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At the end of the day Fedor needs the UFC way more than the UFC needs him. As good as he is the vast majority of the casual MMA fans that only watch UFC have no clue who he is, and if he never fights in the Octagon the UFC won't miss a beat. There are so damn many good fighters they have under contact right now that they could run a monthly PPV, Fight Night on Spike TV, and even a third monthly show if they get an HBO or network TV deal, and still have plenty of fighters to make compelling fights. Shit, good fighters get released from their UFC contracts every month, and with Affliction folding they just absorbed some more good talent, not to mention there will soon be an infusion of new heavyweight talent after this season's Ultimate Fighter show.
I don't know exactly how much Fedor is going to make with Strikeforce, but I do know Scoot Coker is no idiot, and he has always kept the Strikeforce payroll manageable and the company profitable, so I seriously doubt Fedor signed for anything close to what UFC was offering. It's a shame, because fighting the likes of Brett Rogers, Alistair Overeem, and Fabricio Werdum is not going to cement his legacy they way fighting in the UFC would...
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