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[jesusatemyhotdog]

Scenes from a Divorce

When a marriage is dissolved, plenty of dirty laundry usually needs washing.

Such was the case after the relationship between Bodog Fight and M-1 Mix-Fight, the Russian branch of M-1 Global, went down the drain following the co-promoted "Clash of the Nations" event in April 2007.

M-1 Mix-Fight President Vadim Finkelchtein told Sherdog.com that M-1 booked the venue, organized the show and even attracted VIPs such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Meanwhile, said Finkelchtein, Bodog pocketed the praise and barely acknowledged the cooperation inside the arena, on the pay-per-view broadcast or on the promotional material.

Bodog has a completely different view of things. In fact, Bodog spokesman Trevor Miller said that the relationship with Finkelchtein deteriorated because Bodog Fight "is now his competitor in the Russian TV market."

Bodog Fight's billionaire owner Calvin Ayre went even further on his personal Internet blog: "As far as we are aware, the event we put on in Russia was our idea and we financed it 100 percent. The branding was done according to the deal we had in place. If anyone did not like the deal, the time to object was before they agreed to it -- not after."

Regardless of who is right or wrong in the matter -- in most divorces both partners are guilty of something -- Finkelchtein cut all ties with Ayre's promotion and eventually joined forces with Sibling Entertainment Group to form M-1 Global. Still, in M-1's view, Bodog Fight used Finkelchtein's connections to get a foot in the door of the Russian fight market.

Without the help of M-1, Bodog ran another "Russia vs. USA" show in November. Even though it marked the comeback of UFC legend Oleg Taktarov and had other quality fighters like Eric Pele (Pictures) and Andrei Semenov (Pictures) participating, the event received little to no attention stateside. In Russia, however, Bodog even managed to land a weekly television spot on Channel One.

There would be no problem if Bodog and M-1 had gone completely separate ways. Of course, the promotions haven't.

Bodog has scheduled an event for April 19, the reliable Russian ticket agency Kassir has confirmed. The show, which was originally supposed to happen March 21, has been pushed back a full month and will again take place at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in St. Petersburg.

The Bodog show will use a "Russia vs. The World" theme, which M-1 Mix-Fight popularized with seven shows of the exact same name between 2001 and 2003. Moreover, Bodog moved its event back a month shortly after it became known that M-1 Global's U.S. debut is now likely to take place on May 3 instead of April 11.

The fight card has former Red Devil fighter Ibragim Magomedov (Pictures) headlining against Brazilian behemoth Wagner da Conceicao Martins (Pictures). UFC veteran Andrei Semenov (Pictures) takes on Polish grappler Michal Materla in the co-feature, and Spaniard Daniel Tabera (Pictures) will fight Russian samboist Stanislav Shushko.

That sounds like three decent fights -- nothing too special to get upset about. The bigger picture, however, is that Bodog has booked fighters that were originally featured in M-1's plans.

For example, Tabera is an undefeated light heavyweight prospect who recently signed a non-exclusive contract with M-1 Global. He was tipped to be included in the U.S. debut show, possibly against former Pride star Ricardo Arona (Pictures). Because Tabera is now fighting in St. Petersburg just two weeks earlier, M-1 Global matchmaker Apy Echteld has to look elsewhere for quality personnel.

Even more dramatic is the Semenov situation. Semenov is a middleweight fighter that had been considered one of the very best in his weight class at the turn of the millennium. The success he had in his native country, where he won numerous four- and eight-man tournaments, even earned him a short stint in the UFC in 2002 during which he defeated Ricardo Almeida (Pictures).

Semenov is even more valuable due to the fact that he has played in a couple of movies and the TV series "Zona," the Russian equivalent of "Prison Break." Therefore the public knows him.

After the 30-year-old submission specialist picked Bodog over M-1 as a future employer, he was thrown out of the Red Devil Team, with which he had trained for more than 10 years.

Semenov's decision made such waves that even his former tutor Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) interfered. When Fedor heard the news, he immediately called Finkelchtein, Red Devil's owner. Later Fedor was quoted in an interview as saying, "Listen, nothing will come of [Semenov]. I have no desire to work with someone who lets people down like that."

Finkelchtein is unlikely to watch without doing anything. The consequences could involve M-1 signing native Russian talent to exclusive contracts or making it difficult for Bodog to run shows in St. Petersburg.

M-1 is a fucking joke.

[Supe]

Originally Posted by jesusatemyhotdog

[


M-1 is a fucking joke.

Couldnt' have said it better myself.

[Quintessential Studmuffin]

Originally Posted by jesusatemyhotdog

M-1 is a fucking joke.

Quote,submit,agree.

[jrube]

sounds like maybe Dana was right when he referred to Fienkle dick as being hard to deal with, and called them "Crazy Russians", Don't ya think?

[Clint]

lol nothing like already showing their conflict of interest. Semenov picked the org he wanted to fight for and they kicked him out of the team for it.

As for this:

Semenov's decision made such waves that even his former tutor Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) interfered. When Fedor heard the news, he immediately called Finkelchtein, Red Devil's owner. Later Fedor was quoted in an interview as saying, "Listen, nothing will come of [Semenov]. I have no desire to work with someone who lets people down like that."

This one is interesting. People talk shit about how it's Fedor's fault for not signing with the UFC and people argue that Fedor did what was best for himself. however when Semenov does what he feels is best for himself, Fedor trashes him for it. Thats fucked up.

[thebwit]

Seriously, M1 wasn't even a promotion in April of 2007 and they (the people who work for M1) are trying to take claim as a company for work that they did while they were employed by Bodog?

[Clint]

Originally Posted by thebwit

Seriously, M1 wasn't even a promotion in April of 2007 and they (the people who work for M1) are trying to take claim as a company for work that they did while they were employed by Bodog?

Well the company that M-1 Global bought did the work, so thats like the same thing right? :headscratch: They also tried to take a large portion of credit for Yarrenoka. Hell Finkelstein tried to say that a NYE tribute to Pride was their idea.

[jesusatemyhotdog]

It seems that M1's business plan is as follows:

Create a name.

Sign Fedor.

Tell other promoters that they are willing to cross promote.

By cross promote, they mean that they will hold Fedor for ransom. In return for Fedor's services, M1 gets $2m for Fedor, their name stamped on everything, a split of the revenue.

Tell the world how much of a player you are in the MMA scene.

Repeat.

Only problem is that no other promoter is biting.

[twankydawg]

Originally Posted by thebwit

Seriously, M1 wasn't even a promotion in April of 2007 and they (the people who work for M1) are trying to take claim as a company for work that they did while they were employed by Bodog?

I think you have it messed up here dude. M1 Mixfight is the company that Finkelschmuck owned that was bought by SEG and turned into M1 Global. They did lease Fedor out for that show with Bodog and that's their idea of a copromotion, when Bodog didn't give them 50/50 banner space, they got cranky and took their ball and went home.

Now they want other orgs to co promote essentially under the same circumstances, where they don't put up any money, just offer up Fedor, and most orgs aren't going to bite on that. M1 is going nowhere fast, I don't even give them another year before they fold, and legit guys like Monte Cox aren't going to go down with a burning ship, I'm waiting for him to jump ship soon.

[Clint]

Cox being involved in this mess surprises me. He is pretty much the only person involved that isn't shady in some way. Especially since this has to be putting a strain on his managing when he negotiates with other orgs, because I know if I was running an organization, I wouldn't want to be negotiating with a guy with is the president of a competiting org.