I know this horse is still dead, but im going to beat it a little differently.
I have been hearing all the recent talk about dream not paying fighters and the way they give last minute opponents and how back in pride it was similar...except more money and more yakuza.
I can only imagine during the pride years how little control fedor had over his own fighting destiny. As much as his mystique developed over in pride, it still developed there and during that development he needed pride more than pride needed him. I can only imagine contract negotiations could have had some sort of yakuza involvement if the fighters didn't comply. It must've have just been scary and frustrating, especially with the language barrier.
Said all that to say this; can you blame fedor for having a ridiculous negotiation team? If I was dealing with the likes of Yakuza controlled pride officials I would be weary of getting caught up in a similar, if not more americanized situation. What Dana White lacks in mafia support he makes up for in soul harvesting contracts.
Do I still think that Fedor's negotiating tactics are ridiculous? yes, I think to expect a big time promoter to give you %50 is outlandish at best. But I do understand more where he is coming from. but maybe I'm wrong, Hell I'm just some 09er who is gonna 09.