This is a bonus RNR today as there are two big stories that simply needed to be pointed out.

I’ve seen this one reported elsewhere, but Dave Meltzer reported it today in his news update at The Wrestling Observer website.

He wrote:

Loretta Hunt at www.thefightnetwork.com reported today that Fedor Emelianenko has signed with the Russian M-1 Mix-Fight Championships, a group reportedly being funded by an American entertainment related company. This ends talks of a Randy Couture vs. Fedor fight, or Fedor fighting in UFC.

This is two in a row for Dana White. He has said in the past that the UFC deal with HBO was coming and also stated that they were close to signing Fedor Emaelianenko. Within the last few days, he’s lost both. Losing Fedor is big, as he’s one of the last stars that isn’t under the Zuffa umbrella. He’s arguably the best fighter going, and was nearly invincible in Pride as their heavyweight champion. The one match that White was probably banking on for 2008 was between Randy Couture and Fedor. With the proper build, it would’ve done huge business. But Fedor and his management team were hard to deal with and White had mentioned in the past that it was crazy trying to deal with them. They wanted the flexibility to fight in Russia for Combat Sambo, but White wanted exclusivity with Fedor.

Meltzer also posted today about the the rumored Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva.

Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva is now verbally agreed upon by both sides to take place on 12/29 in Las Vegas.

It looks like this match is now a done deal. It would be the main event (or co-main event) of what is shaping to be a big show at UFC 79. The heavily promoted Matt Serra and Matt Hughes fight is also scheduled for that card.

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Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMA.Consumerhelpweb.com

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Labels: Chuck Liddell, Dave Meltzer, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva

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