In May the first ever MMA tournament will hit Nizhny Novgorod. The organizers name the show 'The Cup of Fedor Emelianenko'. Below is the short review of the latest interview with Fedor.
-What is your impression on M-1 Challenge 2 in Saint Peterburg?
-Everything went smoothly. Very well organized. The only better Russian event I've experienced was the one when Vladimir Putin was among the spectators. Vadim Finkelstein arrange things perfectly. I believe the fans were pleased with the show. The bouts were exciting, especially Korea vs Finland. Japan vs Russian Legion team was decent as well. As for the results, I expected them to be 3:2in favor of either Russia or Japan. I was not impressed with the superfights. Amar Suloev won the bout easily against rather weak opposition. Roman Zentsov didn't deliver any fireworks. He can do so much better than that. Alexander's opponent was not dangerous at all but shortly before the event suffered an injury and had to quit. That forced promoters to look for another opponent to accept the clash on a short notice. I can understand that but still...I had gotten injured a lot of times before big fights. Prior to the Mark Hunt fight I broke my finger. Befor the Nogueira fight I got injure, too. Coming into the Mirko bout there were problems with my legs. Of course it was kept in secret. You never know...But I knew how important those fights were. That's why I entered the ring then.
-Could you comment on the contractual situation? You were supposed to fight at least 3 times a year in M-1 Global. People say there is no contract anymore and you are a free agent now...
- The agreement is still valid. The only nuance is that the long debates ensued in the rearrangement inside M-1 Global. It's led by Vadim Finkelstein from now on. According to the agreement I'll fight 3 times this year: supposedly in July, October, and on the New Year's Eve.
-Staying true to tradition?
-(Laughs) Looks like I'll have to leave for Japan for the sixth time in a row. I'm always happy to come back there.
-On April, 5 you were among other 80 athletes caryring the Olympic torch. What did you feel then?
-Excitement. Very emotional moment. I'm very thankful for the opportunity. Each athlete would ran 250 metres.
-Can you reveal your plans for the immediate future?
-I intend to make a trip to the sea with my family. This year I had no time for it since I was busy: preparing for the Combat Sambo tournaments, seminars, negotiation. Right now I plan to spendabout 10 days by the sea. Thereafter we are going to Nizhny Novgorod with Vadim. Some Red Devil fighters will take part in the show there, also the local fighters from Nizhny Novgorod I trained with in Stary Oskol will fight, too. Then in May we plan to get to France to support MMA there which was banned there forever. The situation changed and Mixed Martial Arts were legalized. I'll hold a seminar there. Then the hard work will commence - I'll be preparing for the next fight.
source: fedor.bel.ru
