Media Fedor Emelianenko - huge interview, rewatching fight with CroCop.

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I couldn't find anywhere anyone posting it yet, so I'll do the job. Wall of text alert.

Courtesy of Ushatayka. Original language is Russian.

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Before the fight with CroCop

1:47 *Fedor greets Crocop warmly
Fedor: I don't remember the details anymore, but I tried to have good relationship with others. I didn't have any kind of biased relationship or I didn't try to build a wall built between me and another athlete. I tried to act in a good way.

2:37 *Footage of Crocop calling out Fedor after fight with Igor Vovchanchyn.
Q: Did you feel anything after a call out? Or was like "I don't care"?
Fedor: Well, it's clear that it was necessary to step up in striking technique, in Thai boxing, in kickboxing. I just became champion at the time, so of course everyone wanted to fight (me), everyone wanted to challenge the title (of champion).

Q: Igor (Vovchanchyn) just got KO'ed. As I know you were in good relationship with Igor. What did you feel (toward Crocop) after he (Igor) lost?
Fedor: Yes, we were in good relationship with Igor until it was possible. I had an unpleasant feeling not because he called me out but because he dropped Igor.

Q: In the end of the day, Crocop fought Nogueira at PRIDE and you fought Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 event. How did that happen? Why did you temporarily leave PRIDE?
Fedor: The thing was as it turned out I actually had a fraudulent contract, it's unclear who signed it. So the relationship that we had there with the promoter, the manager Pogodin Vladimir Evgen'evich has ended. So I started working with Vadim (Finkelstein). It turned out that the contract was wrong and so on, it turned out that somehow everything was made up, it was all deceived, and I had to leave the organization for a while.
Q: How difficult was it to return there afterwards?
Fedor: Absolutely no problem.


Q: In 2004 Grand Prix you won your fight vs. Mark Coleman but Mirko lost to Randleman.
Fedor: I've seen that Kevin was explosive but noone expected such outcome at the moment. Promotion led Mirko and wanted Mirko to win.
Q: If Crocop won you would have met. But it didnt work out?
Fedor: Did not, thanks God *laughs*

Q: About fight with Randleman. After the fight at presser, Randleman said that you were unconscious for a second.
Fedor: No, I was always conscious. I'll tell you another little story. That's what I got later, well, what the coaches told me. When the slam happened, Alexander Vasily'evich (Michkov) the boxing coach, shoves Vladimir Mikhailovich (Voronov, wrestling coach) and says: "Did he pass out?" And only when I switched the position on the ground - Mikhailovich wrestling coach said: "No, it's okay, don't worry". Mikhailovich wrestling coach himself was lost, he did not understand what condition I was in. But, thank God, everything was fine with me. *smiles*
Q: I'm sorry, but did it hurt?
Fedor: It didn't hurt.
Q: And were there any issues after the fight?
Fedor: I didn't have any major issues. Only for some time I had some minor issue with deep breath, with cartilage, the place where ribs meet. Thanks God, good landing. *laughs*
Fedor: I was practicing judo, so how many times have I thrown my partner that many times have I been thrown. And there were lots of different types of situations we were throwing each other, including risky ones with "throws from the 2nd floor" when you are being high in the sky. So when I felt my legs high in the air, I understood where I'm at, how should I group myself and what needs to be done downstairs afterwards.
Q: We can say that you have learned something from this situation. Did you make a mistake at the moment that he managed to make this throw?
Fedor: No, I think that Kevin been doing this all his life, so of course this moment was for him, he used it. Let's just say that I didn't fall for in training afterwards. *smiles*


Q: Lets get back to Mirko. He picked up a high tempo, had many fights. Including the fight with Alexandr (Emelianenko, brother of Fedor). What in your opinion Alexandr did wrong in that fight?
Fedor: Everything. First of all, asking for such a fight (was a mistake). And then he didn't even prepare for the fight.
Q: How is that possible?
Fedor: The thing is Alexandr telling fairy tales of how he was thrown under the bus, and like how he protected me from fighting Crocop. It's not true, simply because I couldn't fight Mirko at the time since I was still participating in Grand Prix, and the last fight of Grand Prix was around New Year of 2004. Alexandr asked himself for this fight and promotion was happy to make it, since next fight would be with me. Me, manager and whole team asked Alexandr not to accept the fight but he refused.


11:30 *footage of Fedor watching his brother fighting Crocop. After KO in between lots censoring Fedor's swearing, its possible to hear phrases from coaches like "He put his hands down", "Stopped moving thus got hit".
Q: Did you know you were filmed during the fight in the locker room?
Fedor: No, I didn't. I knew I was too emotional and I wouldn't let myself act like this in front of people.
Q: Why? I mean, your brother is fighting and he got KO'ed, whats wrong about human emotions?
Fedor: I consider myself a religious person and today as if something like that happened I wouldn't act this way.
Q: How did you learn about the footage?
Fedor: A year after or so. Someone was talking to my wife and said something like: "Have you seen that?". And she was like: "Yea, I saw, I'm shocked". And I had no idea what they were talking about. *smiles* Then I watched myself and was like "how did that happen" (how could I act this way).
Q: So you saw the footage only after you fought Mirko?
Fedor: It was closer to a time before the fight I guess. Yeah, it was somewhat around before the fight. Wife was shocked, she didn't know that part of me yet but she understood. *smiles*
Q: I would swear even stronger if that happened to me.
Fedor: Thats bad. I have no habit of swearing (now). But at the time it happened since I was living different way and the God humbled me though this (by making it public).

15:00 - 19:00 Fedor in no details and no names talks about how previous team scammed him. Says that conditions in his new contract in the same status of a fighter were improved drastically.

Q: fight with Arona, have you rewatched it?
Fedor: Yea, was a difficult fight.
Q: Do you think the decision was right?
Fedor: At the time and now, I think, it is right.
Q: Have you read the interview with Volk Han? He said he came to Japanese refs and asked them to give you a win, since you are a more promising fighter for the future.
Fedor: News for me. *laughs* Why he didn't ask for Andrey Kopylov then? (fight between Kopylov and Arona in 2000, April 20th, Rings)

22:30 - Spring, 2005. Fedor tells a story how he broke a finger during the fight, how he was sent to a promotion's hospital where they tried to convince him that he is totally fine to keep the date for the next fight the same. But Fedor felt terrible pain and had to take another trip to hospital. The ending of the story is vice-president Shinoda took a flight to Russia and personally came to local hospital with the team to see what things are actually are. The fight date moved to August.
Q: Why did you fight at combat sambo tournament in between then? Isn't it too risky? (Fedor won that combat sambo tournament)
Fedor: The level of competition was much different between locals and PRIDE, so even with such injury I was comfortable to participate.


26:05 Ibraghim Magomedov vs. Crocop. Fedor says he has no business to be there but promotion made him so.

Q: Crocop said you was running away from him.
Fedor: I participated in Grand Prix. In April I broke finger and couldn't fight. Promotion forced the fight to August despite that and we fought anyway. I don't know, maybe he wanted to promote the fight like that. I had special tape for the finger and was scared to get re-injured. Before the fight officials injected painkillers into the finger.
Q: How did you prepare?
Fedor: First part in Kislovodsk then in Netherlands. Sharpening techniques, running a lot. Runnings for like 8 kilometers. Sanya (Alexandr Emelianenko, brother of Fedor) stopped fooling around after loss, lost some weight and started training really hard. There was some running athlete around the camp. (As for a joke) we offered the guy a challenge if he can outrun Alex, Alex agreed and they started off. The route was uphill so we (rest of the team) calmly and slowly reached the final destination and saw that Alex managed to outran an athlete. The guy was like: "Well, you guys are good" and proceeded to run on his own again. While Alex was almost dying, wasted all of his energy was swearing, had to quit training session and moved back to the base. *laughs*
Fedor: We babysitted Alex a lot. Before the fight with Mirko I asked Alex to drop around 5 kg so he can be faster, be lighter on the feet. Instead he gained 3 kg.

37:00 Interviewer reminds date of Alex getting out of trouble and starting to train. Fedor says Alex was very thin, around 88kg. But even when he only started to train, he had already lightening fast hands. Says Alex gained weight fast and was 105 for the first sambo tournament he participated in.

38:00 Training sessions in Netherlands.
Fedor: At first we were thrown in between different gyms but we asked for schedule. First, we were training with Lucien Carbin , 2 weeks + 2 weeks sessions. Sharpening striking techniques. Practicing defense: there is a guy in front of me and the guy behind me. The front guy hits me - I defend. I rotate, the guy behind me hits me - I defend. The idea was to make my defense automatic. I was blocking with hands, legs or both. Then primary work with Johann Voss for 3 weeks. That's how I studied Thai boxing.
Fedor: It's uncommon to have strangers in your house in Netherlands and we were living there, in their coach's house. When we arrived first, everyone looked at us as savages. Before us there were some guys from Russia brought by Vadim here as well, and they were hard sparring up to the point of heated conflicts. I wouldn't call names but when we come here after them for our first time, people stared at us like crazy, people didn't know what to expect from us. And there was a situation, I had no pair and there was some round-shaped (fat) guy. I assume they had a practice at the gym where world-class fighter can be training in the same group with newcomer. So I had no pair and some round-shaped guy comes and says he can be my partner. A sparring session, I was working carefully, letting him hit and trade safely. And after that the whole mood toward our team switched completely. We were asked to visit all the gyms and train with everyone. Its even hard to call that a sparring session with the guy, he was totally new and, I guess, they expected something scary happening between us in the process. But I was very gentle and I felt the attitude toward us switched after that.

 

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Q: You worked with Overeem in the same gym, there are footages of your training sessions.
Fedor: He came to Lucien. He was something like 93 kg and reached 105 kg or so. I don't want to brag but he couldn't handle me - I felt the distance and if we were getting closer I was getting him down. No ground and pound to keep everything safe. I didn't even wanted to show all I got and I didn't have to. He was getting a little bit mad when I was taking him down, I was taking him down quite easily.

Sparring partners during the time: Alexandr Emelianenko, Roman Zentsov, Tyron Spong, Gilberrt Yvel
Fedor marks Tyron Spong as an interesting sparring partner, thinks gaining weight poorly affected Tyron. Fedor says Gilbert Yvel hits like a horse and have no questions why Gary Goodridge got slept.
Fedor says he was training without armor (no helmet) to be closer to real fight conditions.

48:17 *footage of Fedor sparring with Tyron Sponge in Japan before the fight with CroCop
Fedor: Another short story. Before the fight the was a Netherlands guy named Jacov I guess, I don't remember. He said: "If Fedor loses I'll shave my head". I won and everyone partied. In the morning I'm walking through the hall and see Jacov bald. I'm asking him why did he shave himself since I won. He said he got so drunk that teammates shaved him while he was unconscious. *laughs*


Q: You came to Japan 5 days before the fight. Isn't it too early?
Fedor: Early, but what can we do? We had no other options at the time. Nowdays, I'm putting into my contract an option that I'm flying to US ten (10) days before the fight atleast. But before it was different. In RINGS you came today and tomorrow you are fighting. In PRIDE you came today, tomorrow you got rules explained and papers signed, next day you fight.

Q: Have you ever thought of training in America?
Fedor: Not really. We had all we needed and at the same time I knew, they gonna try to scan us. On the other hand, Japanese were filming our whole training footages sometimes and opponents couldn't do much anyway.

52:00 *footage of elder sister Marina crying in Fedor's hands
Fedor: I didn't take her (sister) for the fight, I wanted her to visit Japan. She is a doctor. I wanted to do something for her. From first scholarship I bought her watches. My wife Oksana said I'm putting my sister into hard stress. The intro alone in Japan was huge, it's like a rollercoaster. People in America coming to last fights, in Japan to the first. Marina (elder sister) was very emotional before even teammates started to fight. When I started to fight, Oksana (wife) said that Marina was in a complete shock. There is a photo from a locker room when she was crying and congratulating me with the victory. She didn't know how to express her feelings. When things calmed down, I asked her: "Would you like to visit Japan again?" *laughs* She said she gonna visit Japan but won't watch fights.
Q: Your wife took things easier, right?
Fedor: Not really. *smiles* She has been through a lot.

55:18 *footage from Japan, Fedor walks around streets. Interviewer tells Fedor how calm he is before huge upcoming fight. Fedor gives advice which he took from his coach: don't think about upcoming tournament before the tournament. Think about tournament during training sessions. But before the actual event, switch to something else since you are fired up, burning from the inside. Watch a movie, read a book, get distracted.
Fedor: There is a story. We were in the same room with Randleman and Coleman. In Japan they are taking you early in the morning around 08:00 - 09:00 and bring you to the arena right away, when you fight only at 19:00 - 20:00. So we are in the same room with Kevin and I see Kevin is "burning". Jumps around the room, kicks cabinets and boxes. And Coleman like: "Calm down, look at Fedor". You should be able to distract yourself. Of course there would be weight-ins, pressers and you gonna be stressed meeting your opponent anyway. You team can also help you with all of that, so they can either support you, distract you or anything else. We were playing cards before the fights but later I learnt that my religion doesn't allow that.
Q: Your coach says you like amusement park with rollercoasters and so on. So you visited it in the fight day with CroCop?
Fedor: No. Amusement parks were after fights.
1:00:30 *Fedor talks about rollercoaster at Fujiyama, highest rollercoaster in the world at the time. Says the teammate he was on the ride with was scared before they reached half of its height. And that it was funny to see his reaction.

1:02:25 *footage of Crocop's promo
Q: Have you seen the promos? Yugoslavia, war, etc.
Fedor: Right before the fight, I guess. They've shown Russia in a wrong timeline, eternal snow, smokes coming from every house, evil communist party. Life was much different. Considering Mirko's footage, I assume they wanted Mirko to be the champion and the narrative was suitable. I do remember footage of boots on the Croatian's flag. Disgusting. Felt like the arena was against us. Nuclear propaganda. But during the fight I had a feeling arena switched its mood.

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Watching the fight

1:06:07 *Fedor blocks CroCop's kick
Fedor: hard snap. I saw his eyes and realized that he was in pain. But I really had a ringing in my ears myself. *laughs*

Q: Pausing a fight. Noone blocks a kick in HW like that anymore.
Fedor: there is more talking now and not much of an interest to watch fights.

1:06:46
Q: The fight just started and you tried to wrestle. What was the plan?
Fedor: Initial plan was to pressure and wrestle. When I was at Ibragim Magomedov's fight I saw the distance. The things we are seeing on TV is a bit different from reality. And I knew he allows the distance which from I can reach him. So I constantly shortened distance and pressured him. Plus, I rarely met, almost never met fighters which can work fully on the back foot. Usually its expected for opponent to go either straight forward or to be right in front. So I felt that Mirko can't work fully while he moves away.

1:08:25
Fedor: Keep the hand high. Push, push, push towards left and avoid his (kicking) leg. Shortening distance and avoiding the leg.

1:08:40 *CroCop with one-two
Q: Did he connect?
Fedor: I don't know, I don't remember. You know, even when it lands during the fight you are like "well, I'm not sure if it landed" *laughs* Then you are wobbling and like "Maybe I tripped" *laughs*

1:09:20 Fedor says everything CroCop did was for the leg strike. Hand striking to prepare the ultimate leg strike.
1:09:40 *Fedor hits CroCop's torso, Interviewer wants to know how it landed. Fedor can't remember things in such details which happened 20 years ago.

1:10:35 *CroCop's middle kick, Fedor's left punch
Fedor: After the fight you can see my armpit turned blue, black.

1:11:33 *Footage of Ernesto Hoost finishing Mirko with a liver punch. Fedor tells that part of the training was preparing liver shots. Says he was exhausted during training such punch and coach demanded more. Interviewer says there is not so much liver targeting in mma these days, Fedor replies that fighters job is to learn every aspect of fighting. "If you won even a single fight with a liver shot - its huge. It's a great tool and our so called job, if we can call it, fighting, is to learn every tool and use it"
1:13:00 Fedor remembers fight Nemkov-Prochazka(?). Says you should master technique to the point of automatically doing it, without questioning yourself anything at the moment. So at the fight Nemkov-Prochazka Fedor points out that Nemkov forgot start up of some technique, grabbed wrong hand at the perfect position and missed the opportunity to end the fight right away.

1:14:13 Fedor says that one of the things he didn't master was leg submissions. He was able to win in sambo but that was far from the highest level.

1:16:00 Interviewer asks about Alexandr Fyodorov. Alexandr Fyodorov was an elite sambo specialist, who trained Fedor and also trained Taktarov and Kharitonov. There is a story that Fyodorov to get to his house was always climbing a rope. Fedor tells another story, how Alexandr Fyodorov was robbed by judges at sambo tournament during USSR days. Fyodorov promised himself that the next year he won't leave anything to judges and gonna break everyone. There is a photo from the next championship, where Alexandr Fyodorov is placed 1st, 2nd place has a hand bandage, 3rd place participant used crutches to stay. Fedor says Fyodorov was so good, that you should consider giving up when you are flying in the air before you get to the ground.

1:18:14 *CroCop's highkick.
Fedor: He got me
Q: Do you think if there was a cage, you could ground and pound
Fedor: We weren't in the cage. Rules are rules.
*a discussion where Fedor says he was comfortable in both in the ring and cage


1:21:10 *Fedor one-two
1:22:18 *CroCop lands, Fedor retreats
1:22:30 Fedor says the highkick gave him stitches
Fedor: During the fight I didn't feel I was wobbled. Only watching the footage after I saw my legs dance. But during the fight I didn't feel like that.

1:22:58 *Fedor covers CroCop
Q: How did that happen?
Fedor: Automatically. He folded I covered him.

1:23:10
Fedor: I was thinking about sitting on his leg or not.
*Discussion about bleeding. People thought Fedor's nose was broken. Fedor says blood was from the head after headkick

1:24:00 *Fedor on top
Fedor: I had a position but I couldn't do much there. Mirko was defending well, he worked a lot with Werdum at the time.
Q: When did you realize you can't submit him?
Fedor: I needed to switch to the position in order to threat with submission. As you can see I couldn't get the better position. The was maybe a moment but we both were wet.

1:25:30
Q: Upkicks?
Fedor: I saw them.
Q: You have a classic ground'n'pound'
Fedor: I worked a lot with training dummy. When I just switched to MMA and I have to take off sambo uniform my head blown off. I didn't know what to do when taking people down. I was training around people like Mikhail Ilyukhin and I had to learn from them. I mean, they did something to me and I had to remember it. Noone explained me things, noone directly trained me things, noone instructed me. I have to learn everything myself. I worked with Volk Han, there were many dagestanis but not a single soul who would educate me about things. I had to absorb everything and in the end of the day I automatically could do things since I just felt them.
Q: What about striking techniques?
Fedor: I have to thank Alexandr Zubov who was 71kg, the only sparring partner I had at the very beginning. He was living his own life, having his own schedule. But in Stariy Oskol he was the only person to spar with me.
Fedor remembers Vladimir Mikhailovich Voronov. Says he wasn't technical coach but he was the type of coach which could push you to your physical limit. Fedor says he absorbed technique

1:31:00 Remembering Mikhail Gala. Fedor says Gala was the one with whom his striking technique skyrocketed. (Mikhail Gala won twice vs. Artur Beterbiev 2004, 2005)

 

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1:32:36 *Footage of Suren Balachinskiy losing to Valentjin Overeem.
Suren was sambo champion but he couldn't achieve career heights of his countrymen. Fedor says Suren was deceived by his managers and told like he is already perfect so he doesn't need to learn anything new. That Suren only practiced karate a bit. Fedor says noone taught him actual striking techniques for the level of competition awaited. Interview participants rememeber Suren Balachinskiy to be 2 times world sambo champion. Interviewer mentions Suren won vs. Fedor. Fedor remembers but also says that judging was poor and biased due to him being from Staryy Oskol and Suren being from Moscow. That was basically the point where Fedor decided to switch to MMA, in addition to poor quality of life at the time: Fedor had a newborn daughter and his wife boots just got torn.
Fedor: I had a family, I had a newborn daughter. I needed to earn something. I don't know if I've said it or not - my wife got her boots torn. I gave up, I didn't know what to do. Mother bought her boots, then my daughter got ill and I started to search of sources of income. And I learnt that there are some guys from combat sambo which go to Japan to fight. Then miracle happened, I was spotted. Akira Maeda came to Ekaterinburg and they needed fresh blood. I was called. Me and Suren (Balachinskiy) made a show during sparring, making some beautiful sambo throws. There were a lot of guys there. Maeda pointed finger at us, said "I'll take these two" and we were signed. I think Suren took wrong path. First thing I did, I came to boxing gym and started learning boxing from the scratch.

1:36:30 *back to the fight with CroCop
Q: you are grabbing his leg
Fedor: I was thinking to make a leg submission. *thinks*

1:36:38 *position switch on the ground
Q: North-south submission?
Fedor: I don't remember the thinking process. Mihalich (wrestling coach) was talking about it after the fight. Everything is slippery, during the fight you can't think calmly about things.
Q: Did he surprise you with his wrestling defence?
Fedor: Kinda, yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say he surprised me. I'm working (attacking), and looking where are the weak spots (and there is not many). Of course, after the fight we look at the footage and analyze. We knew he practiced with Werdum.
Q: Nogueira got more hits from you on the ground than Mirko. But Nogueira was black belt bjj.
Fedor: They haven't figured me out yet at the time, I think. Antônio won every notable fighter at the time, every top fighter. He won by chocking, submissions, etc.. I was blocking all such his attempts right away and he haven't met such striking yet. I show every guy at the gym how to improve striking. Very few guys listen. There is no huge secrets about it. Noone taught me striking at the beginning. There was me and training dummy alone. I learnt that there is a distance and striking range with it.
Q: Who was the most difficult fighter in terms of controlling distance? *1:39:10* CroCop is defending nicely, nothing to say, really.
Fedor: It was hard for me for the very first fight in Pride. Semmy Schilt.
Q: 210cm
Fedor: He kept my hands every time. I always had to bring my hands up and break our hands there. I knew I should make damage on the ground otherwise ref gonna put us up. And Semmy is pretty good stand up. I knew I could "eat" something *apologizes* *smiles*
Q: "Keep your coconut safe?"
Fedor: "Whos coconut is harder?" That was specifically about Kirill (Sidelnikov), because he liked to trade a lot. He was reaching middle distance and everything was getting started. Eventually he got his jaw broken. After it he wanted to finish his career but I convinced him to continue, I begged him to stay. I offered him help. So we reached sambo tournament championship. Draw was fine, me and Kirill got in the same subgroup, Sanya (Alex Emelianenko) and Dima (Dmitry Zabolotny) were in another subgroup. I took Kirill by hand and walked him out to his fights. Kirill was very scared to get re-injured, I was asking: "What you gonna do instead? Do you have back up plan?" Kirill replied with he was about to do, but I'm not going to tell what. During the tournament I have to withdrew from the competition due to injury, so Kirill reached the finals from our subgroup and met Alexandr (Emelianenko, brother of Fedor) in grand finals. This year he (Kirill) won Europe sambo championship and became 2nd at world sambo championship, I guess. Next year was also successful. Life got better a lot. But at some point he wanted to end everything and became businessman.
Q: Wait, Kirill and Alex were in the finals.
Fedor: Yeah. We were still in somewhat decent relationship with Alex. And I asked Alex not to hit Kirill's head since he had an injury. Alex only wrestled and won. Of course if Sanya swinged once he would end Kirill's career right away. Thankfully, Sanya understood everything.

1:43:37 Participants talk about conditioning/stamina/endurance. Fedor says he was running minimum 40 minutes before actual training session. Lots of special training. Fedor says he was working atleast 2 hours with the punching bag.
Fedor: Working on the bag. Puddle of sweat under me, I switch the spot and keep working. I could switch spots lots of times before I will end working.
Q: Mirko a bit tired after the first round, it seems. Did you feel it?
Fedor: I wasn't thinking about that. But when he started being more on backfoot I knew something, that clicked for me. I started to push more and more. Everything (feeling of fight advantage) started from blocked kick.
Q: Did it add confidence? Or you were confident already?
Fedor: "Confindent" is a bit too loud of a word here.
Q: A fight started to go well, in other words.
Fedor: Yes.

Q: Do you remember corner advices?
Fedor: No. *laughs* I don't put much attention to it. Of course I do listen my cornermen. Thankfully I had decent, technical advising (Voronov, wrestling coach and Michkov, striking coach). Because before in RINGS my advices were: "FEDOR, FOR HOMELAND!", "FEDOR, FOR WIFE!", "FEDOR, FOR DAUGHTER!". You know, I'm wrestling, I have a fight, I need technical advice of throwing a combination or switching or spot, maybe something else. I didn't even know the time of the round.
Q: So there was nothing worthy to listen to.
Fedor: Why would I? *laughs* What kind of advices are these "FOR HOMELAND", "FOR DAUGHTER"
Q: improving your morale, I guess.
Fedor: *laughs* Should be doing such before entering the ring. Corner should be able to see the fight from different perspective and give advices accordingly. I knew what my guys are capable of, for example. There was first fight between Vadim and Bader. I saw Bader leaning toward only the same side and Vadim didn't punish him for that. I said: "Vadim, look, he leans toward one side only, add left from the bottom or throw a leg". It worked out, Vadim got headkick KO.
Q: Vadim has a large arsenal.
Fedor: Thankfully. Vadim stands out from everyone. He listens. When I call him he stops everything, turns around and tries to get the most of anything I say. He doesn't say like "I don't do this because" like many like to, or excuse themselves. Vadim stops, listens, then does and asks if anything he possibly did wrong. That a good quality of him. Vadim of course is a hardworker as well, and he listens.
Q: He is decent on the ground.
Fedor: There is a work to do there still but there is time to fix everything. The most important thing is that he is not excusing himself, not saying he is unhealthy to do some thing or anything. He is just fixing the mistake we both see.

1:50:47 *2nd round starts
Fedor: Getting closer, getting closer. Oop! *middlekick*
Q: Good bodyshots.
Fedor: Liver shot
Q: Here is the moment from every highlight "FEDOR HIGHKICKS MIRKO"
Fedor: *laughs* There was it, I don't know. *smiles* We trained it
Q: Psychological moment maybe as well, he mostly prepared the highkick and got highkicked himself

1:51:30
Fedor: It's visible here he is oxidized. Switching levels constantly is very exhausting. Stand up, ground, stand up, ground. That eats lots of energy.

 

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1:51:44
Q: This kick looks powerful. Like a full power kick, like hitting a pad during training. How did it feel?
Fedor: I sat down a bit so the kick didn't reach initial target. Strikers will understand, doesn't matter a punch or a kick, the idea is to hit the target. If the target shifts, that's what I'm telling my students - to always move, and that how I was taught as well. So here was the same, when the foot lifted off the ground I started to move and the hit didn't reach its initial target.
1:52:44 *CroCop misses highkick
Q: Here it comes.
Fedor: That's what we were just talking about.
1:53:00
Q: His stance is good, he stays well
Fedor: *nods in agreement*
Small talk about gloves in PRIDE. Fedor says RINGS had better gloves. No gloves survived until today to show what kind of things he liked about it. Mentions comfortable hole and form-fitting surface for the thumb.
1:54:08 *Fedor answers Mirko's swing
Fedor: Leaning and hit back, leaning and hit back. Boxing or not boxing - get off the attack line and attack yourself.

Q: For a takedown, you always start with a strike.
Fedor: Obligatory. Everyone is being told in the gym, doesn't matter hand-to-hand combat or sambo, you start a takedown with some sort of distraction.
Q: What about Khabib single leg attack? Or Chimaev flying in?
Fedor: I'm not a freestyle wrestler despite winning some regional championship. But that's more like, you know. I'm not a freestyle wrestler. I was doing judo, I didn't bend over like a wrestler. I personally don't like obvious dives and I think due to obviousness it could be prevented or countered. I liked more reaching the body and working from that level.
1:56:04
Fedor: Ate here.

1:56:21 Small talk how good Mirko looks physically. Huge muscled hands.
1:56:53 *Fedor takes down Mirko
Fedor: I felt the moment here, half second after my corner screamed for take down as well. We were on the same page with coaches, that is very important.

1:57:47
Q: Ground work.
Fedor: Look at the armpit. It turned different color. The more (time) the bigger (and darker) it gets.
Q: Next day?
Fedor: Sure. During the fight you don't notice it. Fight, fight, fight. Sometimes I didn't even notice breaking something right at the time. There is no time to think of it as well. You have to work now. May the God not let the opponent know or feel that your broke something.
Q: Was there any spy stories where someone tried to leak info about injuries?
Fedor: I didn't have such types of information. There was some fight in Saint Petersburg. Some reporter came to our parting team, told us he was a fan, but in fact he was a reporter and wrote everything down. Then later there was an article. Then I was like: "We didn't expect but we had a spy among us" *laughs*
2:00:00
Q: Superkicks were allowed in PRIDE. Have you trained them?
Fedor: No, I didn't train them. We kicked bags standing.
Q: Elbow strikes?
Fedor: For US - yes. For PRIDE - not, we were not allowed to hit with elbows in PRIDE.
Q: What are your perfect mma rules? Soccerkicks, elbows, with or without?
Fedor: Humanly speaking, better without kicking laying opponent. I would prefer no knees to the head of laying opponent as well. I would prefer no elbows as well, since elbows mostly whipped and opened wounds rather than concussing.
2:01:35
Fedor: That's what I'm telling guys as well. "Guys you want to make a submission but you need to distract your opponent first and constantly hit him". I have to switch the position, for things going easier I have to hit and I as well can hit hard and reach the target.
2:02:35
Q: When he is on the ground he is not trying to get up or he is not able to. Is it your job?
Fedor: Yes, that was my job. *2:03:12* He grabs my hand. To free my hand, I have to work with my legs first. Freeing my hand, I'm hitting right away. *2:03:23* Here is the moment where I used my knee directly to free my hand. When my hand is free - he is fully open. Sometimes he is having his hand under my leg, so to defend himself, he needs to free his hand first.

2:03:51
Q: That was good
Fedor: Liver then transition to the head.

2:04:23; 2:04:47 Weird takedown
Q: Some new technique
Fedor: *Laughs* Leg hook slipped, I folded, we both wet. Some new intuitive wrestling stuff *smiles*.
Fedor: I tell guys in the gym to work only in shorts. Even rashguard gives a bit of traction, so get your t-shirts off. Get closer to real combat situation. Completely different tightness.
*2:05:35* Fedor: I had to control his glove, the only thing which provided tightness. Until he was on the floor I controlled his glove
*2:06:12* Fedor: He wrapped himself on his own glove

Q: You fought in this kind of shorts. Was it some sort of a plan?
Fedor: No *smiles*. I had my first fighting kit like this so fighting in this kind of pants was more like of a habit. But I've seen moments where opponents grabbed each others pants. Yes, ref is making a warning but what it does since you've lost the position already?
Q: you had red eagle t-shirts in 2004. There is some similarity with 3rd Reich eagle.
Fedor: These shirts were provided by promotion. I wasn't asked about anything. Many such questions were solved without me. I had to wear what I was given. Why can a t-short look like that? I don't know, Japanese mentality, I guess. First fights promotion even put wrong flag for me, it was Ukranian flag. They said I was born there. When I saw it happening for the second time I said I won't ever fight here again if it happens. They listened.

Q: Did you trian with Igor Vovchanchyn?
Fedor: No, we never did. Igor was an accomplished fighter at the time, he was about finishing his career. I talked with him and he said he had no motivation to train as hard as before.

2:09:50
Q: Did you have a feeling, that everything is under control, that you have
Fedor: No, well you know. That is very dangerous mindset when you start to think like that. Until gong sounds nothing is over. Only after. Thanks everyone for coming *smiles*. Until that you never relax.

2:10:04 *Fedor's middlekick
2:10:20
Fedor: Free your hand - hit, free your hand - hit.
2:10:34
Fedor: Here he tried "Werdum". I didn't allow full control, was constantly hitting, he left his head opened for hitting.
Q: Hammerfists were looking rough. At some point it looked like you can finish the fight with them.
Fedor: your hits should be hard enough so your opponent becomes wanting to switch position himself. Today our fighters just showing off, imitate punches. I had a masterclass recently, you should work with your body and shoulders without a swing. So by making a significant hit your opponent should not be willing to take any of those punches again. Slapping makes no change. But when you hit - they start to move, trying to grab your hand.
*2:13:02* Fedor: These slaps mean nothing

 

[bng]

2:13:55 Fedor's favorite moment of the fight
Fedor: I'll put my hands down intentionally and will go forward. He would try to throw highkick and I will throw lowkick on standing leg. That was part of preparation. The lowkick was hard. You can do a lot of damage with it since the person is standing on the leg and everything is tense there.

2:15:50
Q: Had a feeling of a winner?
Fedor: You can't be sure until hand is raised.
Q: Would you say his gastank was the lacking part?
Fedor: When I just joined boxing gym, I already achieved things in sambo and judo. I was breathing fine, I was running a lot. But when I joined boxing gym, my hands just gave up. Misha (Mikhail Gala) put me on the chair so my legs won't move. And I have to work with only with body and hands. We had to work for 3 minutes, I started failing after 20 seconds. First training sessions I was feeling exhausted, despite preparations, warm ups, etc. So here is the same thing - unusual things happened to him. That what I was talking about, when I mentioned energy taking moves with standing up and going down, back and forth. I constantly worked in such regime. Working downstairs, getting up working stand up, back and forth. Constantly switching wrestling and striking. So Mirko is more of a striker than wrestler. He was out of his working area and when he was getting up it was getting harder for him.

2:17:40 raising hand footage
Q: Did go home the next day?
Fedor: No, I have thing in a contract, when I became a champion, that I'm always staying 1 day after the fight in Japan so I can buy something for my family members.
Q: What hurt?
Fedor: Legs. Terrible leg pain. Same thing after fight with Monson. I do remember that during the day everything was some sort fine, but at night when you go to sleep it felt awful. Some sort of a spiral thing inside. I had to pick sleeping position carefully.
Q: Recently CroCop said that PRIDE fighters are not any worse than todays fighters. Whats your opinion? There are Aspinall, Volkov, Gane.
Fedor: I think (PRIDE fighters are) not worse. Rather someone is more interesting than todays fighters.
Q: Why do you think so? There is an opinion that mma evolves.
Fedor: Today its not evolving, rather made a step back. Earlier, when I was fighting, I had an objective to finish a fight, to choke or submit an opponent. In my area I was like a fish in water, when I got on the ground with Mark Coleman I made a submission when the moment came in. Now, fighting is about holding a position, not to finish a fight. Fights do not end before timer, fighters winning the position and fight gets stale.
Q: Aspinall all first round wins. Ngannou such a powerhouse. Pereira just won vs. Ankalaev.
Fedor: You are picking up strikers. What about work on the ground? What I'm trying to say, that the work on the ground has become passive. Stand up striking techniques has become better.

Q: There is an opinion that you tried to finish your fights fast because you accumulated injuries.
Fedor: Kinda, yes.
Q: Fights with Henderson, Rogers. You were not looking like yourself anymore.
Fedor: At the time, I have different type of issues, related to things outside of the ring. My wife had difficulties during pregnancy. Every doctors office we visited we were told that we need to do an abortion. I was into spiritual struggle.

Q: What was your peak? Did you gain at some time one-punch-KO power, like you KO'ed Arlovski, which never happened in PRIDE.
Fedor: At the time, it just happened like that (in a fight with Arlovski). Of course age gets everyone. I would say from 25 to 30 were my best years. Later technique getting sharper, experienced gained. On 30th year I felt a click. The next click was at 35. You are telling yourself you can go further but you feel you can't do as half as you could before. *2:27:47* I'm making 4 times shaking. Before I could make 5 times clean.
Q: when you returned in 2015, you had big goals?
Fedor: Goals are always big including today, but gastank is empty *laughs*. I was in CSKA with some guys, there is Danya, he has multiple achievements, I'm happy that I'm being able to still spar with a guy like him. But it's not any close to what I have been before.

 

[MrBean]

I just finished Part 1. I need to come back for this. Great post @bng

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

@BFoe @HHJ @SuperNerd

Long read... but worth it. Thanks Sherbro.

 

[HHJ]

REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Gio]

Thanks for sharing @bng. Props for taking time to write all of these.

 

[Ibm]

He seems far more energetic these days.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

You are the man bro. Thanks a lot.

Early candidate of poster of the year.

 

[Bobby Boulders]

@BFoe @HHJ @SuperNerd

Long read... but worth it. Thanks Sherbro.

I'm hurt that I wasn't tagged

 

[Bobby Boulders]

I feel bad for the poor motherfucker who was born into the Jacov family. Unfortunate name

 

[EddieH4444]

Thanks for translating!