I don't remember Fedor playing with Predator (at least recent 5-6 years). Before signing with Cuetec he was using Jacoby cues/shafts. Again, mostly for the reason of his sponsor being a Jacoby dealer back then. But at the same time Fedor has been prety picky in terms of equipment, meaning he wouldn't have played with anything he didn't feel comfortable with.
As for conspiracy theories behind his ferrule (that's funny to see how it builds up), the story is plain simple. The original ferrule got broken, so he needed it to be replaced. As long as he was very happy with the carbon ferrule on his break cue, he asked about the same for his shooting stick.
And I'm not even sure it was made by Cuetec - there is a local guy who could do such repair for him.