Mixed Martial Masterpiece (Bojan Elezovic Interview)

I recently had the opportunity to interview MMA artist Bojan Elezovic for Tapology, whom many of your might remember from a video interview he conducted with MMA Fanhouse's Ariel Helwani prior to Fedor's fight against Brett Rogers on CBS on November 7.

On background in art and martial arts:

Tapology: I wanted to start with your background in art and martial arts.

Elezovic: Well, I am an artist. I am a filmmaker, musician, poet, and painter, which kind of makes me a mixed martial artist. As a 15 year old kid, I was a kickboxing champion back in my home country of Sarajevo, former Yugoslavia, and a week after I got my title, war started and changed my life completely. 

I never returned to the sport, but I love to watch and I admire the athletes and support them of course. After the war started, I got involved in music, playing the drums. I was very involved in art from that point on, and I moved to Canada in 1997.

On passion for MMA:

Tapology: What is it that draws you toward this sport and these particular athletes?

Elezovic: Basically, my view of art is that it’s a state of mind and body through the artist’s expression, which is also what mixed martial arts is; it’s the conscience and body that these athletes have to cope with in order to compete. Mixed martial arts is the most developed, complex sport today because it is a combination of all of the martial arts, and to compete in that sport you have to be a complete fighter. This day the sport is pretty much at the dawn of development; it’s at one third of its potential in my opinion. In terms of the number of combinations and the way in which these gentlemen fight, the sport is becoming more and more complex.

It is the greatest level of synchronization that the human form is exposed to because it is completely improvised. Every second of the fight is improvised. You have to train and prepare yourself, but the fight is never as you have prepared, so you have to cope with that and go with the flow in a way.

On Fedor:

Tapology: Do you think he is the best mixed martial artist currently competing?

Elezovic: To tell you the truth, I still think that there is no greatest fighter. It’s like saying who is the greatest painter. It is just a matter of your personal choice and admiration for them. He could be the greatest because of his winning streak, and also as a human being, he is pretty much the nicest person competing. His devotion towards his family, his religion, the Russian people, and the sport is incredible. He is the only Russian who comes to America to fight and gets cheered.

On opponents of MMA:

Tapology: What would you say to opponents of the sport?

Elezovic: I could only say that they should educate themselves a bit. I am so disappointed hearing Dana White talking bad about Fedor. He is affecting MMA in the wrong way by doing what he is doing. He is turning it into what happened to boxing with all of the promotional build-up and all of the negativity. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

I can only laugh at Brock Lesnar fighting Fedor because to me Lesnar does not deserve a chance to fight Fedor at this point. He just came into the sport, and he already cannot have the streak that Fedor does because he lost his first fight. Maybe after 15 fights he may be at the point where he can fight Fedor. He is a big, strong guy—that is how he won—but in my opinion he has to prove himself a bit more as an athlete and he should be more respectful towards his fans and sponsors and things like that.

Be sure to read the entire interview to get details on Elezovic's youth in War-torn Yugoslavia, as well as his favorite fighters, current MMA-themed projects, Fedor's reaction to receiving his personalized portrait after defeating Rogers, and the relationship between the aesthetic and combative arts.