Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2010
Photos courtesy of M-1 Global
Tele Planning International is offering Metropolis readers the chance to watch a free webcast of Fedor Emilianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum. Register at www.mma-channel.jp/metropolis
Hands up those who remember PRIDE. If you’re into mixed martial arts, you’ll know all about the rise and fall of K-1’s big rival. In its glory days, PRIDE events would sell out on the strength of one fighter: Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emilianenko. (Actually, I don’t recall Fedor ever using the “Last Emperor” moniker in Japan and can’t understand why he uses it now. Some of his fans prefer “Darth Fedor,” which says it all, really.)
Fedor is the man every MMA fighter wants to face. The 33-year-old Russian might look like just another bloke down the pub, but his strength is legendary. As American MMA veteran Don Frye puts it, “Fedor is one of the toughest people walking the planet.”
But the “Emperor” hasn’t fought in Japan since the end of 2007. PRIDE collapsed after Fuji TV pulled the plug on its broadcasts, and attempts to revive the sport have had mixed results. Currently, Sengoku fills the gap, but it lacks the star power that fighters such as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Fedor brought to the ring.
This means that if you want to watch Fedor in action, you have to travel to the United States. But not for long… well, sort of. Tele Planning International, a Tokyo-based sports marketing firm, is bringing Fedor’s next fight to Japan live via the internet.
Not impressed by internet TV? Neither was I until Tele Planning’s David Adams showed me what they could do. Adams hooked up his computer to a 50-inch display and plugged into a music broadcast. It was perfect high-definition TV—no pixels, no lag, no interruptions. It was astonishing.
“We’ve got technology behind it like no one else,” Adams says. Tele Planning will produce the broadcast in conjunction with internet TV startup company Cavea, which broadcasts live music and sports events online.
“Our network has a huge capacity,” he explains, noting that their last live broadcast in Japan attracted 50,000 viewers. “We send three streams at the same time to your computer. If your provider is slow, the stream automatically downgrades the picture to what that computer can handle. This is the future of sports entertainment.”
So why Fedor? “MMA is one of the world’s up-and-coming sports,” Adams says, “and anyone who knows MMA knows Fedor’s name. He’s been the sport’s dominant fighter for several years and has a huge fan base in Japan, so it makes sense for us to kick this off with his next fight.”
The heavyweight champion of the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts will be defending his title in an M-1/Strikeforce promotion against dangerous Brazilian Fabricio Werdum on June 26 in San Jose, California. In an email interview with Metropolis, Fedor agreed that Werdum would be no pushover.
“He is a very talented fighter. He is very skilled in jujitsu, judo and Muay Thai. He has fought some of the very best fighters in Pride, UFC and Strikeforce. He has beaten Alistair Overeem, the current Strikeforce champion, my brother [Aleksander] and some good UFC fighters. It will be a very good match.”
Fedor fought most of his MMA bouts in Japan with PRIDE, and both still have a big place in his heart.
“I enjoyed Japan very much: the fans, the country, the culture, the other fighters and their camps,” he recalls. “It felt like a second home for me. PRIDE was the best MMA organization in the world, with all of the best fighters, and it was an honor to be their champion.”
Fedor says that his fights against Nogueria and Cro Cop were his “toughest and most grueling matches.” He also regrets never getting in the ring with recently retired MMA legend Hidehiko Yoshida, whose farewell event he attended in April.
“It’s a shame Yoshida has retired, because I always enjoyed watching him fight—that’s why I wanted to come to Japan, to honor his achievements,” he says. “I regret that we never had a chance to fight in the ring. He came into the sport of MMA later than most fighters and many American MMA fans do not know about him, but he is a legend in Japan—and in my mind also.”
Speaking of which, is a return trip on the cards?
“I would love to fight in Japan again,” Fedor confesses. “But this is always something that is in the hands of the organizers.”
Fedor Emilianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum. June 27, 11am Tokyo time.
