IFL: New Blood New Battles card. 4th April.

The "IFL: New Blood New Battles" event will take place on 4th April in Izod Center, East Rutherford, NJ, USA. Here is the card:

Championship Bouts

Jay Hieron vs. Mark Miller
Wagnney Fabiano vs. Shad Lierley
Jamal Patterson vs. Vladimir Matyushenko

Midwest Combat vs Renzo Gracie Jiu-jitsu

Bart Palaszewski vs. Jim Miller
Brad Blackburn vs. Delson Heleno

American Top Team vs Miletich Fighting System

Rafael Dias vs. LC Davis
Emyr Bussade vs. Jesse Lennox
Carmelo Marrero vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz

Additional Bouts

Nate Lamotte vs. Chris Horodecki
Alex Schoenauer vs. Brendan Barrett

Will be interesting to see if Belorussian Vladimir Matyushenko (20-3) will be able to defend his IFL light heavyweight title against Jamal Patterson.

Among other fights, additional interest is drawn by the Nate Lamotte vs. Chris Horodecki bout. Chris Horodecki was (and still is) a very hyped fighter, whose only loss came in his last fight, when he fought Ryan Schultz on 29 December last year. Will be interesting to see, if Horodecki will be able to come back from the first loss in his career.

Additional reading

• Preview: Matyushenko vs. Patterson
  
• Preview: Jay Hieron vs. Mark Miller

Official press-release: Fedor Emelianenko "left" "M-1 Global"

Some official information about the separation in M-1 Global.

NEW YORK -- M-1 Global announced today a mutual agreement with Vadim Finkelstein/Finkelchtein, manager of former PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko, to release the heavyweight from his contractual obligations.

March 28, 2008

M-1 Global, Fedor agree to go separate ways

“There is so much going on in the world of mixed martial arts right now that we have decided it is in our best interest if our company and Fedor go our separate ways,” said M-1 Global President and CEO Monte Cox.

“During the past six months the landscape of MMA, especially in the U.S., has dramatically changed. The sport continues to gain mainstream acceptance and we believe we will be in a better position to capitalize on these new opportunities with this agreement.”

“Because Finkelchtein already uses the ‘M-1’ name in Russia and Europe, we have mutually decided to avoid any confusion between our two organizations. Shortly, M-1 Global will announce a new name for its operations and its first event.”

“Fedor is a tremendous fighter and a great person… we wish him only the best in his future endeavors,” Cox said.

“We appreciate the support that Monte and the M-1 Global team have given Fedor,” said Finkelchtein, who will continue to promote events under the 'M-1' banner throughout Europe and the top-ranked heavyweight's homeland. “We wish M-1 Global great success and hope to work with them sometime in the future.”

Remember what I said in my last point of that analysis? This is exactly what is happening! :)

Monte Cox and Mitchell Maxwell are trying to convince that it was Vadim Finkelstein and Fedor Emelianenko, who left M-1 Global. If that is the case, why to change the name? Or why to take a name that so closely reminds of Finkelstein's "M-1" (without "Global" part) in a first place? No reason unless the starting position is plain wrong.

Once again I am reading between the lines, but this is what actually seems to happen (in Q&A style).

Q: So M-1 Global is dead?
A: Not exactly. The name lost one word "Global" and some people from the "American management". This "American management" wants to give the impression that they were major players and the promotion is dead without them. It doesn't seem to be true, judging from their performance and other latent signs.

Q: So Fedor Emelianenko left M-1 Global?
A: He definitely left the Monte's organization (which they still try to call M-1 Global). It doesn't mean that he left "M-1" promotion - the real successor of M-1 Global organization. Vadim Finkelstein still seems to be Fedor's manager. Maybe Fedor will fight in M-1. Maybe (and most probably), he will be at least temporarily fighting in another MMA promotion. Heck - it may even be Monte's new organization! :) Not a very realistic scenario, but nevertheless.

Therefore I don't see any reasons to scream about the death of the organization. Small changes happened, but it's still very much alive.

Results WEC 33 - Back To Vegas

The results from the yesterday's WEC 33 - Back To Vegas.

Logan Clark wins Scott Harper by TKO (Strikes) at 4:37 in round 1
Kenji Osawa wins Chris Manuel by Split Draw
Alex Serdyukov wins Ryan Stonitsch by Submission (Triangle Choke) at 1:35 in round 1
Richard Crunkilton wins Sergio Gomez by Decision (Unanimous)
Brock Larson wins John Alessio by DQ (Knee to downed fighter) at 1:50 in round 1
Hiromitsu Miura wins Blas Avena by KO (Punches) at 2:35 in round 1
Steve Cantwell wins Tim McKenzie by Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) at 2:13 in round 1
Marcus Hicks wins Ed Ratcliff by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:42 in round 1
Chael Sonnen wins Bryan Baker by Decision (Unanimous)
Brian Stann wins Doug Marshall by KO (Punches) at 1:35 in round 1

Sherdog has a report about each fight.

Interview: M-1 Global lost Monte Cox and Mitchell Maxwell

Monte Cox appeared on a Savage Dog Show with Monte Cox (beginning from 1:06:35) telling about the end of the M-1 Global story. At least Monte Cox and other Americans will not be part of it. They will stay together though and will try to make their own MMA promotion with unknown name and with the first show scheduled for 14th June (another delay, yeah!). He also kinda confirmed that Fedor Emelianenko was never under contract with M-1. M-1 Global didn't have a contract, but they were controlling him. Which is practically the same thing. Sherdog has a small overview about Monte's appearance in the show, but you should definitely listen everything yourself! I won't post any transcript and will concentrate on analyzing the situation, considering that you all have listened to him before reading my small-scale analysis. I am very good with analyzing and reading between the lines, so here I go. :)

• First of all I must notice that everything of the insider's information I reported earlier turned out to be correct! Well done, me, RussianMMA and my source! :)
  
• I don't know if you noticed, but Monte Cox bragged that he saved a lot of money for the other (non-American) side (I will continue calling this side M-1 Global) and that they can continue making efforts with their show. This brings us once again to the talks about Secret Investor of M-1 Global... M-1 Global guys still seem to have that investor with them and they can continue what they were trying to do before.
  
• I think that this whole situation showed how bad manager Monte Cox really is. I mean, being excited about M-1 Global and Fedor Emelianenko's salary at the press-conference and gladly taking the position of CEO, and only afterwards to whine about how huge and unbearable Fedor's pay is? Maybe he should have thought about it before signing in? Reading between the lines I believe the source from the Russian M-1 about Americans slowing everything down. I mean, what have Monte and other Americans accomplished? Nothing specific comes to my mind, really. What Finkelstein&Co have made? Well, at least they have invented and organized the M-1 Global Challenge 1 event, the next M-1 Global Challenge 2 will be next week and more is coming.
  
  

  © M-1 Global Monte Cox, Fedor Emelianenko, Vadim Finkelstein and Mitchell Maxwell

  
  
• The public (well, at least me) opinion about Monte Cox gets even worse if we think about his behavior. As we all remember he said that Fedor not fighting on New Year's Eve, which turned to be a lie. Then he says that he wants Vadim Finkelstein out by the buyout; that was said at a time when Vadim Finkelstein already became the head of M-1 Global. I'm pretty sure that Monte Cox also knew that their ways separated. Monte Cox also told about difficulties with "Russian managers", when in reality it meant "everybody except Monte Cox, Mitchell Maxwell and few other Americans". Quite a difference, huh? And I don't even want to recall all these numerous promises to reveal something important "in a few weeks". :)
  
• To get the best view of the difference between "Americans" and "Russians" you only need to look at the web sites they control. Russians post different news and are active in all other aspects as well. The Americans have almost nothing on their site and I am yet to receive my first M-1 Global Newsletter (despite signing up the first week they opened that option)...
  
• It will be very interesting to see, what the status of Fedor Emelianenko is and who actually lied reporting that Fedor leaves M-1 Global...
  
• The future of Fighting Fedor - new MMA reality TV show also interests me. Of course, there will be no such program if Fedor becomes free agent. My personal view (just a gut feeling) is that he won't - at least not permanently. Maybe will be "borrowed" for some fights (Fedor vs Randy on HDNet Fights of EliteXC?), but that's all.
  
• The important point we should all remember when reading American side of the story, is that they somehow still think of themselves as M-1 Global. I mean, there was M-1 Global and at some point the roads of managers separated and the minor part of the founders left. No big deal. But now that small team tells that it was Russian part which left and when asking about the future of M-1 Global they say that "we will continue working on American market". And the word "we" actually means the separated part of the old management and not the current M-1 Global (with Vadim Finkelstein as a head). I don't know if they do it intentionally, but be careful with that!

Rumors: ProElite signs Fedor Emelianenko?

Very interesting rumors are reported by Nokaut.com.

A reliable source has confirmed ProElite, Inc. has offered Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) a four-fight, 18-month contract.

A request for confirmation or comment from Jeremy Lappen, ProElite Head of Fight Operations, has been ignored.

The contract calls for Emelianenko's first two fights in the promotion to broadcast on American television network CBS as a part of the recently inked deal between ProElite and the TV giant.

The final two fights would air on pay-per-view and share proceeds with Emelianenko.

Emelianenko is currently partnered with M-1 Global, an MMA promotion formed solely to stage his fights.

However, ESPN: The Magazine reported on 6 March that Emelianenko and M-1 Global would "divorce". Sherdog.com followed-up on 18 March reporting that Emelianenko was in fact never under contract to M-1 Global.

M-1 Global Vice President Brian Patton denies Sherdog's report.

"I have seen the contract and watched it being signed by all parties," Patton confirmed on 19 March.

ProElite's offer supports Patton's claim, requiring Emelianenko to be announced in ProElite fights as "M-1 Global's Fedor Emelianenko".

Emelianenko is reportedly also being courted by the UFC. It's likely other MMA promotions have shown interest as well.

There's no indication whether or not Emelianenko will accept ProElite's offer.

A lot of rumors are flying around, as we can all see. I don't know anything about the credibility of the source, but business-wisely this is exactly how Fedor Emelianenko's image should be used to promote in the USA: first to market him for free to a wide audience (CBS will do it) and only after a heavy hype, to make him fight in the PPV event.

Chuck Liddell talks about Fedor Emelianenko

Chuck Liddell shared his opinion about Fedor Emelianenko a while ago. Now he is in an action again. Let's see what he had to say this time.

CHUCK LIDDELL has savaged Fedor Emelianenko following the news the Russian superstar has become a free agent.

Widely regarded as the finest mixed martial artist in the world, fans are desperate to see Emelianenko face ex-UFC star Randy Couture in a dream clash, but so far a deal has not been brokered.

Liddell claims he would love to see the fight happen so the hype surrounding Fedor can finally be dispelled.

‘The Iceman’ said: “I’d like to see Fedor fight Randy because I don’t think he can beat Randy.

“He’s good on top – a good ground and pound guy but I think he’d have a real hard time getting on top of a guy like Randy.

“He’s not going to be able to throw him because Randy’s a Greco-Roman wrestler and his shot’s pretty poor so he’d have to submit him from the bottom.

Liddell claims the Russian’s failure to face any big name fighters in the last two years is proof heavyweight grappler Emelianenko is overrated.

Liddell added: ““I truly believe he’s overrated. I’ve heard he picks and chooses some of his fights.

“You’ve got to wonder why he chose to fight a guy like Matt Lindland – who weighs 185lbs!

“I heard he was negotiating with some other people who were heavyweights who would have been more of a challenge to him and he turned those down.

“He doesn’t have a great shot, he doesn’t have one punch power and to my knowledge he’s never knocked anyone out from his feet standing up.

“So I think anybody that can stop a takedown is going to be a good fight for him if they can strike.”

Thanks for sharing, Chuck! :)

Sherdog: Emelianenko Never Under Contract to M-1

Sherdog writes

Despite the announcement of an agreement last October between Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global, the deal was never signed, a source close to both camps told Sherdog.com.

The Russian heavyweight's only agreement with the company -- according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity -- came in the form of a letter of intent.

The return of a $1.5 million signing bonus paid by M-1 Global to Emelianenko is the only hurdle to the former Pride champion's potential free agency. That should be remedied this week, the source said.

M-1 Global CEO Monte Cox declined to comment.

Once Emelianenko is clear of his M-1 obligations he is expected to field offers from several MMA promotions. The early leader, according to the same source, comes from the purported partnership between Affliction and Oscar de la Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, which Sherdog.com has learned could debut on June 28.

"Right now we don't have any comments," Golden Boy Promotions Public Relations Director Romiro Gonzalez told Sherdog.com. "[Oscar] is in the sports business. He is loading up on all the fields, especially boxing. We're moving into soccer, MLS. There is nothing official we can say."

Emelianenko would receive approximately $1.5 million to fight and his management could be given the rights to television in both Russia and Japan, according to the source.

The 31-year-old heavyweight champion's younger brother Aleksander [Emelianenko] is also believed to be joining the Affliction roster, as is American middleweight Matt Lindland.

Affliction-branded clothing has created close ties with combat sports through sponsorship of top boxers and mixed martial artists, as well as involvement in Golden

As we know with some degree of confidence - Monte Cox isn't M-1 Global's CEO anymore. No wonder he didn't want to comment.

But otherwise, everything is still the same - we only know that we know nothing.

Randy Couture video interview. 15.03.2008

Insider's info from the Russian M-1 camp; what's going on in organization?

I received some insider's information from the Russian M-1 camp about the two recent news/rumors: ESPN interviews Apy Echteld; Fedor leaves M-1 Global? and Rumor: Crisis in M-1 Global; Monte Cox wants Vadim Finkelstein out by the buyout.

According to the source, there are currently big transformations going on in M-1 Global.

• Vadim Finkelstein became the president of the company (yes, we are talking about the M-1 Global, and not about the Russian M-1 company, which was under Finkelstein all the time) in the middle of February.
  
• M-1 Global Challenge is a product of Vadim Finkelstein and "the active and energetic part of M-1 Global" (which include all the European and Japanese people you can name as well as American Jerry Millen with his camera team).
  
• American people (Monte Cox, Mitchell Maxwell and others) are therefore considered to be not active and energetic. Moreover, without the transformations "this swamp with uncertainty about the format and the dates of the shows would just go on and on. " Now they can finally move forward and "will do everything the can to make as much shows and fights as possible".
  
• The future of American side is not known yet.

There is some kind of mess going on, but who knows what it really means and what is really going on there? There seems to be a divide inside the organization, with one of the sides being American and other being everybody else. Who should we listen to and trust? We should listen to everybody and we should trust nobody. But we should also keep one important fact in our minds: Monte Cox has a history of lying.

Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor Emelianenko and Mike Tyson

First I announced here on RussianMMA.com, that Fedor Emelianenko will be fighting on a NYE. Then there was Monte's remark/lie that it won't happen. Everybody were laughing at me, but I still stand behind the information. And look who was right. I was right, my source was correct (the same source, which gave the insider's info as well), but Monte Cox turned out to be a liar. This all gives optimism and hits Monte's alleged plans to buyout M-1 Global from Vadim Finkelstein.

No, it doesn't mean that everything is well and you should 100% trust the tidbits I shared. Obviously there is a lot of unknown, even inside the M-1, because of the evergoing transformations. But the information gives hope, that now the M-1 Global's business will move more rapidly and there will be no such delays as we have seen before. But it's hard to tell anything specific, really. We should all stay tuned and wait for more concrete information.

BodogFIGHT. fightFORCE: RUSSIA vs. WORLD

The will be BodogFIGHT's fightFORCE: RUSSIA vs. WORLD event on 19th April, 2008 in Saint-Petersburg, Russia. Following fighters will be represented

Rating Fights

1. Vener Galiev (8-2, Russia) vs. Muhamed Aushev (Russia)
2. Shamil Abdurahimov (Russia) vs. Baga Agaev (7-4, Russia)

Main Fights

3. Vladimir Zenin (10-2, Russia) vs. Enrique Palau (Spain)
4. Aleksei Veselovzorov (13-7-1, Russia) vs. Antony Rea (12-9, France)
5. Yulia Berezikova (2-3, Russia) vs. Megumi Yabushita (13-13, Japan)
6. Stanislav Shushko (2-1, Russia) vs. Daniel Tabeira (8-0-2, Spain)

Super Fights

7. Andrei Semenov (27-9-2, Russia) vs. Michal Materla (11-3, Poland)
8. Aleksander Shlemenko (13-3, Russia) vs. Mikko Suvanto (6-2, Finland)
9. Ibragim Magomedov (18-5-1, Russia) vs. Zulu (6-3, Brazil)

YAMMA Pit Fighting; fightcard: Oleg Taktarov, Don Frye, Gary Goodridge, Eric Butterbean Esch, Alexey Oleinik...

The first event by a new YAMMA Pit Fighting MMA organization will take place April 11 at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, N.J, USA.

Why am I writing about this new organization? What does it have to offer? What makes it interesting?

• The YAMMA Pit Fighting organization was founded by the Bob Meyrowitz, a former co-owner of the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) from 1993-2001. Now the veteran ( read an article about him and his new venture ) decided to come back with the renewed concept of old Pit Fighting.
  
• The YAMMA Pit Fighting promises to bring the old tournaments format back and to introduce a new fighting surface (something different from the old cage and a ring). Nobody really knows what this new fighting surface will look like and how it will work out (they need to sell more than 30 tickets, which is impossible since they can't fit too many viewers around an ordinary pit; therefore they need to do something about it).
  
  

  Oleg Taktarov with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) belt

  
  
• They also promise the return of new champions. Actually, they have already announced two Champions' Fights: Eric "Butterbean" Esch (10-5-1) will fight Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge (23-15-1) and Don "The Predator" Frye (19-6-1) will take it on Oleg "The Russian Bear" Taktarov (15-5-2)! I don't think that any of these fighters need any introduction! The thing that bothers me is Oleg Taktarov's last fight in November 2007, in which he fought John Marsh in a BodogFIGHT organized event after 10 years of break in MMA fighting. In that fight, Oleg Taktarov won, but according to many viewers, the battle very much looked like a work. There has also been some other Taktarov's fights, which are considered by many to be fake (when the result of the fight was decided in advance). The same "work routine" can easily happen in the first YAMMA Pit Fighting event as well...
  
• The final lineup for YAMMA's eight-man heavyweight tournament has also been announced. The fighters are Marcelo Pereira (5-0), Sherman Pendergarst (10-8), Rex Richards (4-1) or Kevin Jordan (9-5), Tony Sylvester (10-1), Chris Tuscherer (9-0), Travis Wiuff (49-11), George Bush (5-0) and Ukrainian/Russian Alexey Oleinik (6-3).

The event will only be available by PPV.

Interview with Chuck Liddell; talks about Fedor, Crocop, Randy Couture

A guy at Sherdog's forum talked with Chuck Liddell on February 7th.

(...)

Interviewer: Would you ever move up to HW?
Chuck Liddell: "I could", I want to fight Fedor [Emelianenko].

Interviewer: I heard this in an interview a while back, and you said you want to fight Cro Cop, how do you match up?"
Chuck Liddell: I think I could knock Fedor out. He "lacks standup KO power", and I could keep it on my feet.

Interviewer: and CC [Mirko CroCop]?
Chuck Liddell: I think I match up good with him. He came here and lost. If that "tomato can" (speaking of Eddie Sanchez, this made everyone laugh. He didn't know his name until I told him) would have threw straight rights, he would have won. Cro Cop just circled left the whole fight.

Interviewer: (I can't remember the question, but I asked about Fedor's legacy)
Chuck Liddell: "What legacy. Who has he beat?"

Interviewer: CC and Nog (Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira), but thats about it. Now he fights cans, like Hong Man Choi, who he can armbar in round 1, but the Japanese fans like those fights.
Chuck Liddell: Like his last fight. Those fights dont interest me.

(...)

Interviewer: What's your take on the whole Randy [Couture] and Dana [White] thing?
Chuck Liddell: Randy called Lorenzo a liar, and anyone who knows Lorenzo, knows he is straight forward, honest, business man. Some people don't like Dana, but Lorenzo is straight forward. He said he wasn't getting paid fair, but he was proved to be lying when we had a copy of the check. He went about the situation wrong.

(...)

Read the whole interview - it's quite interesting.

M-1 Global Challenge press-conference

During the same weekend when the first M-1 Global Challenge event took place, the M-1 Global Challenge press-conference was also organized. They had some bits of information to share.

M-1 Global finally gave a list of countries, which are participating in a team format. As you might imagine, this list was different from both the initial and additional information. As of now, the list of participating countries looks like this:

• Japan
  
• Korea
  
• Russia
  
• USA
  
• Brazil
  
• Finland
  
• Holland
  
• France
  
• Germany
  
• Poland

Some countries (at least Holland) will include more than one team.

12 tournaments are scheduled to take place in 2008 (which means at a pace of at least one event each month).

© m1mixfight.com During the same weekend, the seminar was also arranged. Fedor Emelianenko demonstrated the ground game and submission and choke defense. He got assistance of his trainer Vladimir Voronov as well as Gilbert Yvel (in a picture) and Gegard Mousasi. Additionally Ernesto Hoost, Remy Bonjasky and Peter Aerts were present to be used as a training dummies.

The main person responsible for arranging M-1 Global Challenge events overall is Vadim Finkelstein. Bertrand Amoussou will put the show in France while Apy Echteld will be responsible for Dutch M-1 Challenge events and Shinoda Sotaro will arrange the shows on the Japanese soil.

The rules for M-1 Global Challenge are:

• A bout consists of 2 rounds 5 minutes each and 90 seconds rest between the rounds.
• Knees are allowed while standing. In parter only knees to the body are allowed. It's forbidden to strike a downed opponent while standing.
• Elbow strikes are only allowed to the body and legs.
• During the bout a fighter can get 3 warnings whereafter he'll be disqualified.

The detailed scheme with date, place, participants and brackets will be posted later.

New interview with Fedor Emelianenko

New interview with Fedor Emelianenko at m1mixfight.com .

Question: The number one question everyone is wondering, why didn't you sign with the UFC?
Fedor: We didn't sign the contract there because we were offered a one-sided contract on unacceptable conditions.

Question: You stated Mirko was your toughest fight in Pride, why? And would you give Mirko a rematch?
Fedor: I don't think Mirko was the strongest fighter. I just say he was of the toughest. There were los of top fighters in Pride: Barnett, Nogueira, Alexander, Sergei Kharitonov, Werdum, Igor Vovchanchyn. As for Mirko, he fell on evil times and it's a big question if he personally wants a rematch now.

Question: A lot of people train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a base. You train Sambo as your base. What is your opinion of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu?
Fedor: I think highly of BJJ. But I see some disadvantages as well. Jiu Jitsu is a rather good Martial Art base. But one need to guide newcomers at the very beginning in order to avoid and eliminate the future mistakes. I can't say combat sambo or bjj have more or less advantage in case of transition to MMA. If people get involved in it, it's only for their good. Moreover it helps popularize the sport itself. For me, personally, combat sambo is the native sport ans this is the reason I believe sambo is more versatile, dynamic, free and less monotonous.

Question: Both you and BJ Penn are looked at by many to be the top pound for pound fighters in the world. What do you think of BJ Penn?
Fedor: I like him as fighter. Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many of his fights. I follow his career by checking the ratings though.

Question: Who are you interested in fighting?
Fedor: I'm interested in many of them, top ten for sure. I can't say I watch all their bouts but I'm informed of every result of the fights they take part in. I watch the fights I'm interested the most though.

Question: What do you think of fighting Josh Barnett? What do you think of him as a fighter?
Fedor: Barnett is a good fighter. We are good friends with him. We always chat when we see each other. If we don't meet up we mail with each other. I'm aware of the fact such bout is planned but I haven't been told anything about it as of yet.

Fedor Emelianenko fighting Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira

Question: What's your secret to staying so calm in the ring? What kind of mental training do you do?
Fedor: That's no secret. I'm calm by nature. I just do my job.

Question: What's your motivation now?
Fedor: I want to win, stay involved in what I like the most. I want to bring in a worthy Russian fighter as a future substitute for me. I want Russian banner to be placed in the first lines of the magazines regardless their bias. We have a lot of young guns who will, hopefully, show themselves in the coming 2-3 years. They are still young, a bit raw, but possess tons of energy, aspiration and motivation.

Question: Have you considered moving to the US?
Fedor: Here is my fatherland, all my near relations and family live in Russia. It has no sense to leave the place I've lived my whole life.

Question: What do you think of Dana White?
This person talks a lot, sometimes rashly without having thought before.

Question: Who is in your opinion the greatest fighter ever? And who do you look up to?
Fedor: I don't consider whether the fighter is great or not. Few fighters stand on the front lines though: Randy Couture, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett in a random order. I respect them all. It's very unpleasant though when your read someone's interview in which he speaks badly of me. I have never been disrespectful to any of them.

Question: How do you think a fight between you and Rickson Gracie would go?
Fedor: This fight is a no go. Rickson wouldn't take part in it.

Question: Who is your next opponent?
Fedor: My next bout will be organized in the USA. I can't say anything about my opponent at the moment.

Highlight video M-1 Global Challenge Team Russia vs Team France

Results from M-1 - Slamm, M-1 Global Challenge 1 event

The results from M-1 - Slamm, the First M-1 Global Challenge event (winner in bold) which took place March 2, 2008 in Holland (Netherlands). Unfortunately there is no 100% trustworthy results available anywhere, so I had to compile my list from different sources. Nevertheless, don't trust them 100%. The pretty much only reliable thing is that in a team competitions, Red Devil Sports Club (Russian Team) lost 2-3 to Team Amossou (France) and that Dutch team won all 5 matches against team from Germany.

MMA

M-1 Team Challenge Russia (Red Devil Sports Club) vs France (Team Amossou)

• -70kg Mikhail Malutin - Bendy Casimir. Decision (Split). After 2 rounds.
  
• -76kg Erik Oganov - Farouk Lakebir (for some strange reason M-1 official site tells that there was Mohamed Khacha fighting instead of Farouk Lakebir). Decision (Unanimous). After 2 rounds.
  
• -84kg Dmitri Samoilov - Karl Amassou. KO (Kick). Round 1.
  
• -93kg Mikhail Zayats - Christophe Daffreville. Decision (Unanimous). After 2 rounds.
  
• +93kg Kirill Sidelnikov - Martin Soltisyk. KO. Round 1.

You can read more details on these five bouts at: "M-1 Challenge: Russia vs France" review

© mixfight.ru Martin Soltisyk and Kiril Sidelnikov

M-1 Team Challenge Holland vs Germany

• -65kg: Bogdan Christea vs Sven Scharley. TKO. Round 1.
• -73kg: Romano de los Reyes vs Franco de Leonardis. KO. Round 1.
  
• -83kg: Jason Jones vs Daniel Weichel. KO. Round 1.
  
  
  Jason Jones vs Daniel Weichel.
  
• -93kg: Gegard Mousasi vs Steve Mensing. KO. Round 1.
  
• +93kg: Jessie Gibbs vs Alexander Murawski. Submission. Round 1.
  
  
  Gegard Mousasi vs Steve Mensing. Jessie Gibbs vs Alexander Murawski.
  

MMA Single Bouts

• Mehmet Uygun vs Oktay Karatas. Submission (Guillotine Choke). Round 2.
  
• Dave Dalgliesh vs Bruno Carvalho. KO. Round 1.
  
• Kamil Uygun vs Lopez Owonyebe. N/A. Round 1.

There were cameras shooting the event (and the result was excellent, according to the spectators) and I hope we will soon be able to see it in full.

See also: a lot of good photos from the event.

ESPN interviews Apy Echteld; Fedor leaves M-1 Global?

ESPN reports:

Don't consider a UFC fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture dead just yet.

With Couture embroiled in a nasty legal dispute with the UFC and Emelianenko tied to M-1 Global's MMA franchise, the heavyweight dream matchup has long seemed to be the world's best bout that would never happen.

Now it could. Apy Echteld, one of Emelianenko's agents, confirmed what a source close to the situation previously told The Magazine: M-1 Global and Emelianenko will part ways some time in the next week, making the Russian a free agent. Divorce negotiations are ongoing right now, with a formal announcement likely for in the next few days. "Officially, yes, Fedor will be a free agent," Echteld says.

© mixfight.ru Randy Couture, Apy Echteld and Fedor Emelianenko

Of course, the UFC would have to be willing to re-open negotiations with Emelianenko's management. Previous talks dragged on for almost a year before falling apart amid plenty of name-calling and finger-pointing from both sides. UFC president Dana White was vocal in pinning the blame on Emelianenko's team, saying he never once spoke or met with the fighter. Would the head of the UFC be willing to enter the Fedor fray again? "Absolutely, 100 percent, in a heartbeat," says White. "People think he's the best—I don't, not even close. But if it's somehow possible, I would make it happen."

Reached on Thursday, Echteld was caught off-guard when told that White would be willing to revisit last year's stalemate. But he echoed the UFC's willingness to talk and vowed to speak with White as soon as possible. "We're open to a discussion," says Echteld. "If everybody is willing to put a little wine in the water, then we have something to work with. There is space for this to happen."

A fight involving Emelianenko and Couture would also require considerable fence-mending between Couture and the UFC. Couture has cited the UFC's inability to sign Emelianenko as a key reason for his sudden retirement. And now the two sides are locked in a bitter, months-long battle about the duration and terms of Couture's UFC deal. Over the past month, the situation has seemed to only be deteriorating. That could change if Emelianenko becomes available.

"I like Randy, I genuinely like to think he's a good guy," White says. "As much as we've gone back and forth on this, I would sign Fedor and do everything possible to get Randy in the octagon with him. I'd do anything, because a., it's a great fight and b., I think Randy would smash Fedor."

Through his spokesman, Couture declined to comment.

Very, very interesting... This brings us to an old news Rumor: Crisis in M-1 Global; Monte Cox wants Vadim Finkelstein out by the buyout. I can speculate a lot on different new possibilities and make my own predictions, but I prefer not to, before it's officially confirmed. There are way too many questions like about the relationship with Russian M-1 and Vadim Finkelstein, Fighting Fedor reality TV show and others. Another thing, which confuses me, is if Fedor Emelianenko will indeed leave M-1 Global, how come Apy Echteld talks anything about UFC and says "We're open to a discussion", if they don't have Fedor? The two possibilities are:

1. We have wrong information (Apy lied, ESPN lied, etc)
2. Apy Echteld will leave M-1 Global as well and now he talks only as friend of Vadim Finkelstein, the manager of Fedor Emelianenko
3. Fedor isn't really leaving M-1 Global; or at least they can get him back if they come into agreement with the UFC

But as I said - there are way too many questions and way too little reliable information.

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Some comments from Sherdog

(...)
M-1 CEO Monte Cox declined to comment on Thursday's news report, however he told Sherdog.com that M-1 and Emelianenko continue to share a "working relationship."

The question, then, is for how long?

According to one source that asked not to be identified, M-1 will likely expect Emelianenko to return a $1.5 million signing bonus he was paid last September. Negotiations should be finalized by Tuesday of next week, the same source said.

A free-agent Emelianenko could benefit from a deeper, more competitive bidding pool.

Newly minted with a historic TV deal from CBS, EliteXC would be "absolutely interested in Fedor if he was a free agent," Jeremy Lappen, the company's head of fighter operations, told Sherdog.com. "Of course, we're very friendly with Monte and have a close relationship with M-1 and would never step on their toes."

Mark Cuban, who has quickly turned HDNet into a desired premium-television destination for MMA fans, tempered expectations, telling Sherdog.com he doesn't plan on simply outspending competitors in an effort to sign the heavyweight.

"We always want to work with the best in the world," Cuban responded via e-mail. "That said, we aren't in the business of bidding wars. We are in the business of developing, promoting and supporting fighters and their careers and partnering with any and all who can help us accomplish that."

(...)

UFC 82 results Andrei Arlovski contract

The UFC 82 is finally over. Andrei Arlovski fought there and here is the video of Andrei Arlovski vs Jake O'Brien bout.

"Interesting" commentary, indeed... I don't even want to comment on all the thrown shit, which was intended to undermine Arlovski's skills - that's all regardless of Andrei being (in theory, judging from the fight performance and comparing to other fighters' late performance) the number one contender for the belt. I only want to comment on a guillotine issue: when Jake O'Brien and Heath Herring fought, Heath tried numerous times to choke O'Brien. It didn't worked and Herring lost that fight.

The situation with Andrei Arlovski and UFC is clearer than ever judging from the facts. They put him in a preliminary bouts, never showed his fight on PPV, didn't gave him a chance to talk on a post-fight press-conference, and made fight commentary so ugly and biased...

But let's look at the salaries fighters got (doesn't include PPV and unofficial bonuses) and look at the figures and facts, not the words.

Anderson Silva ($140,000) def. Dan Henderson ($100,000)
Heath Herring ($140,000) def. Cheick Kongo ($30,000) (great fight and another display of my MMA predictions for the year 2008 coming to life)
Chris Leben ($50,000) def. Alessio Sakara ($17,000)
Yushin Okami ($28,000) def. Evan Tanner ($25,000)
Jon Fitch ($60,000) def. Chris Wilson ($12,000)
Andrei Arlovski ($170,000) def. Jake O'Brien ($11,000)
Luigi Fioravanti ($16,000) def. Luke Cummo ($16,O00)
Josh Koscheck ($20,000) def. Dustin Hazelett ($12,000)
Diego Sanchez ($60,000) def. David Bielkheden ($8,000)
Jorge Gurgel ($14,000) def. John Halverson ($3,000)

Andrei Arlovski was the most highly paid athlete of UFC 82, even more that Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson! Other interesting titbit is Heath Herring's pay. I would never imagine that he gets the same amount of money as Anderson Silva does. How in hel did Heath get such a contract? Must have something to do with the old Pride contract and the transfer of Pride fighters to the UFC (Sebastian corrected this in the comments: Heath Herring left Pride for K-1 and went from K-1 to the WFA. WFA spent alot of money on fighter salaries. When the UFC bought the WFA they took over some of the contracts.). Does anyone knows when Anderson Silva's contract expires and how many fights does it have? Would be interesting to see how much Silva will get in a new contract. Must be hell of a boost!

It's interesting to read Andrei Arlovski's pre-fight interview to MMAJunkie.com

And while there's been a lot of speculation about a potential rift between the UFC and Arlovski's management team, neither side has confirmed it lately.

In fact, during Wednesday's pre-UFC 82 press conference, UFC president Dana White was asked about Arlovski and his whether he'll re-sign with the organization. Did the UFC's head honcho want to tag the heavyweight fighter with a parting shot?

Not so much.

"Andrei is a guy we want (in the UFC)," White said. "I think we'll get it done."

Arlovski is sure to have plenty of suitors, but it appears the UFC isn't willing to let him go so easily.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) contacted Arlovski for his side of the situation and conducted an e-mail interview. However, the 29-year-old Belarusian was tight-lipped about any potential hard feelings with the UFC or a possible departure for greener pastures. Basically, Arlovski is just happy to be fighting again.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Let's start with the obvious big question: will this be your final fight in the UFC?

ANDREI ARLOVSKI: I hope not, but this question should really be directed with the UFC.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: During the past few months, UFC President Dana White has stated that you weren't "benched" and that you had, in fact, been offered fights in the UFC. Is this true? what were some of those fights?

ANDREI ARLOVSKI: It would be neither professional nor ethical for me to discuss conversations between Dana and my management team in public. Therefore, this question should be directed to Dana.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Are you satisfied with the Jake O'Brien fight? Is this a fight you specifically wanted?

ANDREI ARLOVSKI: In my entire career I have never chosen my opponents. I am a UFC fighter and whomever they ask me to fight, I fight. Jake O'Brien is a very tough opponent with a perfect record. I look forward to be returning to the octagon.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: How would you characterize your current relationship with the UFC?

ANDREI ARLOVSKI: I have a very good working relationship with the UFC.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: I have to ask: do you feel like you're being punished since they put your fight on the UFC 82 preliminary card? This is the first time in the past 10 fights -- the first time in more than four years -- that you're on the preliminary card.

ANDREI ARLOVSKI: My job is to fight and do everything I can to win my fights. It is the UFC's job to promote, and it's up to them where they put my fight. I am a fighter, not a promoter.

(...)

I guess UFC doesn't really want him... So where does Andrei fight next? There has been many rumors, but they are only baseless rumors. At this point we only need to wait and see.