MMA Nation Interview Recap: Evgeni Kogan Talks Fedor Emelianenko and M-1 Global's Goals
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 23, 2010 1:32 PM EDT
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On this past weekend's edition of MMA Nation, Luke Thomas spoke to M-1 Global's Director of Global Operations Evgeni Kogan who described his role as involving "basically everything from A to Zed."
Kogan made it clear that M-1 does not currently have the level of brand recognition in America that they would like but that they do plan on continuing to attempt to make the connection with the sport's fanbase. Also important to M-1 is developing an understanding that they are not simply a "management company" but are a full fledged fight promotion putting on events in multiple continents this year. Kogan also admitted that in part the lack of narrative control by M-1 during the Fedor/UFC negotiations led to the issues with understanding the company and that they plan to work more with the media and fans going forward.
Luke soon turned the conversation to Fedor and in response to being asked why M-1 seemed so important to Emelianenko Kogan was surprisingly candid. "The basic reason is that he is one of the shareholders of the company" Kogan said. Of course, personal relationships with men such as Vadim do have some weight, but the main driving force according to Kogan is his status as a shareholder.
In terms of the Strikeforce contract situation Evgeni said that he couldn't get into too many specifics but the lack of exposure following the November fight was an issue and one that they have attempted to address. Luke agreed with the overall idea that M-1 did not get a fair enough amount of exposure on the first CBS effort and then asked about Coker's comments that the negotiations are basically done. Kogan explained that they are "95 - 99.96%" of the way there and just have to "cross the T's and dot the I's." There is no clear date established for Fedor's return to the cage once the negotiations end, but he will be starting his training camp once the deal is finalized.
Other points of interest from the interview:
- Kogan said that Gegard Mousasi was not signed to M-1 but rather had a relationship with certain people within the organization. It's regrettable that the relationship ended, but they are still on good terms.
- The opportunity cost of missing a chance to headline another CBS event was acknowledged but labeled "unavoidable." Kogan also feels that the show will do good ratings with the Henderson/Shields headlining fight.
- Aleksander Emelianenko recently had a boxing match in Russia but the status of his rumored Hep B is not known by Evgeni. And he is unsure if Aleks will ever have a fight in America.
- Luke ended the interview by claiming that Kogan is exactly the type of person needed for M-1 with his understanding of MMA media and ability to speak English and answer questions directly.
Full audio of the interview here:
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Okay so I’m not crazy…was there not a MMA Nation post put on the front page? Would have enjoyed listening during the Versus show. And is there any news on if Luke is going to continue streaming the show live on UStream?
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
by Kaleb Kelchner on Mar 23, 2010 12:38 PM EDT reply actions
We had to pre-record
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
by Luke Thomas on Mar 23, 2010 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions
And yes
I will continue streaming on UStream for sure.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
by Luke Thomas on Mar 23, 2010 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions
Are you still streaming online or is it only if I have HD? I know at shorealternative we’re HD and also stream online.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Mar 23, 2010 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Well
We’re still slotted to always be on the FM signal. When we get pushed to the HD station, we can’t stream…yet. But that’s changing soon.
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
by Luke Thomas on Mar 23, 2010 12:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Rad. I can’t pick you up on terrestrial anyway because I’m in Jersey but it’s nice that I can listen to the shows. I finally hooked up my music show and now am working on 1310fox to come in and discuss MMA. They seem to be into the idea.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Mar 23, 2010 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions
*I hooked up my music show on shorealternative (HD) and am now discussing coming in and being MMA analyst for Fox1310.
twitter.com/thisredengine
by Matthew Roth on Mar 23, 2010 12:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Thanks for the reply Luke, with the amount of viewers and how active the comments were, it’ll be interesting to see how it goes if it becomes a regular thing.
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
by Kaleb Kelchner on Mar 23, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m sick of hearing about M-1.. honestly getting sick of hearing about Fedor too. Just a bunch of smoke and mirrors.
That sucks…because they’re both kind of too important for us to not write about.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 23, 2010 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions
and sounds like too important for people to simply not click on a link to read an article about them even if they are not interested
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Mar 23, 2010 1:45 PM EDT up reply actions
Nice job working the Aleks question in there. I think the non-answer is very telling and unfortunate.
"For some reason Dana White doesn't like me, and I don't care enough to find out why. So he can go pound sand up his ass as far as I'm concerned."
Don Frye
by keyboardwarrior on Mar 23, 2010 1:43 PM EDT reply actions
Didn't he sever ties with M-1 though?
I seem to remember he didn’t have a lot of good words for them.
Though I don’t really buy that they don’t know anything about the alleged condition that will bar him from fighting in the States again.
Get rid of the ramp!
Is he new with M-1 or has his name just surfaced recently? He seems to have a better grasp on things than the other guys do, at least he talks a good game. Their next move should be to ban jerry millen from speaking to the press (or just fire him) as he does them more damage than good every time he opens his mouth.
by who me on Mar 23, 2010 2:32 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Is he this guy?
Evgeni Kogan is a marketing manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, currently based in Moscow, Russia. Born in St.Petersburg, Russia during the last days of disco, he lived most of his life in New Zealand and has recently made the journey back to Eastern Europe. In Russia he is finding his roots, improving his Russian and waging a personal daily battle against the ‘taste vacuum’ that is this amazing country. Having been here for two months already he proudly boasts an entirely Dolce and Gabbana free wardrobe, which, if you know Moscow, is quite an achievement.
http://www.runawaynow.com/contributors/
Wasn’t there also an Evgeni Kogan writing at Sherdog a couple of years ago?
Same guy. Dude, it’s the first question I ask in the interview. Listen to it!
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
Can’t yet, I am still at work for another 2 hours. Planning on checking it out first thing when I get home.
Thanks!
Follow me on Twitter: @MMANation.
by Luke Thomas on Mar 23, 2010 10:23 PM EDT up reply actions
F$%#k M-1 Global
Who cares
Give me a break. Wake me up when Fedor is fighting some real competition period.
lol
A lil sarcasm on my point I admit as I don’t take too much too seriously BUT all Im sayin is I just want to see Fedor fight and am sick of all the BS…
Luke agreed with the overall idea that M-1 did not get a fair enough amount of exposure on the first CBS effort
It’s nice to have someone from the company who is articulate and doesn’t come across as incredibly shady (Vadim) or a flat-out jerk (Millen), but I’m still not buying into this who “co-promotion” schtick when I don’t fully understand what it is they’re actually trying to do except get their name plastered everywhere alongside Strikeforce’s just because Fedor is a shareholder/part-owner of M-1. Do they actually contribute anything to the promotional/running costs of the event?
I’d be interested to hear that side of the story.
Get rid of the ramp!
Maybe M-1 isn’t a management company per se, but it seems like their plan for expanding their fanbase and getting people to pay attention to them is just to put their name all over the place whenever Fedor fights. How exactly does that translate to a viable long-term strategy? Can anybody see Strikeforce (or any other promotion) co-promoting with M-1 if/when Fedor loses a couple fights or retires?
Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.
by lowellthehammer on Mar 23, 2010 3:18 PM EDT reply actions
The main reason I think M-1 has a long term strategy is their willingness to promote young fighters. M-1 has a more defined long term stategy than Strikeforce. But, yet Strikeforce is perceived as a more viable MMA promotion. The fact that M-1 leverage Fedor/ the greatest living HW is also long term. This promotion only fails when Fedor starts to lose. This would be the main reason Fedor isn’t in the UFC. It is obvious that M-1 isn’t committed to Strikeforce, M-1 is only interested in M-1 and it’s continued growth. Once Strikeforce folds, M-1 uses a negotiation with UFC to help leveage a new contract with Bellator or Shine. The whole strategy is killed by Fedor losing his status, for Fedor is their Ace of Spades. Once M-1 gets the brand recognition in America they desire, then they will negotiate with UFC and Fedor fights in the Octagon. not before.
If Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, Do you think Greece would help?
I'll add
Fedor will have helped build M-1 Global into a world wide MMA monster along the same lines as the UFC. Fedor will have become double redudant in his economic future. If he loses in the UFC, oh well, he helped to build M-1 into a giant and thus live off the revenue. I think it is very smart on M-1 and Fedor part, I just want to see him in the UFC so he can fight.
If Russia attacked Turkey from the rear, Do you think Greece would help?
Fun fact
M-1 practically has a monopoly on all the upcoming Russian and Ukranian talent… and some of those guys are damn good.
Absolutely not true
ProFC has a good deal of talented hairy Russians under their wings
http://www.mmarocks.pl
https://twitter.com/mmarocks_pl
by Venom77 on Mar 23, 2010 6:07 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
i love fedor
but im truly sick of this i want fedor to lose now so m1 will become totally irrelevant
noone will copromote with fedor if hes not the #1 heavyweight in the world
and the way the UFC heavyweight division is progressing id say whoever comes out of the 5 man tourney of brock, mir, carwin, velasquez, and JDS should be ranked as the #1 heavyweight in the world
If you're an mma production company . . .
then put your money where your mouth is and put on U.S. shows with Fedor. Until you do, everyone will see you as a leech you can extract this “copromote” nonsense because people want Fedor’s services.
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