Why Did Fedor Sign With Strikeforce?

Jonathan Snowden has more at Inside Fights

If there was a reasonable option available that wasn’t the UFC, that didn’t involve White, they were going to take it. And they did, signing today with Showtime and Strikeforce for undisclosed terms, said to be significantly smaller than the UFC’s best offer. How did it go wrong, again, for Zuffa? Signs once more point to perceived disrespect.

Sources close to both the UFC and Emelianenko say the negotiations were going well last week. The UFC had caved in on many of Fedor’s demands that had been stumbling points in 2007. He would be allowed to represent M-1 Global and allowed to continue competing in Sambo. The final sticking point was co-promotion. And then it happened.