(“Hey, shit happens, right?”)

Contradicting his earlier claims that M-1 Global’s relationship with Fedor Emelianenko was still A-OK, Monte Cox recently went on Sherdog’s Savage Dog Show to set the record straight: Cox and Sibling Entertainment have parted ways with Emelianenko, and the “M-1″ name is now wholly under control by Emelianenko’s managers. But even though their marquee fighter is gone, the former American faction of M-1 still intends to keep working towards putting on its first MMA show. As Cox told Sherdog:

“The group that formed M-1 Global is still together and we’re going to remain together and put on an MMA event. It won’t be under the name M-1 Global because that is definitely associated with Emelianenko Fedor and the Russians, and we’ve come to an agreement that we’re going to part ways…I am looking at June 14 to do our first show in Chicago…It won’t be the UFC. We don’t have that kind of money to throw away. Now, without Fedor, I expect the show in Chicago to turn a profit.”

Cox also admitted that Emelianenko never signed a contract with M-1 Global; Fedor only signed a letter of intent that prevented him from competing outside of M-1 Global during contract negotiations:

“We spent well into six-figures of attorney fees trying to get the contract written, let alone signed. In the end, we could have went ahead and signed the contract and went off with Fedor, but I don’t think we would have been successful.”

As for the reasons behind the Americans’ split with the Russians?

“We have different philosophies,” Cox said. “It’s just the way that it is. For me, I’m not as concerned about all the glitz and the glamour of the show; I just want to have good fights and I want to make money. That was my goal.”

You hear that? It’s the sound of Dana White’s maniacal laughter. It’ll be interesting to see what Cox/Maxwell are able to accomplish without the Finkelchtein/Echteld albatross hanging around their necks, but if Cox honestly hopes to make a profit on his first MMA show in Chicago, he may still be delusional. Pulling that off would almost certainly require a successful pay-per-view broadcast, and unless he can put together a card full of A-list matchups and promote it brilliantly, the cash-hemorrhaging will continue. Hey, nobody said making a buck off of the blood and sweat of others was supposed to be easy…