New Fedor Interview

[soo2bhuge]

off mixfight.ru

Q: How is your training going, and how did you spend the two month after your visited Saint Petersburg
A: The training is as usual, there is a lot of boxing, a lot of wrestling. Last two month I spent in Staryi Oskol (Fyodor’s hometown), we held a training camp there. Most Red Devil team members were there as well.

Q: Were you able to get some rest?
A: Well, I did not have a vacation or anything like that. I did not travel anywhere. I thought there was a possibility that I will fight in September, but in the middle of the camp Vadim (Fyodor’s manager) told me that there wouldn’t be a fight. I decided to keep training at the same pace; I was helping other team members, in order to prepare them for the upcoming tournaments.

Q: What is the status of your contract? How are you negotiations with UFC going, what are their demands?
A: I think that Vadim is in a better position to answer these questions. As a far as I know, the contract is still being discussed. There are points that we don’t accept, and there are points that they don’t like. We are working out a compromise.

Q: Did you see CroCop’s and Nogueira’s debut in the UFC?
A: I saw CroCop’s fight, but not Nogueira’s fight. What can I say… As far as I know, Nogueira won, and Crocop lost… I think that CroCop’s got tired psychologically, and this is the source of his troubles.

Q: Do you want to fight in the UFC, and who would you like to fight there?
A: As far as I know, they give me Randy Couture, so there is talk about a match against this fighter. I respect Randy very much. Of course, to be honest, I would not want to fight him because I really admire this fighter, and we could have become friends. Oh well, a fight is a fight, and if they put us against each other, I’ll have to fight him, he-he . As far as fighting in the UFC goes, I think I won’t have a lot of problems as far as cage is concerned.

Q: Please tell us about your meeting with President Putin
A: It was a warm meeting. Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) listened to our plans to build Fyodor Emelianenko’s sports academy in Belgorod. We plan to have various combat sports there: judo, sambo, kickboxing, thai boxing, boxing, etc. He was very interested. As I it was a very warm, friendly meeting.

Q: Do you plan to visit such countries as Sweden, Netherlands, Germany?
A: Tomorrow I am leaving for Netherlands. I’ll meet with Vadim there and we will meet with various companies regarding various merchandising contracts. I also plan to find time to spend 2-3 weeks in Netherlands improving my kicks. After my birthday I plan to visit with Povetkin (Russian Olympic champ in boxing), and train with him. He offered, and I would like to train with him.

Q: Do you plan to visit Korea?
A: Yes, of course, I would like to visit Korea. I always get a very warm reception there from the Korean fans. I don’t know when exactly it will happen, because my schedule is pretty busy in the near future. I have to give several seminars, then in the beginning of November there’ll be the training camp with the Russian Sambo team to prepare for the Combat Sambo World Championships, then the World Championships, then I have another seminar coming up… Then I will have to get ready to my future (MMA) fights.

Q: Ring vs Cage: what do you think suits you better, and where do you train?
A: During the most recent camp I trained without neither ring nor cage. In general, I train in both. I think that one should simply feel what’s behind you, be it ropes or the cage, and act accordingly. It is possible to avoid contact with the cage altogether if you are moving correctly.

Q: Which organization do you think was more interesting for the spectators?
A: For the spectators I think PRIDE was more interesting as far as the production values and the roster. Now, UFC signed many fighters, and, of course, it has a much better roster. But, as far as production values are concerned, PRIDE was better on that regard.

Q: Will you participate in the Combat Sambo World Championships in November?
A: Yes, I will. At least I would really like to. I want to be there, I was selected for the Russian team, and I want to represent Russia. I earned my spot on the team, and I want to represent Russia in the World Championships.

Q: How do you manage to motivate yourself and give 100% everyday during your training?
A: I like what I do, so this is my motivation. Well, of course, I don’t give 100% every single day, there are ups and downs, but in general, I really like it.

Q: Thank you Fyodor. Would you like to say something to your fans?
A: I am really grateful for my fans. Thank you for your support. I am often asked whether “Do you feel our support, that we are holding our fingers crossed for you?”. My answer is “Yes, I do”. I am training hard, and I will try to bring you joy with my victories

[abombing]

Can't wait to have Fedor in the UFC! I would love to talk smack and say how he will dismantle all of their heavyweights, but seeing how pride guys have done so far I will keep my mouth shut.

[CJC1981]

If the ufc gives him a tune up fight before a title shot, i would love to see him fight arlovski.

[Lexed]

i wonder what fedor dosnt like in there contract and what ufc dosnt like in his contract

[abombing]

If the ufc gives him a tune up fight before a title shot, i would love to see him fight arlovski.

agreed

[soo2bhuge]

I think they want to throw him right with Randy Couture. Dana said that in the past and Fedor just confirmed it. Randy is definitely not getting any younger and I'm sure he asked for it, especially with only 2 fights left on his contract and not wanting Fedor to follow in the footsteps of others and lose his first fight in the UFC.
At the same time, as much as I love Fedor and having trained Sambo for a good 7 years back in Russia, I think that Randy would take this fight. His strategy would be to fight on the inside like he did with Gonzaga, from which position he would dominate in either dirty boxing or even taking Fedor down. Fedor on the other hand...if he can get on top of Randy, which I haven't seen since Ricco and Barnett, would probably do very well with his GnP, although his best shot is still knocking Randy out on his feet.
I give this fight to Randy by either a cut or TKO in 2 or 3rd round.

[BG101]

^^very interesting, I dont think Randy could control Fedor in the clinch, he has that duck under and leg trip he gets everybody with when they tie up with him. He's taken guys waaay bigger then Randy down. I would love to see this fight, man spring should yeild some good cards!!!

[sphincter]

Fedor is awesome.. that is all.

[soo2bhuge]

^^very interesting, I dont think Randy could control Fedor in the clinch, he has that duck under and leg trip he gets everybody with when they tie up with him. He's taken guys waaay bigger then Randy down. I would love to see this fight, man spring should yeild some good cards!!!

Randy switches levels very well. His dirty boxing is excellent and he uses the fence better than anyone else.
You're right about Fedor handling bigger guys but that doesn't mean they were good wrestlers. He took down Schilt, Nogueira, Herring, Hunt, CroCop, along with a few other unknowns who were bigger but none of those guys have the wrestling and the dirty boxing that Randy has. Coleman and Randleman took Fedor down, although we all know what happened there. So I think that the argument of "who can beat Fedor" has been going on for awhile and people always say it will be someone who is able to take him down and control him. At this point that hasn't happened, but I do think that Randy is right for the job.
Then again, I'd luv to see Fedor keep his winning streak going and retire as the best, but everyone loses sooner or later and by the looks of it, UFC octagon has proved to be a different league for guys fighting in the ring.

[Pooks]

soo2bhuge i beleive u mentioned u've done sambo before... so hopefully my ignorance on this doesnt offend u too much haha..

but from what I've seen from Sambo videos, it seems pretty much to be a clinch/wrestling type of art.

We all know that Randy is good at the clinch.. but if Fedor is the man when it comes to Sambo, than i'm pretty sure he could go head to head pretty confidently and well against Randy.

Fedor in his fight, I've seen him usually clinch a guy, and than position himself to slam him down good.. I don't remember ever seeing Fedor get slammed.. well maybe one time was it Randlemann? Fedor kinda landed funny but than tapped him right out with an armbar..

but i'm not even sure if in that instance if that slam came from the clinch position.

[soo2bhuge]

soo2bhuge i beleive u mentioned u've done sambo before... so hopefully my ignorance on this doesnt offend u too much haha..

but from what I've seen from Sambo videos, it seems pretty much to be a clinch/wrestling type of art.

We all know that Randy is good at the clinch.. but if Fedor is the man when it comes to Sambo, than i'm pretty sure he could go head to head pretty confidently and well against Randy.

Fedor in his fight, I've seen him usually clinch a guy, and than position himself to slam him down good.. I don't remember ever seeing Fedor get slammed.. well maybe one time was it Randlemann? Fedor kinda landed funny but than tapped him right out with an armbar..

but i'm not even sure if in that instance if that slam came from the clinch position.

No offense taken whatsoever man. We're just having a good discussion.

You are right...traditional Sambo is based on several different arts. It's primarily judo and jiu-jitsu in one. Then again, when I say jiu-jitsu...it's not the typical brazilian jiu-jitsu that you're thinking of. It's based more on Japanese style of jiu-jitsu/Judo where the primary goal is to get the person down and immediately go into submission. Transitions from one submission to another are not really taught.
Also, when I say down, I mean that Sambo is based on Judo where the idea is to get a grip on the other person and to do a hip toss or takedown but it's not based on wrestling type of takedowns where you do the single or double leg takedown or Roman-Greco wrestling where you try to control the upper body and take the other person down. It is more of a high speed, using your hips types style. That is why Fedor has the best hips in the game. The way he rotates his body and takes people down is completely different from how Randy or another wrestler gets a takedown (for the most part, cause obviously people are cross training into Judo and other styles now). Same with Karo Parysian, as another example, where he uses his hips to toss people. Let's also not forget that Sambo is practiced in a Gi or in clothes. The art itself is based on self defense on a street and therefore the core strength is a bit different than that of a good wrestler whose strength is just unbelievable from mostly trying to control the other person.
Now, keep in mind that I trained traditional Sambo about 15 years ago and I'm not talking about Combat Sambo which also includes strikes. I've been in numerous tournaments and the way we trained was to take the other person down and go immediately into a submission. Once that fails, you are stood back up.
From what I know of Combat Sambo, the takedowns are still primarily based on Judo style takedowns and not wrestling. Yet, from what I've seen, there's a lot more grappling involved in Combat Sambo. I could be wrong though.
So, basically, what I'm trying to say is...in my personal opinion Randy would be stronger than Fedor in a clinch. He was an Olympic wrestler who has spent most of his life building up his core strength by knowing how to control others. You can see this from his previous fights where he dominated good wrestlers such as Tito, Kevin Randleman (in his prime), Josh Barnett (even though he lost, he was doing pretty well for a while but was simply outdone by a heavier person and not a better wrestler). Watch how Randy uses the fence against his opponents and the fence is completely different from the ropes where you can back up your ass through the ropes to protect against a takedown, as well as bounce off and move more easily against the ropes.
Fedor's takedowns are either hip tosses or leg trips and I just don't think that it would work against someone like Randy. Randy's balance is incredible and his way of getting inside his opponents to close up the distance is incredible.
This is just my opinion. Please discuss.

[J-Dogg]

Randy is just a great guy and a good smart fighter. I don't think anyone has the experince he has or the knowledge of putting together a good game plan. The guy would be a decorated general if wars were fought in a cage.

I don't know the out come of this fight. But I would love to see Randy be able to finish his career with beating Fedor.