Will
01-09-2007, 04:52 AM
Fedor Emelianenko, the #1 ranked heavyweight fighter in the world, and Pride Fighting Championships have come to an agreement on terms of a contract extension that will keep the promotion’s heavyweight champion on their roster for the foreseeable future. Pride officially announced the extension on their web site.
Details of the contract were not disclosed, but it was seen as critical for the venerable Japanese promotion to make sure that they re-signed Emelianenko, especially in light of the recent defection of Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Following the loss of their television broadcasting deal with Fuji TV last year, Pride has struggled to remain a contender in the radically changing landscape of mixed martial arts. The loss of Emelianenko in addition to Filipovic would have severely crippled Pride’s chances of mounting a comeback to compete with the UFC, who has surged ahead as the foremost MMA promotion in the world.
Nobuyuki Sakakibara, CEO of Dream Stage Entertainment (Pride’s parent company), may also see the resigning of Emelianenko as the first step in regaining the services of Filipovic sometime in the future, although Filipovic is singed to a 2-year, 6-fight deal with the UFC. “I think Mirko has left some unfinished business in PRIDE… such as rematches with Fedor and Nogueira,” commented Sakakibara recently. “So, I anticipate Mirko challenging himself once again in PRIDE after he has taken the UFC Championship belt.”
It is not yet known whether Fedor's contract extension with Pride is a multi-fight contract extension, or whether it's the latest in a series of one-fight contracts that Fedor has signed with the Japanese promotion.
Emelianenko has signed for one fight under the BodogFight banner against Jeff Monson, but the extension with Pride assures his services as Pride works to remain a player in the turbulent MMA world and keeps him out of the Octagon for the near future.
Source:MMANews
This is great news for pride in the short term, but it is really just a matter of time before Fedor signs with the UFC. Pride is dying while the UFC is quickly becoming the premier promotion in all of sports.
Details of the contract were not disclosed, but it was seen as critical for the venerable Japanese promotion to make sure that they re-signed Emelianenko, especially in light of the recent defection of Pride Open Weight Grand Prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic to the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Following the loss of their television broadcasting deal with Fuji TV last year, Pride has struggled to remain a contender in the radically changing landscape of mixed martial arts. The loss of Emelianenko in addition to Filipovic would have severely crippled Pride’s chances of mounting a comeback to compete with the UFC, who has surged ahead as the foremost MMA promotion in the world.
Nobuyuki Sakakibara, CEO of Dream Stage Entertainment (Pride’s parent company), may also see the resigning of Emelianenko as the first step in regaining the services of Filipovic sometime in the future, although Filipovic is singed to a 2-year, 6-fight deal with the UFC. “I think Mirko has left some unfinished business in PRIDE… such as rematches with Fedor and Nogueira,” commented Sakakibara recently. “So, I anticipate Mirko challenging himself once again in PRIDE after he has taken the UFC Championship belt.”
It is not yet known whether Fedor's contract extension with Pride is a multi-fight contract extension, or whether it's the latest in a series of one-fight contracts that Fedor has signed with the Japanese promotion.
Emelianenko has signed for one fight under the BodogFight banner against Jeff Monson, but the extension with Pride assures his services as Pride works to remain a player in the turbulent MMA world and keeps him out of the Octagon for the near future.
Source:MMANews
This is great news for pride in the short term, but it is really just a matter of time before Fedor signs with the UFC. Pride is dying while the UFC is quickly becoming the premier promotion in all of sports.