Interview with the head of “Legion” sports club Armen Danelyan
Tell us about how you got involved in MMA?
I’ve been interested in a fighting for a long time. 10 years ago I started to support fighters but I didn’t think it would get that far. Gradually I got into this young but ever developing and very exciting sport.
Tell us about “Legion” club history
In the year of 2000 we started collaboration with “Legion” club back then situated in the city of Anapa. The next branch was opened in Rostov-na-Donu. Nowadays “Legion” club also functions in three southern cities – Stavropol, Taganrog and Sochi.
What are the best accomplishments your athletes have achieved so far?
Well to name a few, Martin Malhasyan and Ansar Chalaganov are both the world champions and title holders under M-1, Alexey Oleinik is the European champion under KSW, Islam Karimov is the Eurasian champion and Yuri Ivlev is the Russian champion etc.
Which the most aspiring athletes of your stable could you point to?
Everyone. This is a team with a serious level of competition. Young fighters are so well-rounded, they fair pretty well against the veterans.
What is the level of MMA in Russia today?
It speeds up. A lot of tournaments of different levels are organized here and there and the volume of people interested in MMA grows on a daily basis. The number of gyms constantly grows throughout the country. A lot of cities hold their own local tournaments. It’s just amazing that so serious development is going on.
What can you say about M-1 Challenge?
We are happy to be the part of it. This is a very promising tournament where young athletes get the chance to develop and consequently with the lapse of time, replace our experienced aging fighters. And I hope they will earn an opportunity to participate in major events of M-1 Global.
There are a lot of talented fighters in Russia but most of them train and improve the skills on their own. Opposite to it, M-1 Challenge could let them team up to compete at the country level and give them the chance to showcase their best at top level competition.
Could you evaluate the organizational level of the M-1 Global events?
It is very high. The first and foremost task is to keep the same high level further on.
How did your cooperation with M-1 start?
In 2000-2001 our fighters had taken part in the MixFight M-1 events for the first time. That’s when I met Vadim Finkelstein and we kept on sending our club members to compete in the next M-1 projects like “Russia vs. World”. And we appreciate it very much because that’s where our young fighters have been maturing while competing and getting the name recognition. These events pushed the development of martial arts in Russia.
Tell us about the fighters’ selection to represent Legion at M-1 Challenge?
We selected those who were the most prepared and experience at the time. I gave the chance to out veterans to showcase their skills once again. Although we lost the team competition during the first stanza we could rebound pretty soundly the second time.
Do you watch any foreign MMA events?
For sure. We keep an eye on who competes where. We watch all the major shows hold in the USA, Japan and across Europe. We also try to take part in big international events.
What do you think about the collision of Legion with team Spain?
I am proud of my fighters. I can say we revenged the recent loss of Russian football team against Spanish conquistadors in the context of EURO 2008. My guys showed their best. Just think about it: Akhmed Sultanov was fighting with a temperature of 38’C and he managed to fight till the decision. We realized Spaniards were strong. We didn’t expect the opponent of Islam Karimov (Juan Manuel Suarez) to be that strong though. I believe he’s the best fighter in the Spanish team. After this team victory (3-2) we have pretty good chances of getting into the semifinals and we are going to prepare hard as Legion is set to lock horns with Team Europe next.
