20 Questions with Jerry Millen

Rogerdraven

Rogerdraven

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Global-mma.com: Any fond memories you want to share from Pride?

Jerry Millen: There are so many great moments from PRIDE it is hard to single out just one. Besides the great respect shown by the fighters to each other something that really stands out is the warrior spirit each one had. One particular thing that showed me just how much heart fighters have is when Wanderlei Silva fought Dan Henderson on our PRIDE Las Vegas show. Wanderlei Silva is one of the best examples of a “true” warrior and a great competitor. On that Vegas show Wand had strep throat and the night before the fight was in the hospital getting it treated. If you saw that fight (which Wand lost) he could barley breath and wasn’t himself. But he refused to withdraw from the fight because he knew what it meant to the fans and to PRIDE.

That’s why he is one of my favorite fighters as he is always ready to go. It is a true testament to who he is when a fighter goes that extra mile to assure the fans get what they came for. He doesn’t know the word quit and you can tell this every time the bell rings. That’s why when fans boo a fighter who step into battle it upsets me because unless you fight you have zero idea what these guys go thru everyday from training to fighting. PRIDE was the greatest MMA event in the world and will never be matched as it was a different era but it will NEVER be forgotten…. PRIDE NEVER DIE!

Global-mma.com: I believe originally, the Open Weight GP was going to be an 8-man tournament. Recently it was announced that it would be a 14-man tournament, with two fighters receiving a bye in the first round. Was this decision made to give more fighters a chance to show off their skills and make an impression?

Jerry Millen: Yes, RIZIN has grown so quickly and we are being approached on a daily basis by organizations from all over the World who want to work with us that we decided to open the field. Being that the RIZIN concept has been so incredibly accepted why not give as many fighters a chance to participate as possible? It’s a great thing for fans and fighters alike!


Check out the rest, including Fedor news, here: http://www.global-mma.com/t13515-20-questions-with-rizin-vp-jerry-millen
 
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he mentioned the plan was to have Rizin continue to air on Spike but the last one wasn't on Spike, maybe because it didnt have any names? let's hope the OWGP will air on Spike
 
mime said:
he mentioned the plan was to have Rizin continue to air on Spike but the last one wasn't on Spike, maybe because it didnt have any names? let's hope the OWGP will air on Spike
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Probably. The last one was more of a card to give young talent a chance to shine. I'm sure that event's winners and standouts will be on the Sept card.
 
Global-mma.com: Any fond memories you want to share from Pride?

Jerry Millen: Destroying the English broadcast team.
 
BooThisMan.gif


Boo you, Gary.
 
People can hate all they want, but the guy has been great to talk to. He took time to answer questions and interact with the fans. But of course this is sherdog, being reasonable isn't something that flies around here.
 
Rogerdraven said:
People can hate all they want, but the guy has been great to talk to. He took time to answer questions and interact with the fans. But of course this is sherdog, being reasonable isn't something that flies around here.
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It's pretty reasonable to dislike a charlatan.
 
For people who love Rizin and are curious about the future. Check it out. A lot of great info.
 
Question: Are you the douchiest douche who ever douched?

Millen: Yes.
 
Rogerdraven said:
For people who love Rizin and are curious about the future. Check it out. A lot of great info.
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Great interview. Some really good responses from Millen. PRIDE 2.0 is sounding really good.
 
damn i was hoping to see fedor in the owgp but jerry"the fedor whisper" millen just put a end to that
 
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Andrey Kamensky said:
Well it also means that it's either EFN, Bellator or the UFC.
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You posted that Russian documentary, right? Where at the end (in Russian) Fedor says he is feeling strong, etc and has big plans? I know when Fedor first stated he was coming back he said he wanted a couple of warm up fights. 1 in Japan, 1 in Russia, and if he felt good physically he would be looking to fight in the U.S..

Karim Zidan, who has been accurate with news on where and who Fedor is fighting (so far), said Fedor is not going to the ufc. He also said he has already began negotiations with EFN. Fedor was recently at the Bellator card in London, and I am sure did some negotiations there as well. My guess, from all the evidence, is it will be EFN or Bellator next. But even if it is EFN next I think Bellator is in Fedor's future. I also hope he keeps fighting in Rizin as well, at least on NYE.

If he signs with the ufc, with their contracts, he won't have the freedom to also fight in EFN & Rizin. I know one thing, It would be awesome to see Fedor vs Cro Cop II and Fedor vs Wanderlei Silva.
 
I'm going to try and set up anotherQ&A with someone else in the next couple of months. A fighter or a promoter. Any suggestions on who you would be interested in?
 
4 - 6 events in 2017 are planned which seems like a good number to prevent over-saturation.
 
Rogerdraven said:
You posted that Russian documentary, right? Where at the end (in Russian) Fedor says he is feeling strong, etc and has big plans? I know when Fedor first stated he was coming back he said he wanted a couple of warm up fights. 1 in Japan, 1 in Russia, and if he felt good physically he would be looking to fight in the U.S..

Karim Zidan, who has been accurate with news on where and who Fedor is fighting (so far), said Fedor is not going to the ufc. He also said he has already began negotiations with EFN. Fedor was recently at the Bellator card in London, and I am sure did some negotiations there as well. My guess, from all the evidence, is it will be EFN or Bellator next. But even if it is EFN next I think Bellator is in Fedor's future. I also hope he keeps fighting in Rizin as well, at least on NYE.

If he signs with the ufc, with their contracts, he won't have the freedom to also fight in EFN & Rizin. I know one thing, It would be awesome to see Fedor vs Cro Cop II and Fedor vs Wanderlei Silva.
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Would be cool to see him fight in all 3 of those orgs. over time.
 
Rogerdraven said:
You posted that Russian documentary, right? Where at the end (in Russian) Fedor says he is feeling strong, etc and has big plans? I know when Fedor first stated he was coming back he said he wanted a couple of warm up fights. 1 in Japan, 1 in Russia, and if he felt good physically he would be looking to fight in the U.S..

Karim Zidan, who has been accurate with news on where and who Fedor is fighting (so far), said Fedor is not going to the ufc. He also said he has already began negotiations with EFN. Fedor was recently at the Bellator card in London, and I am sure did some negotiations there as well. My guess, from all the evidence, is it will be EFN or Bellator next. But even if it is EFN next I think Bellator is in Fedor's future. I also hope he keeps fighting in Rizin as well, at least on NYE.

If he signs with the ufc, with their contracts, he won't have the freedom to also fight in EFN & Rizin. I know one thing, It would be awesome to see Fedor vs Cro Cop II and Fedor vs Wanderlei Silva.
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Yeah it was me.
Now that you mentioned that Fedor quote from back when he came back to mma it makes even more sense that it's Bellator or the UFC. But you're right. Karim Zidan usually has great sources, but imo this time he got it a little wrong. He shared the info that Fedor is going to start negotiating with EFN soon back when it was all over the Russian media. It's not your usual "breaking news". And the thing is that it was Gadzhiev himself who expressed willingness to negotiate with Fedor. And I quote, "We hope to have a talk with Fedor in about 10 days". And later he explained himself and said that there's nothing concrete yet. They just want to make an offer. So it's no biggie actually... I'm sure Fedor has multiple offers from various organizations.
 
Andrey Kamensky said:
Yeah it was me.
Now that you mentioned that Fedor quote from back when he came back to mma it makes even more sense that it's Bellator or the UFC. But you're right. Karim Zidan usually has great sources, but imo this time he got it a little wrong. He shared the info that Fedor is going to start negotiating with EFN soon back when it was all over the Russian media. It's not your usual "breaking news". And the thing is that it was Gadzhiev himself who expressed willingness to negotiate with Fedor. And I quote, "We hope to have a talk with Fedor in about 10 days". And later he explained himself and said that there's nothing concrete yet. They just want to make an offer. So it's no biggie actually... I'm sure Fedor has multiple offers from various organizations.
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Ah, I wasn't aware of that. I think all signs point to Fedor being in Bellator with him just being at their event, but we will see. I would think we will know something in the next month or 2. Bellator makes the most sense since Fedor doesn't like being tied down and with them he could fight in the U.S., Russia and Japan.
 
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