The Red Devil MMA organization, M-1, was being held and had connections with Bodog, M-1 GLobal, Affliction, and other American promotions. Fedor was also going into the M-1 ring. If Fedor had not moved to Red Devil, the break the MMA world received may not have happened.

It is said that the reason Fedor departed RTT was related to money. According to Fedor, “RTT President Pogodin deceived us.” Pogodin, more than just a businessman, was more of an old fashioned gangster type, and the new generation of Russians, including Fedor, must have had a clash with his type.

In any case, Fedor started down a new path. And to RTT, he was a complete and utter traitor. Fedor, who was a judoka and samboist, came to be a pro through Volk Hari (of RTT).

To RTT, it was as if Fedor had forgotten about his roots and showed no gratitude to RTT..

The RTT team members anger was horrific, Hari said, “Obliterate Fedor” – making a declaration of war against him, saying “Russians take care of Russians”.

The front-runner candidate was Sergei Kharitonov. Hari and Zuev gave everything to Kharitonov. They instructed him with new techniques that they had never shown to Fedor. Kharitonov was given the responsibility from RTT of KO’ing Fedor. (At this time Kharitonov had also left RTT now training with Golden Glory).

But, as the “Russian chosen to take care of a Russian”, Kharitonov was not the only one, RTT had prepared one more “assassin”. That person you could say, was Fedor’s natural enemy...

Longtime UFC middleweight contender and newly minted Strikeforce welterweight champion Nate Marquardt began his storied career in 1999 as a lightweight. Though not considered prestigious, Marquardt snared lightweight titles in in the World Vale Tudo Federation (in his MMA debut), the Rumble in the Rockies promotion (by winning a same-night tournament in his 2nd and 3rd outings) and the Bas Rutten Invitational (where he won 3 fights in one night). That's 3 lightweight championships in his first 7 MMA fights and Marquardt submitted every opponent, 6 of which were tapped in the 1st round.
Later that same year, Nate "The Great" made his Pancrase debut with a growing rep as a submission whiz against widely adored entertainer Genki Sudo. Marquardt secured the early takedown and, from inside Sudo's venomous guard, tried to wrench a can opener. Sudo demonstrated why the can opener is a high-risk/low-reward technique by angling his hips for a tight armbar and notching the 1st-round submission victory.

Few realize that Eddie Alvarez, the explosive boxer and former Bellator lightweight champion, tried out for TUF 2 but never made it on the show. Beginning his tenure as an under-sized welterweight, he scorched off to a 10-0 start in the sport -- tidying up 8 of those matches with 1st-round stoppages -- and secured the BodogFight welterweight strap before drawing wily veteran Nick Thompson in BodogFight.
Fans following the juggernaut's embryonic career were skeptical he could survive against the heftier welterweights he was facing and expected him to be out-muscled -- but it was the cold-blooded sniping of Thompson's tight boxing acumen that stung him. Showing excellent balance, composure and accuracy, "The Goat" capitalized on his reach by boring a stiff left hand down the plate and following up with ground punches to hand Alvarez his first career defeat and overtake the BodogFight title.

Matt Hughes needs no introduction. The dominant UFC welterweight champion relied on his 2-time Division 1 All-American honors to flatten his first 3 opponents in the opening stanza and then pick up a respectable decision over another future UFC welterweight champ in Dave Menne. Hughes then squared off with current UFC lightweight and former Matt Hume catch-wrestler Dennis Hallman in Extreme Challenge 21 in 1998 and was insta-tapped with Hallman's vice-like guillotine choke in just 17 seconds.
The interesting aspect of this storyline is that Hughes would tear through 18 straight opponents before rematching Hallman at UFC 29 in 2000, where many predicted that his considerably improved experience would relegate their first match as a fluke. Alas, Hallman would entangle him in an armbar, this time just 20 seconds into the fight, and Chute Boxe legend Jose Pele-Landi Jons crushed him with a 1st-round flying knee in his next outing.

Lyoto Machida came out of nowhere by thumping a then mostly unknown Stephan Bonnar in Machida's sophomore effort, but the mystique of "The Dragon" truly ignited in his next (3rd career) fight in 2003. Rich Franklin, who'd recently shellacked the late Evan Tanner by 1st-round TKO in his UFC debut, had accrued a flawless 14-fight record (with one No Contest) and was on his way to becoming a superstar. After man-handling Edwin Dewees in his 2nd Octagon outing, Franklin traveled overseas to face Machida in the ephemeral Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye fight league. As is the theme with many of these upsets, Franklin was expected to shatter the rapidly building hype and aura of Machida, whose signature straight left and a follow up shin to the chin sparked the 2nd-round TKO.

Randy Couture was a special fighter right out of the gate. Making his UFC and MMA debut in 1997, "The Natural" clenched the UFC 13 Heavyweight Tournament by dusting Tony Halme and Steven Graham in the same night. Couture's emergence coincided with that of MMA's original phenom in Vitor Belfort, the 20-year-old Brazilian who'd swallowed up 4-consecutive opponents with his unparalleled boxing whirlwind, including Scott Ferrozzo and Tank Abbott.
Couture and Belfort were matched up to determine UFC heavyweight champion Maurice Smith's next challenger, and the mesmerized fan base had already stamped Belfort as the next champ. Couture would not only shock the world and upset Belfort with a gritty ground-and-pound clinic in the 1st round, but go on to win the strap with a unanimous decision over Smith. On top of the world, Couture's venture overseas yielded surprising results, as Japanese-American gamer Enson Inoue would inspire Couture's dedication to submission defense by latching on an armbar.