White: Face-to-Face Talks Wouldn't Have Netted Fedor Either

The vitriol Dana White shot Strikeforce’s way Thursday came after he was asked about Strikeforce’s new star, Fedor Emelianenko.

White guaranteed that the deal Fedor signed with Strikeforce is not in the “same universe” as what the UFC offered him. The exact details of the UFC proposal remain unknown. M-1 Global continues adamant denial that Fedor was offered anything close to $30 million for six fights, and when you try to account for who’s saying what and then who’s talking about guaranteed versus potential money, the picture gets even murkier.

Still, the MMA world heard some figures. The question came up Thursday whether the numbers could backfire against the UFC, which is typically tightlipped about fighter pay. In other words, if everyone “knows” about the UFC’s offer to Fedor, could it shift the UFC’s pay scale toward more lucrative agreements?

“People don’t know sh-t,” White responded. “They don’t know anything about (the Fedor negotiations) either, but he got offered a lot of money.”

White, who was out of the country on business, negotiated with M-1 over the phone. At one point he told UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta that he wanted to take a flight and meet with Fedor in person, but Fertitta said it just wasn’t possible. White said Thursday it wouldn’t have made any difference.

“If I was sitting on Fedor’s lap,” White told reporters, “that deal wouldn’t have got done.”