In the wake of Fedor Emelianenko’s first round submission loss to Fabricio Werdum at the tail end of June at “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum”, M-1 Global, the promotion who represent Emelianenko, are already feeling the economical backlash of their greatest commodity failing to build upon his elevated reputation, having closed down its head office in the Netherlands.
Michael David Smith of MMAFighting.com reported the news earlier today after speaking with “sources with knowledge of the situation”.
The sources told Smith that M-1 has lost investors and is currently experiencing a state of trepidation, understanding that Emelianenko’s loss has spelled trouble in terms of an economical standpoint for the promotion. The first thing to go is the head office in the Netherlands, where, allegedly, all employees have been let go, though there is no word on the current state of Dutch fighters under the M-1 banner.
The closing comes just two weeks after the promotion’s golden ticket to fame, fortune, and bargaining power fell out of his lofty position atop the vast majority of mixed martial arts rankings. Emelianenko’s loss to Werdum has cut off the promotion from essentially all bargaining power and cut down the amount of money Emelianenko can draw rather significantly.
For what it’s worth, Emelianenko still has one fight remaining on his three-fight contract with Strikeforce, but only time will tell how badly Emelianenko’s loss has affected the promotion.