Fedor vs Barnett On Russian National TV, M-1 Breakthrough: Lawal vs Frye, UFC and Boxing To Clash During Fall, Kennedy and Radach Latest In EA Sports MMA Game

Fedor vs Barnett To Be Televised on Largest Russian TV Station

This is a very big deal for MMA in Russia and for M-1.  Previously, Russia has tried to downplay MMA (refusing again and again to televise any MMA) and keeping Fedor and other MMA stars as relative unknowns in their own country, as Sambo is the country's national combat sport.  M-1 and their fans started a campaign to get MMA televised on national TV, and it appears they have finally succeeded.  

According to the agreement reached the main battle tournament M-1 Global & affliction Trilogy - battle for the title of world champion on for the WAMMA Heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Josh Barnett will be shown in the evening, broadcasting on Channel One August 2nd. The leaders of M-1 Global Vadim Finkelstein and Sergey Matvienko thank all the fans of MMA, have left their signatures during the campaign "MMA in the masses!" Held at our site. Your support has provided great help in organizing the event.

For those that don't know, Channel One is the largest TV station in Russia, which 51% of it is controlled by the Russian government. This could be a huge first step for M-1 Global and for Fedor to become a national hero for his country, as well as jump start MMA in a country that has been vital in its participation and admiration of combat sports. 

Channel One remains the most prosperous of Russian TV channels and wields the largest budget by far. It airs the Russian adaptations of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Survivor, and Star Factory, as well as many homegrown productions. It has produced many high-profile films, including four of the highest-grossing Russian movies after the Soviet collapse, Night Watch(2004), The Turkish Gambit (2005), Day Watch (2006), and The Irony of Fate 2 (2007).

Luke Thomas touched on this subject not too long ago.

I certainly do not expect White or any other corporate parent to finance M-1's operations - noble or otherwise - but for folks who've often wondered why Fedor or other Russian MMA fighters aren't as popular in their own home country as they conceivably could be, one has to keep in mind there are clear barriers to entry that will not easily be overcome for either the fighters or the sport. Putin may be a judo black belt, but unless he's willing to flex his muscle on MMA's behalf, it's not at all clear how the sport will change the minds of state-run media even if they can amass grass roots support.

M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough On August 28th in Los Angeles

It seems that this is only the beginning for M-1 Global, as they are also getting prepared to go solo and put on an MMA event on August 28th in the Los Angeles Convention Center in California.  The show will be headlined by a bout between King Mo and Don Frye and will be televised on HDNet.

Ready to host its own major shows (rather than co-promoting with other organizations), M-1 Global will kick off a new era of fight promotion on Aug. 28 with a main event of top prospect Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (4-0) vs. MMA trailblazer and legend Don Frye (20-7-1).

Sources close to the negotiations today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) bout agreements have finally been signed for the previously rumored matchup.

The event, "M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough," takes place at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California.

An HDNet official today told MMAjunkie.com the event airs live on the all-high-definition cable station.

The show, which takes place on the eve of UFC 102 in Portland, Ore., is being held in conjunction with IMMAE, an international MMA expo and trade show.

The UFC and Boxing Will Be Clashing This Fall

Mayweather has already started the assault against the UFC with some early pot shots, and it looks like this was only the beginning.  Boxing and the UFC are lined up to go head to head twice this fall in September 19th and November 14th.  September will put UFC 103, which will feature Dan Henderson vs Rich Franklin and Mirko vs Dos Santos, against the Floyd Mayweather vs Juan Manuel Marquez boxing event.  On November 14th, UFC 105, which will feature Bisping, Wilks, and Pearson, will go up against a blockbuster boxing PPV bout between the #1 P4P boxer in the world Manny Pacquiao versus his toughest fight yet, Miguel Cotto.  Though, we should take into account that UFC 105 may be shown on Spike TV, so, they will probably not go head to head for PPV buys.

September 19th:

Floyd Mayweather vs Juan Manuel Marquez

UFC 103: Henderson vs Franklin

 

November 14th:

Manny Pacquiao vs Miguel Cotto

UFC 105: Bisping, Wilks, Pearson

Tim Kennedy and Benji Radach Latest MMA Fighters On EA Sports MMA

Benji Radach:

Via MMA Worldwide:

Is there anything else you would like to tell me about that’s happening.

Ya, I’m going to be in a new game that EA is putting out. It’s an alternate MMA program to what THQ has done with the UFC. I’m going to be in it along with Randy (Couture), Fedor (Emelianenko) and a number of others. I start that in August. It’s gonna be pretty sick!

Tim Kennedy

Tim Kennedy recently revealed that he will be leaving the Army and will become a full time MMA fighter for Strikeforce.  He will also be appearing in the EA Sports MMA video game.

Before joining the Army, Kennedy trained with MMA legend Chuck Liddell. Now under a three-fight contract with Strikeforce, Kennedy beat Nick Thompson, a fighter currently ranked 10th in the world in his weight class by MMAWeekly.com, on June 19. The fight aired on Showtime, and it was Kennedy’s first professional MMA fight in 18 months.

Kennedy is preparing for his second Strikeforce fight, on Sept. 25. He also will appear in an EA Sports MMA video game as "Tim Kennedy, Army fighter," and he plans to stay involved in nonprofit organizations that advocate and care for wounded warriors.

"Opportunity only knocks for a short portion of your life, and my time is now," Kennedy said.

Dave Metlzer also had an update to the whole EA Sports versus UFC drama.

EA Sports would not comment on the controversy, although it is known they had planned for an MMA game last year, long before UFC Undisputed became a proven success. Since the company turned White down, there has been a change in upper management, and the new regime is more friendly toward MMA.

EA Sports hasn’t released names that are included in the game, although it is well known Couture will be the headline name and Tim Sylvia has publicly said he’s accepted a deal. With a finite number of marketable fighters not in UFC, it would be obvious that top stars with either Affliction or Strikeforce were likely offered a deal. The odd men out are those with the WEC, as UFC decided against including WEC fighters in their game, and obviously, as Zuffa fighters, there was no way they could accept an offer from EA either.