Will a Cuban-Fedor deal come into focus?

Think the stories about billionaire sports mogul Mark Cuban wanting to sign Fedor Emelianenko are just another PR splash? Just Cuban grabbing headlines in his usual self-promoting, often controversial style?

Think again.

If Cuban can pull it off, signing Fedor would be the single most significant event in mixed martial arts since the first Forrest Griffin – Stephan Bonnar fight in 2005.

Cuban stepping into MMA as a fight promoter would be big enough. But with the world’s most marketable star in his pocket? Forget about it.

Cuban has the money to sign Fedor. And he has the marketing savvy to use it as springboard to give the UFC its most significant American rival to date.

None of the UFC’s current competitors have posed much of a challenge, so far. UFC president Dana White has even said he hopes some of them succeed because they can develop stars for his major-league circuit.

Don’t think for a second, however, that if Cuban enters the world of MMA he plans to take a back seat to the UFC.

Signing Fedor would rank up there with the AFL getting Joe Namath or the ABA signing Julius Erving.

Most bloggers and pundits rank Fedor as one of the top three pound-for-pound fighters in the world, if not the hands-down number one. The Russian heavyweight has only one loss in 28 professional fights. He has few weaknesses, having both knockout power and a superb ground game. His takedown and judo skills are as good as anyone in the game.

Fedor’s star power would make any pay-per-view buy an instant success. His presence would also make it easier to sign other free-agent stars to a new organization. Josh Barnett? Norifumi Yamamoto? Denis Kang? Renato Sobral? Soon-to-be free agent Andrei Arlovski?

The point is, there’s plenty of talent out there that would complement Fedor.

Don’t discount Cuban’s ties to existing MMA promoters, as well. Cuban has already teamed up with fellow Dallas businessman C.J. Comu and his Sun Sports to broadcast the Art of War on Cuban’s HDNet TV. Cuban’s network also broadcasts Richard Steele’s Steel Cage Promotions, among others.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Cuban and Comu make some sort of partnership announcement the day Cuban signs Fedor.

The thing about Cuban is he’s a great businessman and a true sports fan. I’m just surprised that it has taken him this long to make a splash in MMA. For him, taking on the UFC would be a challenge worthy of his considerable ego.

If Cuban — who also owns the NBA Dallas Mavericks — decides to dive into the fight game, he’s going to get into it full bore. He’s about winning championships. He’ll overcome his lack of experience promoting fights by bringing in some experienced hands and, then, he’ll open up his wallet and spend what it takes to compete with the UFC.

The Mavericks have the second highest payroll in the NBA. Last season, he was willing to pay a $7.2 million penalty to the NBA for going over the league’s salary cap. (I’m a Miami Heat fan but even I have to give the guy some respect for his commitment to winning.)

Cuban, who made his fortune in the Dot-com boom and was smart enough to get his money out before the crash, knows that MMA is the next big thing. And MMA, and the UFC in particular, hasn’t even scratched its potential in terms of its fan appeal or the amount of money to be made promoting it. When a sport makes a big deal about getting on the cover of Sports Illustrated, you know there’s still plenty of room to grow.

Here’s what some of the other bloggers are saying about a Cuban-Fedor deal:

Fight Opinion says he doesn’t know whether to be excited or scared.

Sam Caplan at Five Ounces of Pain says if Cuban enters the world of MMA promoting he could be a major threat to the UFC.

Update: Additonal blog posts

GC at Can’t Stop the Bleeding made a good point about Sherdog’s Josh Gross’ Fedor – Dirk Nowitzki analogies. “Which means Emelianenko disappears during high pressure moments, or Gross didn’t watch the playoffs last year.”

MMA TKO thinks Cuban’s entry into the Fedor sweepstakes will motivate the UFC to do what it takes to sign him.

Penxv at Project Alpha says Cuban would be good for MMA. “… he treats his athletes well as opposed to treating them like slaves.”