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Fedor Emelianenko, UFC finalizing deal[/h1]
2:24 PM, July 28, 2009
A long-awaited agreement between the Ultimate Fighting Championship and the man considered the world's best mixed martialarts fighter,
Fedor Emelianenko, is expected to be announced by UFC President
Dana White on Friday, a source with informationabout 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 andFedor "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 theworld'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 RodrigoNogueira, Emelianenko would likely get an immediate shot at reigning UFC heavyweight champ
Brock Lesnar.
The source, who is not affiliated with the UFC, said officials were discussing details on the public announcement of the deal, which in the past has beencomplicated by Emelianenko's resistance to accept UFC's standard six-fight contract and his unwillingness to surrender some merchandising and marketingrevenues.
But this month White said he was optimistic he could bring Emelianenko aboard, and his confidence was well-placed. The UFC declined to elaborate onFriday's scheduled announcement.
-- Lance Pugmire
from latimesblogs
