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[Dast]

Yeah, the sherdog forum is a cesspool. Guarantee that I could make it readable, but I don't contract out . Anyway, it can still be useful for photos and gifs and whatnot, so I do usually check it out after a big event to gather up that stuff.

Surprisingly, the grappling forum is pretty good with plenty of good posters. The rest not so much.

 

[EviLore]

Surprisingly, the grappling forum is pretty good with plenty of good posters. The rest not so much.

Yeah, the training discussion areas are actually good resources. Still some flamewars, but the signal:noise is worlds better, lots of serious folks.

 

[charsace]

Just love this gif.

 

[Timedog]

Dana negotiates for Fedor (Part 2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3xIqksOgww

"M1 Global doesn't exist you delusional fucking hermaphrodite!"

"Whats your fucking problem now, Borat?"

wtf? :lol :lol :lol

 

[Sinatar]

Looks like the fallout from the Afflicition implosion is begging to settle. Babulu will fight Mousasi at Strikeforce to defend his LHW belt.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15648/ren...ce-title-against-gegard-mousasi-on-aug-15.mma

The first two pieces of the scrambled puzzle left by Affliction's recent demise have fallen into place as Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral (35-8) will defend his title against Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1) on Aug. 15.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) confirmed the rescheduled bout with Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz.

Sobral and Mousasi, who were originally scheduled to meet at the now-canceled "Affliction: Trilogy," will instead step into the cage at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., on the main card of "Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg."

Mousasi will compete on the card with a new Strikeforce contract, Afromowitz said, and not as a loaned commodity from M-1.

So no Mousasi in the UFC, bummer.

 

[BigKaboom2]

Awesome, saved that card after Overeem and Riggs pulled out.

 

[Sinatar]

Just love this gif.

 

[EviLore]

Looks like the fallout from the Afflicition implosion is begging to settle. Babulu will fight Mousasi at Strikeforce to defend his LHW belt.

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15648/ren...ce-title-against-gegard-mousasi-on-aug-15.mma



So no Mousasi in the UFC, bummer.

Nice, glad the fight's still happening. I don't think Mousasi fighting away from the UFC for a while longer is a prob; he'll keep building his name in the international scene until he's ready to go for a run at the UFC belt. That way, he can go in with mystique and not just be another guy in an extremely stacked division. Like a mini-Fedor without being bound by the Chains of Finkelstein.

 

[dem]

Nice, glad the fight's still happening. I don't think Mousasi fighting away from the UFC for a while longer is a prob; he'll keep building his name in the international scene until he's ready to go for a run at the UFC belt. That way, he can go in with mystique and not just be another guy in an extremely stacked division. Like a mini-Fedor without being bound by the Chains of Finkelstein.

Mousasi is also tied to M-1 isn't he?
Pretty sure he is also managed by Finkelstein

 

[EviLore]

Mousasi is also tied to M-1 isn't he?
Pretty sure he is also managed by Finkelstein

Fedor reportedly has a significant financial stake in M-1 Global as co-owner, so he's pretty much tied to Finkelstein's hip as it stands. Mousasi is in no such position. Far as I can tell he likes training over there and probably likes the pull Finkelstein has in the non-UFC MMA market, but isn't going to position himself just to benefit M-1. He'll go where he wants, as we've seen already.

If things keep going Mousasi's way and he beats Babalu and wins the Super Hulk tournament, he could be one of the biggest non-UFC names going into 2010.

 

[Pantheon Of The Lesser]

If things keep going Mousasi's way and he beats Babalu and wins the Super Hulk tournament, he could be one of the biggest non-UFC names going into 2010.

i think he already is. at his age, there are few as well rounded as he is.

beating Babalu would do wonders for his stock, but beating Minowa or Soko... not exactly the most solid of fighters. even Hong Man-Choi is somewhat of joke nowadays. the military/tumour removal/suicide tendencies stuff took a major toll on the giant.

 

[Boogie]

"M1 Global doesn't exist you delusional fucking hermaphrodite!"

"Whats your fucking problem now, Borat?"

wtf? :lol :lol :lol

"Fucking Barack Obama will know who the fuck he is" :lol

I love these.:lol

 

[mrbagdt]

i think he already is. at his age, there are few as well rounded as he is.

beating Babalu would do wonders for his stock, but beating Minowa or Soko... not exactly the most solid of fighters. even Hong Man-Choi is somewhat of joke nowadays. the military/tumour removal/suicide tendencies stuff took a major toll on the giant.

i like mousasi a lot and was cheering for him during that entire dream tourney, but it is hard for me to really know where to place him right now as far as how good he is. he has an impressive record for sure at 25-2-1, but i really wonder how he is going to fair against the better opponents, and at the higher weight classes. his last loss was a submission 3 years ago, but that was against gono who fights at 170 now in the UFC. his best wins in dream were against jacare and kang, but one of those was by a pretty ridiculous upkick and the other was to a fighter who seems to choke on the big stage.

i think mousasi should easily win this super hulk tourney, but i dont think it will mean anything at all when he does.

babalu is a big test and he is a guy who has been in there with some legit fighters. does anyone know what the lines were going into this fight? i would guess that mousasi is the favorite... most people dont seem to believe in sobral and seem to believe that he cant win half of his fights.

 

[EviLore]

babalu is a big test and he is a guy who has been in there with some legit fighters. does anyone know what the lines were going into this fight? i would guess that mousasi is the favorite... most people dont seem to believe in sobral and seem to believe that he cant win half of his fights.

-210 Mousasi +175 Babalu.

Here are the lines on some upcoming matches (and one hypothetical):

-350 Anderson Silva +306 Forrest Griffin
+162 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -180 Randy Couture
-115 Junior Dos Santos -115 Mirko Filipovic
-550 Lyoto Machida +400 Mauricio Rua
-115 Quinton Jackson -115 Rashad Evans
+185 Brock Lesnar -225 Fedor Emelianenko

 

[dem]

Forrest's odds are that long?

Colour me surprised. That looks like a good bet. Forrest is a big dude.
Shogun is surprising too.

 

[Asbel]

-210 Mousasi +175 Babalu.

Here are the lines on some upcoming matches (and one hypothetical):

-350 Anderson Silva +306 Forrest Griffin
+162 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -180 Randy Couture
-115 Junior Dos Santos -115 Mirko Filipovic
-550 Lyoto Machida +400 Mauricio Rua
-115 Quinton Jackson -115 Rashad Evans
+185 Brock Lesnar -225 Fedor Emelianenko

Holy shit.

 

[mrbagdt]

yea, that machida spread is pretty damn big. i mean, i think machida should win, but i wouldnt expect him to be that big of a favorite.

 

[EviLore]

It all makes sense, of course: Machida's the undefeated unsolved champ and Shogun looked poor in 2 of his 3 UFC fights, and beat a chronically beatable Chuck in the other one.

Looking at the whole picture, though, Shogun is reportedly in great physical condition (and was dealing with the fallout of major knee surgery coming into the UFC), demonstrated elite standup against a hungry and unusually in-shape Chuck (who was the favorite going in), and has a granite chin, better ground game than Machida, and shares his natural talent and athleticism. Coleman also showed that he isn't a rusted out can via Bonnar, for what that's worth. The ingredients are definitely there for a shocker.

 

[Jeffahn]

Wish Affliction had waited until after the event to fold (and that the main event was still on, of course). Fedor/Barnett was always going to be good.

...

 

[Sinatar]

Wow even Aleks is calling out Vadim on his bullshit now.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/7/27/965234/aleksander-emelianenko-on-the-ufc

You can deal with UFC, I know that they have flexible contract system. All these talks about "strict" contract terms with signing with UFC, come ONLY from Vadim Finkelstein, who wants to push his owns business projects through Fedor's fights.

 

[Eric WK]

Wow even Aleks is calling out Vadim on his bullshit now.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/7/27/965234/aleksander-emelianenko-on-the-ufc

Yeah, I saw that yesterday. It's insane that Fedor can't see what the hell is going on here.

Wish Affliction had waited until after the event to fold (and that the main event was still on, of course). Fedor/Barnett was always going to be good.

...

We could still see that fight sometime soon. At the very least we'll see Fedor fight someone in the near future I would think.

My ideal scenario: pigs fly, Dana signs Fedor, Fedor fights Brock for the title at 103, 103 gets more PPV buys than Mayweather that same night.

 

[Brian Fellows]

It all makes sense, of course: Machida's the undefeated unsolved champ and Shogun looked poor in 2 of his 3 UFC fights, and beat a chronically beatable Chuck in the other one.

Looking at the whole picture, though, Shogun is reportedly in great physical condition (and was dealing with the fallout of major knee surgery coming into the UFC), demonstrated elite standup against a hungry and unusually in-shape Chuck (who was the favorite going in), and has a granite chin, better ground game than Machida, and shares his natural talent and athleticism. Coleman also showed that he isn't a rusted out can via Bonnar, for what that's worth. The ingredients are definitely there for a shocker.

Bonnar is a shadow of his former self. Coleman did jack shit in that fight and looked like complete and utter garbage. He landed like one grazing elbow that cut Bonnar open then dry humped Stephen the rest of the "fight".

 

[SolidSnakex]

Tomorrow should be interesting

And as the world waits to see where the fighters from the now-defunct Affliction promotion end up, speculation continues to mount regarding where Emelianenko will fight next.

Emelianenko, himself, will address some of the speculation on Wednesday at a press conference in Anaheim, Calif.

"Since the cancellation (of "Affliction: Trilogy"), there has been a great deal of speculation regarding Fedor and M-1," Emelianenko's manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, stated in a release from his company. "On Wednesday, the media and fans will be able to hear what's going on with Fedor from the man himself."

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15655/fed...-wednesday-press-conference-in-california.mma

 

[charsace]

Machida is going to sweep and then GnP shogun in the first if he is aggressive or get KTFO in the second if Shogun takes his time.

I really don't think any Brazilian kickboxer will beat him. I think it will take a high quality european kickboxer like Manhoef to take out Machida.

 

[EviLore]

Bonnar is a shadow of his former self. Coleman did jack shit in that fight and looked like complete and utter garbage. He landed like one grazing elbow that cut Bonnar open then dry humped Stephen the rest of the "fight".

Bonnar had a former self?

Re: Coleman, well, I fast forwarded through that shit, but his desperate one dimensional lay and pray is perfect for UFC judging, especially at 205. Future LHW champion!

 

[Eric WK]

Tomorrow should be interesting

http://mmajunkie.com/news/15655/fed...-wednesday-press-conference-in-california.mma

I'll be very shocked if we get anything other than Fedor saying exactly what Vadim wants him to say. It doesn't seem like there's going to be an actual announcement, but who knows.

 

[Pantheon Of The Lesser]

like Manhoef to take out Machida.

shit, as much as i like Manhoef (i even met him once in a seminar), Machida only need to trip him to the floor and sub him.

 

[charsace]

shit, as much as i like Manhoef (i even met him once in a seminar), Machida only need to trip him to the floor and sub him.

I didn't say it would be him I said like him. Of course the guy would have to have a decent ground game/ sprawl.

 

[DKehoe]

-210 Mousasi +175 Babalu.

Here are the lines on some upcoming matches (and one hypothetical):

-350 Anderson Silva +306 Forrest Griffin
+162 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira -180 Randy Couture
-115 Junior Dos Santos -115 Mirko Filipovic
-550 Lyoto Machida +400 Mauricio Rua
-115 Quinton Jackson -115 Rashad Evans
+185 Brock Lesnar -225 Fedor Emelianenko

As someone new to this can someone explain this to me? I realise those with the negative numbers are the favourites and the bigger the difference between the numbers the more likely the favourite will win. That all there is to it?

 

[sefskillz]

As someone new to this can someone explain this to me? I realise those with the negative numbers are the favourites and the bigger the difference between the numbers the more likely the favourite will win. That all there is to it?

pretty much, more specifically

negative # is how much you would need to bet to win 100$
positive # is how much you would win if you bet 100$

-350 Anderson Silva +306 Forrest Griffin:

350 on Silva to win 100
100 on Griffin to win 306

 

[Pantheon Of The Lesser]

shifting a bit from Fedor/Affliction, Jay Heron has signed a contract with Strikeforce and will most likely replace Diesel Riggs, on a match vs weed afficionado Nick Diaz.

i'm looking forward to this card, even though i have zero interest in Cyborg vs Carano.

 

[painey]

I have $50 on BJ to mop up KFlo at ufc 101 @ 1.53 odds, thinking about backing Silva too but the odds aren't very special.

PS I see Bodog are offering an amazing 1.44 on Fedor v Lesnar for any org as long as the fight takes place before October 2010

 

[bloodydrake]

things are looking better and better for strikeforce in all this mess..time will tell.
http://www.mmabay.co.uk/Story 02080.html

Strikeforce enter talks with Fedor Emelianenko over six figure pay days

The California based Strikeforce promotion are said to be launching an audacious move to secure the services of WAMMA heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko, a move that would scupper any hopes of seeing him square off with UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar.

The following is according to FiveKnuckles.com:

“Sources close to the fighter have informed us that Strikeforce were in talks with Affliction, M-1 Global and Golden Boy promotions on a long term deal with Emelianenko within the last couple of days. The promotion reportedly offered the former Pride champion between 500,000 and 700,000 per fight, a non-exclusive contract, guaranteed exposure on CBS shows and a cut of any PPV event he was a part of.”

“Emelianenko would certainly be able to get maximum mainstream U.S. exposure via CBS and Showtime which could lead possible big money endorsement deals and he'd also get to enjoy the freedoms associated with Strikeforce's non-exclusive contracts. This scenario is considered a strong possibility if Emelianenko is indeed a free agent according to inside sources.”

If true and Strikeforce manage to pull it off, this would show just how far Strikeforce have come over the past year with the backing of such partners as CBS and Showtime. It would be a massive blow to the UFC who were clearly in the driving seat after the collapse of Affliction and felt there was nowhere else tangible for Fedor to go. Oh how they were wrong.

By Michael Pepper.

 

[Eric WK]

Heh. This just went up too:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2009/07/fedor-emelianenko-ufc-finalizing-deal.html

A long-awaited agreement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the man considered the world's best mixed martial arts fighter, Fedor Emelianenko, is expected to be announced by UFC President Dana White on Friday, a source with information about the negotiations told The Times today.

The source, who asked not to be identified because he's not authorized to speak publicly about the dealings, called negotiations between the UFC and Fedor "very civil" just days after Fedor's scheduled Affliction Trilogy fight Saturday against Josh Barnett was canceled.

Affliction wound up folding its MMA promotion activities and announced an apparel deal to sponsor UFC.

Now, Fedor, who has previously fought in organizations including PRIDE Fighting Championships in Japan, Bodog Fight and Affliction, is crossing over to the world's most successful MMA fighting organization, as well.

With a 30-1 record that includes victories over former UFC heavyweight champions Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Emelianenko would likely get an immediate shot at reigning UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar.

The source said officials were discussing details on the public announcement of the deal, which in the past has been complicated by Emelianenko's resistance to accept UFC's standard six-fight contract and his unwillingness to surrender some merchandising and marketing revenues.

But this month White said he was optimistic he could bring Emelianenko aboard, and his confidence was well-placed. The UFC declined to elaborate on Friday's scheduled announcement.

-- Lance Pugmire

Who the hell knows. If I had to bet, I'd say he goes to Strikeforce but I honestly didn't think they'd have the money for him.

Not getting my hopes up.

 

[Bishman]

OMG, I am super excited for Friday now!

Holy shit! Fedor fighting in the UFC!

 

[OokieSpookie]

things are looking better and better for strikeforce in all this mess..time will tell.
http://www.mmabay.co.uk/Story 02080.html

Strikeforce enter talks with Fedor Emelianenko over six figure pay days

The California based Strikeforce promotion are said to be launching an audacious move to secure the services of WAMMA heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko, a move that would scupper any hopes of seeing him square off with UFC heavyweight champion, Brock Lesnar.

The following is according to FiveKnuckles.com:

“Sources close to the fighter have informed us that Strikeforce were in talks with Affliction, M-1 Global and Golden Boy promotions on a long term deal with Emelianenko within the last couple of days. The promotion reportedly offered the former Pride champion between 500,000 and 700,000 per fight, a non-exclusive contract, guaranteed exposure on CBS shows and a cut of any PPV event he was a part of.”

“Emelianenko would certainly be able to get maximum mainstream U.S. exposure via CBS and Showtime which could lead possible big money endorsement deals and he'd also get to enjoy the freedoms associated with Strikeforce's non-exclusive contracts. This scenario is considered a strong possibility if Emelianenko is indeed a free agent according to inside sources.”

If true and Strikeforce manage to pull it off, this would show just how far Strikeforce have come over the past year with the backing of such partners as CBS and Showtime. It would be a massive blow to the UFC who were clearly in the driving seat after the collapse of Affliction and felt there was nowhere else tangible for Fedor to go. Oh how they were wrong.

By Michael Pepper.

How in the nine hells would signing Fedor mean that Strikeforce has come a long way?
It means that they coddled and folded to whatever terms that he asked for, since the UFC won't and doesn't have to.

Luckily it does not look like this will happen anyway.

 

[yacobod]

well i guess the LA TImes is a pretty credible source, will be epic if Dana announces Fedor on Friday

fedor was on bjpenn.com the other day as well

 

[painey]

god.. I want to see Fedor in the UFC so bad.. but at the same time their HW division is so weak, its no fun watching squash matches.

 

[Ikuu]

WEC42 is going to be on PPV online for anyone outside of NA, http://mmajunkie.com/news/15656/wec...ec-42-to-non-north-american-fans-for-9-99.mma

Might purchase it as the last event was pretty good.

 

[Sinatar]

god.. I want to see Fedor in the UFC so bad.. but at the same time their HW division is so weak, its no fun watching squash matches.

It's better the the circus freaks they'd pair him up with in Japan.

 

[EraldoCoil]

potential megaton??!?!?!?!?

http://insidefights.com/2009/07/28/ufc-picks-up-twenty-affliction-contracts/

"Inside Fights has confirmed that Zuffa will absorb the contracts of about twenty fighters from Affliction Entertainment after the company agreed to stop promoting fights last week and become a UFC sponsor."

second source

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/

Spoiler

am aware of mma bays shittyness

 

[dem]

potential megaton??!?!?!?!?

http://insidefights.com/2009/07/28/ufc-picks-up-twenty-affliction-contracts/

"Inside Fights has confirmed that Zuffa will absorb the contracts of about twenty fighters from Affliction Entertainment after the company agreed to stop promoting fights last week and become a UFC sponsor."

second source

http://www.mmabay.co.uk/

Spoiler

am aware of mma bays shittyness

Does affliction even have 20 contracts worth absorbing? Most of them are worthless to the ufc. They arent exclusive.

 

[Boogie]

As much as I would instantly mess in my pants upon hearing Fedor sign with the UFC, there's still waaaay too much contradictory information out there.

1) There's no way to establish the credibility of the LA Times' anonymous source.

2) Fedor has his own press conference scheduled for tomorrow. I doubt the UFC would appreciate having Fedor steal their thunder in regards to the announcement.

3) In the press release for Fedor's press conference, they give out the same old song and dance:

Of course, it still doesn't imply we are ready to accept any conditions [the UFC] will throw at us. We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global

So, unless Finkie is willing to concede that "M-1 Global co-promotion" will consist solely of an M-1 logo on Fedor's shorts, or on the Octagon mat, I don't see how this is possible.

But that won't stop me from crossing my fingers and praying until Friday.

 

[EraldoCoil]

Does affliction even have 20 contracts worth absorbing? Most of them are worthless to the ufc. They arent exclusive.

off the top of my head i can think of


1. Belfort
2. Gomi
3. Lil Nog
4. Santiago (might be under contract to Sengoku?)
5. Rothwell
6. Lindland
7. Dan Lauzon
8. Buentello
9. Gilbert Yvel

maybe horodecki
maybe Terry Martin

but, i'm not gonna get hopes to high for this potential "rumor"

as with the fedor talks, i'll believe it when i hear it from Dana

 

[Boogie]

Belfort would definitely be at the top of that list.

Can't see the UFC and Lindland coming to terms though.

Could definitely see Horodecki move to the UFC, too, as well as lil' Nog and a few others on that list.

 

[unomas]

As much as I would instantly mess in my pants upon hearing Fedor sign with the UFC, there's still waaaay too much contradictory information out there.

1) There's no way to establish the credibility of the LA Times' anonymous source.

2) Fedor has his own press conference scheduled for tomorrow. I doubt the UFC would appreciate having Fedor steal their thunder in regards to the announcement.

3) In the press release for Fedor's press conference, they give out the same old song and dance:



So, unless Finkie is willing to concede that "M-1 Global co-promotion" will consist solely of an M-1 logo on Fedor's shorts, or on the Octagon mat, I don't see how this is possible.

But that won't stop me from crossing my fingers and praying until Friday.

I want to believe that Fedor is coming to the UFC, but why the press conference tomorrow if that's the case? He won't be able to announce that he's coming to the UFC because that would be one of the announcements for Friday. Unless Dana is cool with him doing that and saving other announcements for Friday like Tito and this supposed ESPN/ABC deal.

I want Fedor in the UFC to see him fight Brock, Randy, Gonzaga,Cain, Kongo, Carwin, Anderson Silva, Dos Santos and Cro Cop. Hell, have him fight Kimbo for all I care, I just know the more interesting match ups for Fedor are in the UFC. Joe Rogan will have people thinking Fedor is God after one of those UFC specials on Spike, it will be like Drago from Rocky IV. The UFC is good at making stars out of their fighters, and Fedor will be no differerent.

 

[unomas]

M-1 Global says Fedor, UFC not close to a deal - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

Denying a published report Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times, M-1 Global officials told SI.com that Fedor Emelianenko and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are not close to finalizing a deal that would bring mixed martial arts' top heavyweight in the Octagon.

"I can give you a guarantee it's not accurate," said Apy Echteld of M-1 Global, a St. Petersburg, Russia-based promotion and management company of which Emelianenko is an equity stakeholder.

According to the Times' report -- which referenced an unnamed source unaffiliated with the UFC and "with information about the negotiations" -- UFC president Dana White was set to announce the signing of Emelianenko on Friday. The source also said negotiations between the top MMA promoter and the Russian champion's camp were "very civil," and that both groups were discussing details on the pending public announcement.

Echteld declined to comment on negotiations between M-1 Global and the UFC, which are rumored to be taking place Tuesday in Los Angeles. He pointed to a press conference Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif., for "important" news on Emelianenko's fate.

 

[Eric WK]

M-1 Global says Fedor, UFC not close to a deal - SI.com - Mixed Martial Arts

Denying a published report Tuesday by the Los Angeles Times, M-1 Global officials told SI.com that Fedor Emelianenko and the Ultimate Fighting Championship are not close to finalizing a deal that would bring mixed martial arts' top heavyweight in the Octagon.

"I can give you a guarantee it's not accurate," said Apy Echteld of M-1 Global, a St. Petersburg, Russia-based promotion and management company of which Emelianenko is an equity stakeholder.

According to the Times' report -- which referenced an unnamed source unaffiliated with the UFC and "with information about the negotiations" -- UFC president Dana White was set to announce the signing of Emelianenko on Friday. The source also said negotiations between the top MMA promoter and the Russian champion's camp were "very civil," and that both groups were discussing details on the pending public announcement.

Echteld declined to comment on negotiations between M-1 Global and the UFC, which are rumored to be taking place Tuesday in Los Angeles. He pointed to a press conference Wednesday in Anaheim, Calif., for "important" news on Emelianenko's fate.

What? I guess that could mean that he claims no negotiations are going on period, but I find that hard to believe.

 

[Boogie]

What? I guess that could mean that he claims no negotiations are going on period, but I find that hard to believe.

Standard operating procedure in these situations, regardless of the truth to the anonymous report. The fact that the statement isn't even internally consistent could even lend credence to the rumours, but there's really nothing to take from this statement either way.

 

[Eric WK]

Standard operating procedure in these situations, regardless of the truth to the anonymous report. The fact that the statement isn't even internally consistent could even lend credence to the rumours, but there's really nothing to take from this statement either way.

Yeah, that was kind of my point. Just the other day M-1's official line was that they were ready to enter negotiations with UFC.

I don't think we'll know anything for sure until Fedor or Dana's press conference brings an announcement in either direction.