Fedor Emelianenko responds to Andrei Arlovski, Freddie Roach, and Dana White in exclusive interview with 5 Oz. of Pain
January 8th, 2009
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Archive for the ‘M-1’ Category
Lineups announced for M-1 Challenge final on Dec. 26
December 8th, 2008
M-1 announces February event at the Playboy Mansion
December 7th, 2008
Josh Barnett to face Gilbert Yvel at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning”
December 3rd, 2008
Aleksander Emelianenko victorious at M-1 Challenge 9 with first round KO
November 22nd, 2008
Aleksander Emelianenko, former PRIDE heavyweight and little brother of WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, blasted his way to a first round KO victory over South Korea’s Sang Soo Lee earlier today at M-1 Challenge 9 in St. Petersburg, Russia as reported on Mixfight.ru .
The win raises Emelianenko’s already impressive record to 14-3 and marks his fifth straight first-round stoppage and second under the M-1 banner this year.
Fight fans have been clamoring to see the Lil’ Emperor make his Stateside debut, and almost got their wish back in July of 2007 at Affliction: ‘Banned’ where Emelianenko was set to debut against Paul "Fear the sound of crickets" Buentello.
Unfortunately Emelianenko was not medically cleared to fight by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and was replaced last-minute by the dependable but increasingly fragile Gary Goodridge.
Emelianenko downplayed the denial of his license, chalking it up to a case of missed deadlines and simple oversights. Due to California’s very strict medical privacy laws, the CSAC was not able to elaborate on the specifics.
That didn’t stop the MMA community from doing its share of speculating. Everything from hepatitis to a brain aneurysm — even total heart failure — was offered as a possible cause.
Whatever the case was, Emelianenko doesn’t seem to have any problems fighting (and winning) behind the iron curtain. Soo Lee (10-4) was a formidable opponent, and Emelianenko’s victory over him avenges the loss of fellow Red Devil combatant Roman "Meal" Zentsov, who fell to the South Korean at M-1 Challenge Korea back in August.
addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fmmamania.com%2F2008%2F11%2F22%2Faleksander-emelianenko-victorious-at-m-1-challenge-9-with-first-round-ko%2F'; addthis_title = 'Aleksander+Emelianenko+victorious+at+M-1+Challenge+9+with+first+round+KO'; addthis_pub = 'brok3llc';M-1 Make The Case For Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar
November 19th, 2008
M-1 released this official statement making the case for what could become the biggest heavyweight fight in the history of MMA.
The Statement:
M-1 would like to congratulate Brock Lesnar on his UFC heavyweight title victory as well as acknowledge Randy Couture’s return to active competition after a layoff that lasted over a year.
Couture and WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko had publicly acknowledged a desire to fight each other multiple times over the course of the past year. While M-1 and Fedor remain interested in a match against Couture, we would also like to publicly state for the record that we would welcome a superfight between Fedor and Lesnar that would be held as a co-promoted event between the UFC, M-1, and Affliction Entertainment.
We’ve invited the media to speak with us today to not only make it clear we would welcome a Fedor vs. Lesnar matchup but to act in a preemptive fashion to address the possibility that UFC officials will try and position Lesnar as the No. 1 heavyweight in the world, much like they have tried to use a marketing ploy to brand Anderson Silfva as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
In the past, UFC president Dana White and Zuffa, LLC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta have tried to claim that Fedor was “overrated” and that his “record was irrelevant.” They make these claims in spite of the fact that Fedor holds career victories over UFC champions past and present. While we have tremendous respect for the contributions Mr. Fertitta and Dana have made to this sport, we do not believe they are sincere in their statements.
It is the position of M-1 that the UFC has adopted an anti-Fedor policy because multiple attempts to sign him have not been fruitful. For a company that has tried to market itself as the number one promotion in the world, they are unable to accept the fact that the number one fighter in the world does not reside on its roster of contracted fighters.
We believe that the UFC has determined that it’s much more inexpensive for them to use their marketing resources to use smoke and mirrors to brand a fighter as the pound-for-pound best as opposed to actually paying the pound-for-pound best what he is truly worth on the open market.
While Brock Lesnar is an accomplished athlete and a talented fighter, we do not consider him to be the number one heavyweight in the world. Until someone beats him, we strongly believe that Fedor should continue to be recognized as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. In a match between Fedor and Lesnar, we do not feel that at this stage Lesnar would be able to make it out of the first round.
For those who feel our statements in regards to Fedor are self-serving, we’d like to refer you to a video interview on the website RawVegas.tv in which at his UFC 91 after-party Couture himself acknowledges that “Fedor would probably tear Brock up at this point.”
Jerry Millen, M-1 Vice President
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Fedor-ing to the masses: Trump presser likely to unveil reality series, contract extension
October 15th, 2008
Vot a cahntry!
Affliction and M-1 Global, the Turner & Hooch of mixed martial arts, are the latest tandem to join forces in hopes of expanding their share of the market in the combat sports world.
And “The Donald” makes three.
The trio are expected to announce a new partnership during a press conference tomorrow around noon at the Trump Tower in New York City. In attendance will be Donald Trump, Affliction’s Tom Atencio and M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelchtein.
With current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emilenanko perched atop the bow of the partnership like a wooden maiden, Trump will likely announce the fruitiion of “Fighting Fedor” and M-1 Challenge.
Fighting Fedor is a reality show that pits sixteen fighters against each other in a sequestered environment with the winner getting a shot at the current title holder.
Sound familiar?
See for yourself:
Unfortunately the series has been in pre-production longer than Duke Nukem Forever and despite the hackneyed narrator trying to sell us the premise as “Groundbreaking” and “The likes of which have never been seen before on American television“, that sales pitch only works on people without SpikeTV - or brains.
Not to mention the ending is a bit anti-climatic. Imagine if Amir Sadollah had to fight Anderson Silva at the conclusion of the Ultimate Fighter 7.
M-1 Challenge on the other hand, has already been taking place around the world. It has also produced some quality fights - though the premise is basically The International Fight League (IFL) on tour.
A summary from the M-1 website:
M-1 Challenge is a series of events planned to be held in different places of the Earth where the 10 best MMA clubs compete against each other.The Challenge introduced by Vadim Finkelstein presents an international team competition among young prospective fighters who aspire to gain more experience and prove themselves at the international level. The most talented ones will earn an opportunity to be chosen to partake in major M-1 events. The teams consist of 5 athletes (in every weight class), one trainer and one coach. Every participating country brings two complete teams which then compete against each other. Every team members fights at least 4 times totally.
The idea has merit, but again the question remains as to how they will capture a stateside audience that has already been branded by the UFC.
Outside of Fedor, how many fighters come to mind when you think of M-1 Global?
The absolute worst case scenario for all parties involved is a defeat by Emelianenko at the hands of Andrei Arlovski at their upcoming Affliction bout in early 2009.
UFC President Dana White has already watched one promotion collapse at the hands of a fighter the UFC didn’t want when Seth Petruzelli knocked out Kimbo Slice. Imagine his joy if Arlovski stopped Fedor in similar fashion.
Stay tuned for more of the finer details following tomorrow’s presser.
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April 5th, 2008
M-1 Challenge Video: Alexander Emelianenko vs Silvio Santos
April 4th, 2008
M-1 Challenge Video: Alexander Emelianenko vs Silvio Santos
More UFC Videos.
M-1 Challenge Video: Alexander Emelianenko vs Silvio Santos
Cox and M-1 Global Split Ways, Fedor’s Officially A Free Agent
March 26th, 2008
According to former M-1 Global CEO Monty Cox in a recent interview 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.”
“We have different philosophies….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.”
“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.”
“I am looking at June 14 to do our first show in Chicago….This will be a show, well, bigger than I am used to doing, somewhere along the lines of an [EliteXC] show or a WEC with a bigger headliner….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.”