The MMA Cold War.
After M-1 Global's recent press conference I was left with a sense of us vs. them, the Russians want to work with the Americans but only if the Americans give them some nice shiny new tanks with some nice shiny M-1 Global logo's and then let them parade those tanks on to the American turf.
The UFC probably see this as a slap in the face. Who do these Russians think they are comparing themselves to the UFC? And there the cold war begins.
But M-1 can't possibly stand a chance against the UFC. Or can it? How many M-1 Global stars do you know of? Fedor Emelianenko, maybe Gegard Mousasi (he's been attached to Fedor a lot lately), plus M-1 Global has the backing of the free contract world where organizations can let fighters fight elsewhere, unlike the strict, almost enslaving contracts of the UFC—just ask Couture how much he likes UFC's contracts.
Ok, so two fighters and guess what, both of them are not known because of M-1's promotion but rather other organizations that took them in like Affliction and Dream and soon Strikeforce. You see M-1 is a ghost ship of unknowns that are shown on M-1 Challenge on HDNET. Raise your hands how many of you watch that show anymore?
UFC on the other hand has events coming out the...you know what. Fighters on the Ultimate Fighter become just as recognized as the fighters on the main events. The UFC is expanding to the UK, to Gemany, and with this kind of momentum, M-1 Global cannot possibly compete with the UFC's domination.
On the other hand the Russians have a secret weapon: Fedor. Fedor is the main attraction of EA's new MMA game to compete with UFC Undisputed. If they partnered up with Strikeforce it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Strikeforce my friends could very easily jump up a class to become a true competitor with the UFC. And guess what?, without the Nazi-less contracts of the UFC they've got plenty of organizations to work with such as Dream and Sengoku and anyone else that might pop up.
If Strikeforce and M-1 truly partnered up, maybe Strikeforce could teach them something about running a popular business. Next thing you know a M-1/Strikeforce reality show on CBS.
The question for the UFC now is... do they feel lucky? Take the chance of another Pride-like competitor rising up or sign Fedor and destroy those chances before the Russians really get motivated.
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