Can the man who supposedly worked with the disputed #1 heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, last year as the leader of M-1 Global finally get an organization together? Or will Adrenaline MMA turn into another defunct company filled with empty promises like it’s Russian counter-part?
Steve Sievert of the Houston Chronicle has an informative article about Monte Cox’s involvement in MMA throughout the past 13 years and 500 events. Most of the article focuses on working with the Russian heavyweight, Emelianenko, and why the deal with signing him failed. A difficult language barrier coupled with an immense loss leader with signing Emelianenko to $2 million per fight led to the breakdown of the to-be-signed contract that Emelianenko never signed. Instead, he had signed a letter of intent and was given a signing bonus of $1.5 million which he has since returned.
The newest supposed stars of Adrenaline MMA will be IFL heavyweight Ben Rotherwell and UFC heavyweight Tim Sylvia. While Sylvia recently left the UFC on his own after losing two of his last three fights, Rothwell was forced out of the IFL after the 2007 season due to contractual reasons. He left the organization on a 13 fight win streak including prior wins in other organizations before moving to the IFL. What makes it somewhat interesting is that both fighters have already fought each other, back in 2001, when Sylvia proved to the judges that he was deserving of the decision win over Rothwell. Now seven years later, both men may end up fighting again - who knows if the hype will still be there, however.
What’s great about Monte Cox, all issues with Emelianenko aside, is his ability to get things done for MMA. The Adrenaline MMA organization will begin with an inaugural show near Chicago, a major city that could appreciate some big-name MMA action. Then the organization will move to the smaller city of Joline, Illinois and then hopefully throughout the rest of the U.S. during the summer months. While the IFL has been focusing on the east coast this year and the UFC headquarters is Las Vegas, the Midwest is in need of something new and big. Can Cox deliver like he has done for over a decade? With reported numbers of $3 million for Syvlia per fight and Rothwell seeing paychecks he has never dreamed of in the IFL, I sure hope so. This will be an interesting summer for MMA fans for sure.
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I do still love MMA and have...
April 9th, 2008 at 2:12 am
“Or will Adrenaline MMA turn into another defunct company filled with empty promises like it’s Russian counter-part?”
What do you mean by that?
April 9th, 2008 at 6:39 am
I’m referring to the last company he tried to be a part of; M-1.
April 9th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I think they will be ok, especially if Tim and Fedor fight this summer.
April 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Sounds like Russian counterpart was hindering everybody…What I see is that while Monte Cox as CEO was responsible for the whole mess, Russians organize M-1 Challenge.
How come you don’t know you’ll have to pay 2mln per fight to Fedor? They announced that during the very first conference in October. And now they don’t know how to produce a profitable show…Also they promised to promote Fedor in the USA. Nothing of it happened. Two interviews with the Russian and that’s it…Looks like Cox can only make business on a lower level of competition.
I only judge by the facts.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Johan: It’s interesting that you say that because they just signed Tim Sylvia to fight Emelianenko this summer. Now, just like M-1 promised a lot of action, Adrenaline MMA will need to prove themselves before everyone starts getting excited. We both know that Cox has been talking a lot lately, but not doing much to back himself up when it comes time to finalize the fights.