Fedor-Sylvia Report Raises Interesting Questions

This afternoon Fedor Emelianenko confirmed to Sherdog.com that he will face Tim Sylvia on July 19. The bout will reportedly headline an event promoted by Affliction at American Airlines Arena in Dallas and air on HDNet Fights. MMAPayout.com reported earlier this month that the clothing company had scraped plans for a June debut in Las Vegas and was tentatively planning a July date in Houston.

The report raises a number of interesting questions, but none more interesting than Fedor's contractual arrangement for the event. MMAPayout.com has received multiple unconfirmed reports of an offer worth slightly more than $2 million per fight from Affliction to Emelianenko. Sylvia is under contract to Adrenaline, the successor to M-1 Global which dissolved last month after parting ways with Fedor.

Regardless of the final details, this event appears to have all the makings (two promoters and a third party television outlet/producer) of the first major co-promotional event in MMA history. The bout has storied history, reportedly in the making for several years with Dana White originally offering to send Sylvia to Pride to fight Emelianenko. The bout would also put to rest reports that Emelianenko was "afraid" to fight Sylvia.

The most interested observer of the bout in July might very well be Randy Couture. Assuming a favorable outcome in pending litigation, admittedly a big assumption, Couture hopes to fight Fedor in October of this year. An Emelianenko loss could potentially put that fight in jeopardy, or at the very least take much of the luster of the bout.