dan
what??? Cyborg discussed moving up in weight?? i hope its to get some big-ass implants. anything to keep the attention of her roided pizzaface..........but seriously, move up in weight? with the slim pool of women in MMA it is hard enough to find opponents with regular sized women
Homerun for Strikeforce!
From Merriam-Webster:
duck
intransitive verb
3 a : to move quickly b : to evade a duty, question, or responsibility
Fedor's duty was to fight where the best are. The UFC has almost all of the Top 20 Heavy Weights in the world.
Fedor needed to enter the Cage to fight the best.
Enough said.
"Enough said"
Good then we won't have too read anymore of your non sense from now on.
got a little in a ruch there, if sf doesnt end up paying better than the ufc when they're equally successful, i say crap on them too.
fair response.
however, my whole point is maybe there is a reason to the seemingly poor fighter salary payout....seemingly.
remember, if a fighter knows there's not much money in the sport and still makes that decision to get into it, excuse the pun, but,
who's twisting their arm to stay in it.
don't get me wrong, for the entertainment value i get out of watching this sport, i wish we were not even having this discussion and they were all making nba or mlb money.
MMA FIGHTERS UNION...