The calm befedor the storm

September 5, 2007 – 4:06 pm by fightlinker

Oh puns, what would I do without you? For all the chit chat surrounding UFC75, the elephant in the room that no respectable blogger is willing to discuss is the possibility of Fedor signing with the UFC. Fortunately for my readers, I am not very respectable at all … nay, I am a rogue! A scoundrel! An agent of assumption and a reseller of rumors. And now I lay it on the line and say dispite what many people with better connections have said, I’m predicting Fedor signing with the UFC and the deal being done in the next two weeks. Why? Because I’ve got a serious fucking case of deja-vu.

We all remember what happened with Mirko Crocop? That was another deal shrouded in secrecy, with both parties flatly denying on record that things were set until UFC 67 ads showed up with CroCop kicking people’s heads in left and right. However, there were a few slip-ups … Crocop’s name started popping up in UFC programming. Training partners on Mirko’s web forum kept implying there was about to be a big announcement. And then there was that thing where Mirko’s picture got taken wearing a UFC hoodie. Oops.

And now again, lets look at what’s happening with Fedor: his name pops up in the Countdown to UFC75 show – and you know Dana never gives anyone outside his organization free advertising. Sources from the UFC side continue to say no (just like with Mirko) but over on the Russian side there are enough leaks to sink a Russian battleship implying that the deal is pretty much done. And of course, let’s not discount Fedor’s new Affliction shirt deal.

“Oh who fucking cares, it’s a t-shirt deal.” Yeah, a deal with the official provider of shitty t-shirts for UFC fighters. Dana White looked like a total goof through several seasons of TUF wearing their shit, and people want to act like there’s no way the UFC was involved in the sponsorship deal. Hell, the UFC never hooks it’s fighters up with sponsorships … oh wait, yes they do. They do that all the time.

Anyways, you all can take the facts as you will. I’m not guaranteeing that there’ll be an announcement of some sort at UFC75 … in fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if things are left purposely ambiguous to stir more hype and drive forum junkies nuts with the ‘will he / won’t he’ suspense. But mark my words … it’s pretty much a done deal at this point.