Chico
16-01-2007, 03:44
http://fedor.bel.ru/index_eng.shtml?id=138
http://fedor.bel.ru/pics/news/DfHTHH
Fedor Emelianenko: Hello, good evening.
RI: Good evening. Fedor, you have a great tradition. Like that famous movie character that every December 31st went to the sauna with his friends (reference to the Soviet movie “Irony of Fortune” - CF), you have a tradition: for the third time, on the night of December 31st, you walk onto the tatami of the famous Saytama Arena in Tokyo to defend your championship title in no holds barred fighting against the best of the best athletes in Pride. So, it happened, you’ve won. Tell us about it.
FE: I faced a famous fighter, Mark Hunt, the K-1 champion, and won during the 9th minute of the match via tapout.
RI: So it was practically over in one round?
FE: Yes, it was just one round. I could have won much earlier, during the second minute, but it didn’t quite work out, that is, I went a little easy on him, and..
RI: What do you mean? You “went easy on him”??
FE: (laughs) Well, no, it’s not like I literally took pity on him..
RI: Does that ever happen in no holds barred fights?
FE: Well, it happens sometimes that when your opponent is just bearing the pain, you can step over and finish the submission by breaking the joints, but I just held back a little thinking that he’ll tap out. Meanwhile, he did not tap and escaped.
RI: So, while you were thinking of his well-being, he was escaping the submission?
FE: Yes. Well, the second time I didn’t hold back anymore.
RI (laughs): Even though you are so nonchalant about it, in general no holds barred fighting is not a sport for the weak and squeamish. It’s for people who are prepared both mentally and physically. This fight was difficult for you simply because on December 11 you broke your toe during training. An injury like that does not heal fast, even on a person as big and strong as you. Did it bother you during this championship match, and if so, how did you deal with it?
FE: No, the injury did not bother me. One thing that bothered me was that I got injured three weeks before the fight and could not stand on that leg, could not run, could not spar, could not grapple, so all I had left was just standing in front of a punching bag and hitting it over and over again.
RI: So, punches only?
FE: Yes, just punches. I should have been under heavier workload, but in general I was prepared well. I wasn’t 100%, but I was close. The injury affected my preparation, of course, but I did not feel it during the fight. I did not really use the toe during the fight, so it did not get injured any more that it was already, and it did not bother me.
RI: Did you keep the injury a secret? For example, professional boxers as a rule conceal their injuries. If they are about to fight, they don’t talk about their injuries to prevent their opponents from using the injury against them. You probably conceal your injuries as well, right?
FE: No, I generally do not conceal my injuries. If I decided to fight, then I’ve already considered it. Many fighters, many athletes make public announcements after the competition, saying: “You see, I was injured, so..”
RI: Perhaps they are making excuses for their defeat.
FE: Yes, I think so. I announced my injury, but I still decided to fight, so that’s that.
RI: We have a question from one of our listeners. Hello, Vitaliy.
Vitaliy: Hello, Irina, Hello, Fedor. My name is Vitaliy Krasni-Beli. Thank you for organizing this meeting. Fedor, you are a great fighter.
FE: Thank you. Thank you, very much.
Vitaliy: I respect you, well, from the bottom of my heart.
FE: Thank you.
Vitaliy: I want to ask four questions. What’s your height and fighting weight, that’s one, how long do you plan to compete, and my third question is what percentage of your training is conditioning versus technique, and my fourth question is whether you have ever experienced any self-doubt in the ring, because you create this impression of this self-confident machine, like this self-confident Russian machine is just, like, moving and leaving no chances for foreign competitors. Thank you.
FE: Thank you very much for your questions. I am 182 cm tall, and I weigh 103kg right now, I was a little heavier before, I used to be 106 kg, but now I compete at 103.
RI: How long are you planning to compete?
FE: Well, it depends on my health.. I plan to compete as long as possible.
RI: We should probably knock wood at this point, and maybe spit over the left shoulder, there can be injuries, and opponents who have a completely opposite point of view.. What’s the proportion of conditioning to technique in your training?
FE: It depends on the stage of training. If I am between fights, then.. Well, I don’t separate my training into conditioning and technique. I constantly wok on both, I just increase or decrease the workload. I am always working with partners, so I always have to grapple and counter the physical strength of my opponents, and use technique as well.
RI: Nikolay Valuev (heavyweight boxing champion –CF), or rather, his coaching team is complaining a lot that it’s extremely hard to find partners for him to spar with. They said that after several deep knockouts and knockdowns, the athletes just crawl out of the ring, saying “Never again”. Do you have trouble finding sparring partners?
FE: Actually I became a champion of the World by training with two welterweights who were only at the CMS level, Candidates for the Master of Sports degree in Judo (the lowest ranking for professional athletes in Russia. The next level is Master of Sports, followed by International Master of Sports and Honorary Master of Sports - CF) I think it depends much more on your intellect, on whether you can outthink your opponent, and your preparation. Of course sparring practice plays an important part. For example, I couldn’t prepare for the fight with Mirko Crocop with these two guys, but I did prepare for the fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with them when I took his belt for the first time.
RI: That was in 2003, right?
FE: Yes. I prepared for the fights against Sammy Schilt and Heath Herring with them. Later, when I had to prepare for Mirko Crocop I traveled to Holland specifically to develop kicking technique, and studied Muay Thai.
RI: So, despite the fact that you are the champion of the world, you nevertheless have to constantly study?
FE: yes, I have to improve all the time. The more well-rounded you are as a fighter, the more difficult it is for your opponent to predict and anticipate your actions.
RI: As far as self-confidence or self-doubt go, do you ever, even sub-consciously, think “I can’t do it”, “I am weaker”? Or is it always full steam ahead, there is no turning back..
FE: (laughs) With marching songs…
RI: Right, beating drums and such..
FE: No, there is no self doubt, but any athlete has some nerves before the competition. How correctly the athlete will handle the fight depends on him and his team. It depends on how much they are able to help him. I try to avoid thinking about the fights, and just live my normal life. When I enter the fight, it is really already too late to think about anything.
RI: We have a question from Sergey. Hello, Sergey.
Sergey: Hello.
FE: Hello, Sergey.
Sergey: Hello, Fedor. I am so glad to be able to talk to you. I am studying Combat Sambo under Valeriy Valentinovich Vlasov (Sergey goes on for a while about his club, its affiliations and how it fits in the Sambo Federation). The guys are now asking me via ICQ to invite you to our gym to do a seminar. So, we are inviting you. And I also have a question for you: when are you going to compete in Combat Sambo again, which competitions, etc. When are you going to fight Mirko? When are you going to fight in UFC? And why is Alexander not performing that well recently?
FE: Hmm. Well, I need your address, then..
Sergey: I can leave it here, maybe the call screener can take it down.
FE: Yes, sure. The thing is that I just have a catastrophic shortage of time. I have to keep going to these.. Even when I am not competing myself, I have to schlep all over either to accompany our guys as an honorary guest whenever they compete, or just when people invite me, abroad and in Russia. You know what, if I have time, we’ll organize a visit and I’ll definitely come see you guys.
RI: The next question is about the reasons for Aleksander’s defeats..
FE: Just one second – next time I’ll compete will be , most likely, in February, in the Russian Championship (Fedor is talking about the Combat Sambo championship – CF), but we still have to finalize that. Most likely, I’ll compete under 100 kg, since Aleksander will compete as a heavyweight.
As far as Aleksander’s training goes, well, we haven’t been training together for a long time, because he is a little, I don’t know, star struck by himself. Basically, he decided to do his own thing, and we decided to let him go on his own and see what comes of it. He lost two out of his last three fights.
As far as fighting Mirko goes, he just moved to UFC. He won the Gran Prix and immediately moved to UFC. I don’t know yet whether I’ll compete in UFC myself, it’s all up to my manager. My contract with Pride is expiring, and the decision of where I will fight next depends on the compensation – so it all depends on my manager. Pride wants to keep us, and ..
RI: Of course.
FE: and we have some preliminary agreements in place.
RI: Pride is one of the most prestigious MMA organizations, anyway.
FE: At this point, Pride is the most prestigious MMA organization in the world, and there is really nothing comparable out there. UFC is second, but it is significantly lagging behind, I think, based on their roster, the number of viewers, and the size of the stadiums they fill.
http://fedor.bel.ru/pics/news/DfHTHH
Fedor Emelianenko: Hello, good evening.
RI: Good evening. Fedor, you have a great tradition. Like that famous movie character that every December 31st went to the sauna with his friends (reference to the Soviet movie “Irony of Fortune” - CF), you have a tradition: for the third time, on the night of December 31st, you walk onto the tatami of the famous Saytama Arena in Tokyo to defend your championship title in no holds barred fighting against the best of the best athletes in Pride. So, it happened, you’ve won. Tell us about it.
FE: I faced a famous fighter, Mark Hunt, the K-1 champion, and won during the 9th minute of the match via tapout.
RI: So it was practically over in one round?
FE: Yes, it was just one round. I could have won much earlier, during the second minute, but it didn’t quite work out, that is, I went a little easy on him, and..
RI: What do you mean? You “went easy on him”??
FE: (laughs) Well, no, it’s not like I literally took pity on him..
RI: Does that ever happen in no holds barred fights?
FE: Well, it happens sometimes that when your opponent is just bearing the pain, you can step over and finish the submission by breaking the joints, but I just held back a little thinking that he’ll tap out. Meanwhile, he did not tap and escaped.
RI: So, while you were thinking of his well-being, he was escaping the submission?
FE: Yes. Well, the second time I didn’t hold back anymore.
RI (laughs): Even though you are so nonchalant about it, in general no holds barred fighting is not a sport for the weak and squeamish. It’s for people who are prepared both mentally and physically. This fight was difficult for you simply because on December 11 you broke your toe during training. An injury like that does not heal fast, even on a person as big and strong as you. Did it bother you during this championship match, and if so, how did you deal with it?
FE: No, the injury did not bother me. One thing that bothered me was that I got injured three weeks before the fight and could not stand on that leg, could not run, could not spar, could not grapple, so all I had left was just standing in front of a punching bag and hitting it over and over again.
RI: So, punches only?
FE: Yes, just punches. I should have been under heavier workload, but in general I was prepared well. I wasn’t 100%, but I was close. The injury affected my preparation, of course, but I did not feel it during the fight. I did not really use the toe during the fight, so it did not get injured any more that it was already, and it did not bother me.
RI: Did you keep the injury a secret? For example, professional boxers as a rule conceal their injuries. If they are about to fight, they don’t talk about their injuries to prevent their opponents from using the injury against them. You probably conceal your injuries as well, right?
FE: No, I generally do not conceal my injuries. If I decided to fight, then I’ve already considered it. Many fighters, many athletes make public announcements after the competition, saying: “You see, I was injured, so..”
RI: Perhaps they are making excuses for their defeat.
FE: Yes, I think so. I announced my injury, but I still decided to fight, so that’s that.
RI: We have a question from one of our listeners. Hello, Vitaliy.
Vitaliy: Hello, Irina, Hello, Fedor. My name is Vitaliy Krasni-Beli. Thank you for organizing this meeting. Fedor, you are a great fighter.
FE: Thank you. Thank you, very much.
Vitaliy: I respect you, well, from the bottom of my heart.
FE: Thank you.
Vitaliy: I want to ask four questions. What’s your height and fighting weight, that’s one, how long do you plan to compete, and my third question is what percentage of your training is conditioning versus technique, and my fourth question is whether you have ever experienced any self-doubt in the ring, because you create this impression of this self-confident machine, like this self-confident Russian machine is just, like, moving and leaving no chances for foreign competitors. Thank you.
FE: Thank you very much for your questions. I am 182 cm tall, and I weigh 103kg right now, I was a little heavier before, I used to be 106 kg, but now I compete at 103.
RI: How long are you planning to compete?
FE: Well, it depends on my health.. I plan to compete as long as possible.
RI: We should probably knock wood at this point, and maybe spit over the left shoulder, there can be injuries, and opponents who have a completely opposite point of view.. What’s the proportion of conditioning to technique in your training?
FE: It depends on the stage of training. If I am between fights, then.. Well, I don’t separate my training into conditioning and technique. I constantly wok on both, I just increase or decrease the workload. I am always working with partners, so I always have to grapple and counter the physical strength of my opponents, and use technique as well.
RI: Nikolay Valuev (heavyweight boxing champion –CF), or rather, his coaching team is complaining a lot that it’s extremely hard to find partners for him to spar with. They said that after several deep knockouts and knockdowns, the athletes just crawl out of the ring, saying “Never again”. Do you have trouble finding sparring partners?
FE: Actually I became a champion of the World by training with two welterweights who were only at the CMS level, Candidates for the Master of Sports degree in Judo (the lowest ranking for professional athletes in Russia. The next level is Master of Sports, followed by International Master of Sports and Honorary Master of Sports - CF) I think it depends much more on your intellect, on whether you can outthink your opponent, and your preparation. Of course sparring practice plays an important part. For example, I couldn’t prepare for the fight with Mirko Crocop with these two guys, but I did prepare for the fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with them when I took his belt for the first time.
RI: That was in 2003, right?
FE: Yes. I prepared for the fights against Sammy Schilt and Heath Herring with them. Later, when I had to prepare for Mirko Crocop I traveled to Holland specifically to develop kicking technique, and studied Muay Thai.
RI: So, despite the fact that you are the champion of the world, you nevertheless have to constantly study?
FE: yes, I have to improve all the time. The more well-rounded you are as a fighter, the more difficult it is for your opponent to predict and anticipate your actions.
RI: As far as self-confidence or self-doubt go, do you ever, even sub-consciously, think “I can’t do it”, “I am weaker”? Or is it always full steam ahead, there is no turning back..
FE: (laughs) With marching songs…
RI: Right, beating drums and such..
FE: No, there is no self doubt, but any athlete has some nerves before the competition. How correctly the athlete will handle the fight depends on him and his team. It depends on how much they are able to help him. I try to avoid thinking about the fights, and just live my normal life. When I enter the fight, it is really already too late to think about anything.
RI: We have a question from Sergey. Hello, Sergey.
Sergey: Hello.
FE: Hello, Sergey.
Sergey: Hello, Fedor. I am so glad to be able to talk to you. I am studying Combat Sambo under Valeriy Valentinovich Vlasov (Sergey goes on for a while about his club, its affiliations and how it fits in the Sambo Federation). The guys are now asking me via ICQ to invite you to our gym to do a seminar. So, we are inviting you. And I also have a question for you: when are you going to compete in Combat Sambo again, which competitions, etc. When are you going to fight Mirko? When are you going to fight in UFC? And why is Alexander not performing that well recently?
FE: Hmm. Well, I need your address, then..
Sergey: I can leave it here, maybe the call screener can take it down.
FE: Yes, sure. The thing is that I just have a catastrophic shortage of time. I have to keep going to these.. Even when I am not competing myself, I have to schlep all over either to accompany our guys as an honorary guest whenever they compete, or just when people invite me, abroad and in Russia. You know what, if I have time, we’ll organize a visit and I’ll definitely come see you guys.
RI: The next question is about the reasons for Aleksander’s defeats..
FE: Just one second – next time I’ll compete will be , most likely, in February, in the Russian Championship (Fedor is talking about the Combat Sambo championship – CF), but we still have to finalize that. Most likely, I’ll compete under 100 kg, since Aleksander will compete as a heavyweight.
As far as Aleksander’s training goes, well, we haven’t been training together for a long time, because he is a little, I don’t know, star struck by himself. Basically, he decided to do his own thing, and we decided to let him go on his own and see what comes of it. He lost two out of his last three fights.
As far as fighting Mirko goes, he just moved to UFC. He won the Gran Prix and immediately moved to UFC. I don’t know yet whether I’ll compete in UFC myself, it’s all up to my manager. My contract with Pride is expiring, and the decision of where I will fight next depends on the compensation – so it all depends on my manager. Pride wants to keep us, and ..
RI: Of course.
FE: and we have some preliminary agreements in place.
RI: Pride is one of the most prestigious MMA organizations, anyway.
FE: At this point, Pride is the most prestigious MMA organization in the world, and there is really nothing comparable out there. UFC is second, but it is significantly lagging behind, I think, based on their roster, the number of viewers, and the size of the stadiums they fill.