M-1Global Press Conference held thrusday
On Thursday M-1 Global held a press-conference on the upcoming Strikeforce / M-1 Global event in Chicago where Fedor Emelianenko will square off against Brett Rogers. Present were M-1 president Vadim Finkelstein, M-1 vice-president Sergey Matvienko, Fedor Emelianenko and hios coaches Alexander Michkov and Vladimir Voronov.
The panel answered questions from Russian and International Media, listed below are highlights:
Q: Fedor, you had two exhibition matches in the past. Why are you so interested in doing that?
Fedor Emelianenko: I believe that in the course of a fight you are not always able to fully showcase your skills and technique. During an exhibition match it’s easier to demonstrate some interesting moves like say high throws.
Vadim Finkelstein: On December, 3 Fedor will spar on the ring again for the audience that will come for the M-1 Selection and Challenge Finals. Then Fedor plans to have a rest in his home town.
Q: Fedor , you got married in church in October. Has it in any way influenced your preparation for the upcoming Strikeforce / M-1’s fight?
Fedor Emelianenko: I’m happy that I did it. I’d been waiting so long for that. It brings joy to my heart. And I can’t imagine how that could have had an impact on my preparation.
Q: Will the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge Finals be broadcast live on TV?
Vadim Finkelstein: The M-1 Challenge Finals will definitely be live on the major Russian RTR Sport channel. In the meantime we are in negotiations with Eurosport about having the 2010 Challenge tournament series broadcast there.
Q: Fedor, it’s going to be your first time in cage. How have you been preparing for that?
Fedor Emelianenko: We assembled a cage in our gym. I worked a lot on being pressed into the cage with my back. I can say there is not much of a difference between cage and ring. The main point is to feel the distance inside and it has not much to do with dimension of space you operate in.
Question for Alexander Michkov:
Q: Did you invite any specific athletes to help Fedor prepare for Rogers?
Alexander Michkov: Fedor feels more comfortable when sparring with the people he knows well. To give you an example, we had his brother Alexander asking to train with us this summer. He damaged Fedor’s bridge of the nose while sparring.
Q: Have you ever been seriously injured and how would you recover?
Fedor Emelianenko: It’s all about the right way of executing any move. It helps you stay healthy. I’m grateful to my trainers who taught me that.
Vladimir Voronov: I think the working ethic is very important. If an athlete starts relaxing and not strictly following what trainer says and tries to do things on his own he might end up injured. As for Fedor, he’ll always do what’s planned and sometimes even more but you’ll never see him break the rules of the training camp.
Q: Fedor, did you think of retiring and if so, when?
Fedor Emelianenko: My current contract is for 3 fights. When I was signing it I had though a lot about that. We’ll see what the future brings to the table.
Question for Vadim:
Will the style of M-1 Selection Russia change in 2010?
Vadim Finkelstein: Basically, the main goal behind the Selection series was to reveal the best fighters from Russia. However we hade more than 50 athletes competing, some of them fought just once or twice and at the end if the day it’s difficult to see who’s the best. That’s why we are adjusting the sytem and starting from the next year it’d going to be a tournament held according to the Olympic system where the loser goes home instantly. We’ll have 8 fighters in each weight category and they’ll compete at several events with the finals pitting two finalists against each other. The winners will form a team of 5 to present Russia in M-1 Challenge 2010.
On Thursday M-1 Global held a press-conference on the upcoming Strikeforce / M-1 Global event in Chicago where Fedor Emelianenko will square off against Brett Rogers. Present were M-1 president Vadim Finkelstein, M-1 vice-president Sergey Matvienko, Fedor Emelianenko and hios coaches Alexander Michkov and Vladimir Voronov.
The panel answered questions from Russian and International Media, listed below are highlights:
Q: Fedor, you had two exhibition matches in the past. Why are you so interested in doing that?
Fedor Emelianenko: I believe that in the course of a fight you are not always able to fully showcase your skills and technique. During an exhibition match it’s easier to demonstrate some interesting moves like say high throws.
Vadim Finkelstein: On December, 3 Fedor will spar on the ring again for the audience that will come for the M-1 Selection and Challenge Finals. Then Fedor plans to have a rest in his home town.
Q: Fedor , you got married in church in October. Has it in any way influenced your preparation for the upcoming Strikeforce / M-1’s fight?
Fedor Emelianenko: I’m happy that I did it. I’d been waiting so long for that. It brings joy to my heart. And I can’t imagine how that could have had an impact on my preparation.
Q: Will the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge Finals be broadcast live on TV?
Vadim Finkelstein: The M-1 Challenge Finals will definitely be live on the major Russian RTR Sport channel. In the meantime we are in negotiations with Eurosport about having the 2010 Challenge tournament series broadcast there.
Q: Fedor, it’s going to be your first time in cage. How have you been preparing for that?
Fedor Emelianenko: We assembled a cage in our gym. I worked a lot on being pressed into the cage with my back. I can say there is not much of a difference between cage and ring. The main point is to feel the distance inside and it has not much to do with dimension of space you operate in.
Question for Alexander Michkov:
Q: Did you invite any specific athletes to help Fedor prepare for Rogers?
Alexander Michkov: Fedor feels more comfortable when sparring with the people he knows well. To give you an example, we had his brother Alexander asking to train with us this summer. He damaged Fedor’s bridge of the nose while sparring.
Q: Have you ever been seriously injured and how would you recover?
Fedor Emelianenko: It’s all about the right way of executing any move. It helps you stay healthy. I’m grateful to my trainers who taught me that.
Vladimir Voronov: I think the working ethic is very important. If an athlete starts relaxing and not strictly following what trainer says and tries to do things on his own he might end up injured. As for Fedor, he’ll always do what’s planned and sometimes even more but you’ll never see him break the rules of the training camp.
Q: Fedor, did you think of retiring and if so, when?
Fedor Emelianenko: My current contract is for 3 fights. When I was signing it I had though a lot about that. We’ll see what the future brings to the table.
Question for Vadim:
Will the style of M-1 Selection Russia change in 2010?
Vadim Finkelstein: Basically, the main goal behind the Selection series was to reveal the best fighters from Russia. However we hade more than 50 athletes competing, some of them fought just once or twice and at the end if the day it’s difficult to see who’s the best. That’s why we are adjusting the sytem and starting from the next year it’d going to be a tournament held according to the Olympic system where the loser goes home instantly. We’ll have 8 fighters in each weight category and they’ll compete at several events with the finals pitting two finalists against each other. The winners will form a team of 5 to present Russia in M-1 Challenge 2010.
