Vadim Finkelstein interview Korean MFight News

Another great interview from Korean MFIGHT NEWS has been translated for us by the fellow RussianMMA.com reader , DH Han! Thank you for that (and for the previous translation as well)!

Question: Korean fans want to know what Fedor is up to. Is he currently a free agent? Has he completely severed business ties with Sibling Entertainment and other members of the American party?
Vadim Finkelstein: Fedor is with M-1 Russia and at the same time a free agent. We have completely parted ways with Sibling Entertainment. But Fedor hasn't parted ways with M-1 Russia. Fedor is officially under contract with M-1.

Question: What was the reason behind the split with the American side?
Vadim Finkelstein: We both had different things in our minds. Our visions were different, and the ways we conducted business were much too different.

Question: Can you elaborate on Fedor's current contractual status with M-1?
Vadim Finkelstein: I'm the current President of M-1 and have been Fedor's manager for five years since 2002. Fedor has signed a contract with M-1. Sibling Entertainment and other members of the American party were partners we invited to work with. We worked together on a joint project, but separated due to differences in opinion. But M-1 is still here. As of now we're just looking for different partners. M-1 has always been, and will always be here to stay. Fedor IS M-1. Fedor is an ambassador and representative of M-1.

Question: Will Fedor and M-1 continue to look to expand to the US?
Vadim Finkelstein: Fedor has been with M-1 from the beginning and has been a member for 8 years. The M-1 Global project, on which we hoped to collaborate with Sibling Entertainment, has been put on hold. But we plan to work on it again with another partner(s) from the US or Japan.

Question: From what we understand, you are in negotiations with several organizations. Can you tell us who you've talked to and how the talks are developing?
Vadim Finkelstein: Fedor will fight in the US(*depending on how you interpret this, this could either mean "Fedor will be fighting in the US", or "Fedor will fight in the US at least once, sooner or later") Our goal is to have Fedor fight the best fighter in the world. Whether that fighter is with the UFC or DREAM or wherever, we hope Fedor will fight the best, regardless of organization. We want to make cross-promotional matchups the way various organizations like the WBC, WBA, IBF do in pro boxing. M-1 hopes to be an organization that brings all fighters together. In order to do that, we will cooperate with organizations that are willing to work with us. We are an open promotion, not a closed one. Fedor is under contract with M-1, but is a free agent. Fedor doesn't fight exclusively for us. We can cooperate with other organizations and can make great matchups possible.

Question: What organizations have you been negotiating with?
Vadim Finkelstein: A lot of offers are being made by different organizations. Fedor will fight in the US or Japan.

Question: [Mirko] Crocop recently said that he anticipates a rematch with Fedor on New Year's Eve. Is a rematch a possibility?
Vadim Finkelstein: I think Mirko needs to regain his former powerful aura to be able to have a fight Fedor. Right now is not a very good time for a rematch between the two. I think Crocop needs to recover and up his game after two losses in the UFC. If he can go back to his former self, he'll be able to fight Fedor. But I don't think that is the case right now. But if the fans want it, we'll be willing to make it happen any time.
There are a lot of fighters challenging Fedor now. But I honestly don't know if fighting them would have much meaning. For example, Semmy Schilt, who's the best kickboxer in the world, lost to Fedor in 2002, and has hardly fought under MMA rules recently. I don't think challenging Fedor while having MMA rust means much. If the fight does happen, I think it'd end quickly.

Question: There've been numerous talks about the possibility of a bout against Randy Couture. Will the two fight as soon as Couture is released from his UFC contract?
Vadim Finkelstein: Randy Couture is the best opponent for Fedor. He has a similar style and has a good skill-set. The two can't fight right now because Couture is under contract with the UFC, but once the contract is up, it'd be possible. Fedor is also looking forward to fighting Couture.

Question: EliteXC has offered Fedor a contract. Was it satisfactory? How do things look?
Vadim Finkelstein: We're getting offers from several organizations. With the right contract, we could sign with any organization. There hasn't been a concrete offer yet. We've had experience with American organizations, but ended up parting ways due to having different visions. We are going to do our best not to make such mistakes. So far, there hasn't been a concrete offer aside from broadcasting-related matters. If they give us a concrete offer, we'll take a good look at it.

Question: Dana White doesn't think Fedor is the best. What are your thoughts on this?
Vadim Finkelstein: Dana White is the representative of America's largest organization. He claims to have the best fighters in his organization. I could see myself saying the same thing if I were in his situation.



Question: Some Korean fans are voicing their opinion that Fedor can't be regarded as the best because he hasn't fought much and hasn't faced good opponents recently. What do you think about this?
Vadim Finkelstein: The fighters Fedor has faced so far were all top ten fighters. He beat UFC champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira twice, and also beat Heath Herring. If fans post an opponent on the Internet they'd like to see Fedor fight, we'll be willing to make it happen whoever it may be. Fedor wants to fight the best in the world any time. Hong-Man Choi has the strength to throw Fedor with one hand, but Fedor accepted. He fought three-time K-1 champion Semmy Schilt and won. Schilt is challenging Fedor again, but I don't think the fight would mean much. You'll understand if you see his record.

Question: Who would you say are Fedor's rivals?
Vadim Finkelstein: Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski are tough fighters. I heard Chuck Liddell called out Fedor. But there's too much of a weight difference. I believe Chuck challenged Fedor to hype himself to his fans.

Question: A lot of people in Korea are confused about M-1 and M-1 Global. Can you briefly tell us about M-1 Russia?
Vadim Finkelstein: M-1 and M-1 Global are part of one organization, but cover different things. M-1 Global is a project aiming to organize big events with other promotions. Fedor and other top fighters like Aleksander [Emelianenko] and Roman [Zentsov] will be participating in the M-1 Global project. M-1 Challenge is a new project being promoted by M-1. It had its first event on March 2 in the Netherlands, and will hold its second tournament on April 3 in St. Petersburg. You can watch it live on "mixfight.ru" for free. We are streaming free a live Internet broadcast to promote Mixfight. Korean fans will be able to watch it as well.
We need to find new talent. Not only young prospects, but also experienced veterans. There are 10 teams, and each team fights one another 4 times. The finals will be held at the end of the year, with one team winning it all. We plan on holding events on international venues including France, Russia, Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Canada, and the US. There will also be superfights with well-known fighters to increase the excitement of the events. M-1 is a very big organization and is working on various projects. Russia has M-1 Mixfight. It is a small tournament involving local Russian fighters.

Question: There's a legal battle involving a Korean TV commercial featuring Fedor. "Association D" and "company N" claimed that the commercial aired with the permission of you and Fedor. We would like to know your side of the story.
Vadim Finkelstein: We never gave permission to anybody. We only asked the president of "association D" to find sponsors who are willing to work with us. We only gave him the role of looking for sponsors. But we eventually found out that the man wasn't a trustworthy person. He didn't keep the faith so that's why we filed a lawsuit. The only thing we worked on together was holding an M-1 event once. We haven't done anything together besides that. I was doing an interview while they were filming the honey commercial and someone claiming to be a sponsor of the event took Fedor somewhere, handed him a bottle of honey, and filmed the commercial. Occasionally we allow photo taking and filming when sponsors intend to use them for personal purposes, but we never give them broadcasting rights. We never signed any contract. That's why we're going to court. If we did, we wouldn't be in this legal battle. This is being dealt with by VQ Holdings, which represent us in Korea. We have severed ties with "association D."

Question: The European market is continuing to grow. I'd imagine that M-1 is actively involved in targeting the European market. What do you think about the prospects of Europe in the future regarding MMA?
Vadim Finkelstein: The European market is very important to us. We are looking to hold an M-1 Challenge event in Poland, and after that, we hope to do a show in France at the largest venue with 15,000 seats in autumn. We are currently working on a contract that would allow Jerome LeBanner to participate in the event. It would be nice to have him in a superfight. This will surprise the French fans. MMA has been legalized in France two months ago.

Question: The UFC is looking to expand to Europe, starting with the UK and Germany. Competition with M-1 seems inevitable. What type of strategic edge do you think M-1 can have over the UFC?
Vadim Finkelstein: The UFC has done a lot for the development the sport of MMA. It is the first organization recognized for MMA. The most important thing is the reputation of an organization. We are doing our best for our reputation. Besides reputation, people want to se good, spectacular, and exciting fights. M-1 will give them such fights, and people will watch our events. Like boxing, there are various organizations in MMA and people have different tastes. That's why I don't think the UFC won't be able to monopolize the MMA market. The UFC and M-1 are in the same business. So we are going to have to cooperate at times. We both have champions in our organizations, and we want to organize fights to determine who the best fighters are. It means nothing to only claim who has the best fighters. This is our philosophy.

Question: It seems that there's a power shift from Japan to the US in the MMA scene. The popularity of the sport is ever increasing in other countries. What are your thoughts on the current trends in the global MMA scene? What do you see in 5 years?
Vadim Finkelstein: I don't believe the power is shifting from Japan to the US. But the US is bigger money-wise. That's because of the cultural differences between the US and Japan. American people buy PPVs (pay-per-view). So American organizations are better off financially. But they can't make spectacular "shows" the way Japan and Korea does. Asian people are more interested in MMA. They love it more and enjoy it more. I think MMA's popularity will continue to be higher in Korea and Japan than the US. But I do realize that the money is in the American market right now.
Fighters' games will improve in 5 years. MMA will increase in popularity in Europe and Russia, and events will be held in countries like India and China. I believe MMA will become a very popular sport in the future. People will embrace the sport, and the sport will produce stars big enough for people to pay to come see as we put on events like M-1 Challenge and other shows. The sport will continue to grow, especially in the next 5 years, during which I think it would grow several times bigger. MMA has not peaked yet. This is only the beginning.

Question: The UFC attaches great importance to exclusive contracts. But it looks like you have a different view regarding fighter management. What do you think is the ideal way to approach fighter management?
Vadim Finkelstein: There's nothing unusual about different organizations having different strategies and approaches to fighter management. But what I don't understand is why the UFC doesn't allow cross-promotional fights when we also have great fighters in our organization. We want to be able to exchange fighters and hold joint events. I think we could give the fans more excitement if we can match up champions from different organizations.

Question: What is the main goal of M-1? What kind of organization do you wish it can be?
Vadim Finkelstein: I hope M-1 gains international fame like in Russia. M-1 has a very good reputation and is respected in Russia. We once invited the President to one of our events. President Vladimir Putin visited and enjoyed the show. This says something about the image of our shows. It is the first time the President of a nation visited an MMA event. This had been unprecedented. The UFC, which is famous in the US, and Japan's DREAM haven't had the President or Prime Minister visit their shows.
Besides President Putin and Jean Claude Van Damme, very famous K-1 stars also came to our shows. The fact that these people came to our shows says a lot about our name recognition. My goal is to build M-1's international name recognition and reputation. We will always try our best to put together good fights. We are planning on holding an M-1 Challenge event in Korea as well sometime around winter.

Question: M-1's Korean operations are being supervised by In-Taek Jang of VQ Holdings. What kinds of business ventures do you plan on in Korea?
Vadim Finkelstein: We are doing a lot of things together with Mr. Jang. We hope the Korean fans will enjoy our M-1 Challenge shows when we come to Korea. We will work hard to make this event run smoothly. Mr. Jang will help us with it.

Question: You've been to Korea a couple times. What was your impression?
Vadim Finkelstein: I've been to Korea a few times. I really like Korea. The people are very comfortable to be with. They like drinking like us Russians. Fedor and I really like Kimchi. Russian people don't usually like hot foods but we like it very much. We own the most famous restaurant in town near the Neva River, and we had a Korean food week a month ago and it turned out to be a success. We invited a Korean cook who prepared Korean dishes and the guests enjoyed it so much we decided to include several Korean dishes on our menu. You can now order Korean dishes in our restaurant.

Question: Last question: Exactly when and who will Fedor fight?
Vadim Finkelstein: We're talking to a lot of organizations. I can't say for sure, but he'll fight in the US this spring or summer. As always, it's likely that he'll fight in Japan on New Year's Eve. It's not decided yet, but it will be against a top ten fighter for sure. There's not much information so I can't say much on this matter. We'll let MFight know once it's decided.