How popular is Russia's M-1

[manlyseaeagle]

Is it a crowd puller and is there a future in it ?

 

[manboy<3]

M-1 was the target of a Smear campaign around the time when Zuffa was trying to strongarm Fedor into signing so M-1's popularirty in the USA and Canada is pretty shit,,,,it took (will take) them years to get rid of the bad image that Zuffa propoganda spread about them but that doesn't matter since
in Russia they are on national TV, are popular and are financially profitable

I like them but I wish they had more freakshows and more washed up Western fighters for Chechen boys to brutalize

The ring they have is excellent however

 

[WarKO]

Guram never came is the problem although they tried to get him to many times.

 

[WarKO]

Is it a crowd puller and is there a future in it ?

In all serious TS, no and no. UFC won major Russian TV deals over them even. Vadim recently admitted they were now a regional promotion.

Using Fedor's fame they attempted to penetrated the US market with Guram and Showtime and Strikeforce "co-promotion" but nothing panned out of it particularly since they were they were throwing shows in high school gymnasiums in the middle of Ohio with nothing but foreign fighters and US cans.

The "co-promotion" simply meant they put their names on SF fliers and the announcer had to state "SF AND M-1 Present" making them seeem large than they were.

I think their brand was ruined. Letting a hepetitic Emelianenko fight and their star Guram lose 3 times to Kenny Garner didn't help much.

 

[Kim Jong Un]

Being a region promotion isnt so bad when that region is Eurasia. I really like their ring.

 

[MiroHa]

In all serious TS, no and no. UFC won major Russian TV deals over them even. Vadim recently admitted they were now a regional promotion.

Really? Isn't M-1 on that nation wide Sport network that shows all the big sporting events in Russia? What channel is UFC on?

 

[WarKO]

Really? Isn't M-1 on that nation wide Sport network that shows all the big sporting events in Russia? What channel is UFC on?

"As announced in a press release, the UFC has signed an agreement with "The All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company", one of the biggest TV networks in Russia. Starting this Saturday, the network will broadcast all 2015 UFC events on their TV channels and online platforms Russia 2, Sport 1, Fight Club and Sportbox.ru."

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/1/2...-m1-global-competition-broadcasting-expansion

"Especially Russia 2 is one of the key broadcasters in the Russian Federation, a free TV state channel that is also showing events of UFC competitor and Russian-market leader M-1 Global, with up to 1.5 million viewers per show."

 

[Feniamin]

Actually Match TV (ex-Russia 2) shows main cards of UFC, Bellator, M-1, Fight Nights, Tech-Krep FC, Akhmat Fight Show events + you can watch the whole card of Russian promotions at their channel Match Boets or at sportbox.ru.

 

[ThunderL1ps]

They've been around for years and when a lot of other promotions have fallen by the wayside, they continue to put on events. I don't think they'll ever make a comeback in North America, but really, they were miscast as players here with the cast of fighters they have in their lineup.

They are a development league with the odd Emelienenko brothers or Sergei Kharitonov fight thrown in over the years. If they ever developed someone that turns out to be a super prospect, you can bet Rizin, Bellator or UFC are going to try to find a way to get their mitts on them; Rizin and Bellator using negotiation, UFC using threats and insults.

 

[WarKO]

They've been around for years and when a lot of other promotions have fallen by the wayside, they continue to put on events. I don't think they'll ever make a comeback in North America, but really, they were miscast as players here with the cast of fighters they have in their lineup.

They are a development league with the odd Emelienenko brothers or Sergei Kharitonov fight thrown in over the years. If they ever developed someone that turns out to be a super prospect, you can bet Rizin, Bellator or UFC are going to try to find a way to get their mitts on them; Rizin and Bellator using negotiation, UFC using threats and insults.

They weren't "miscast" they worked on generating that imagine themselves. Nobody made them produce multiple "Guram is Coming" Promos or insist on co-promotion.

A number of their fighters have been signed by UFC. Including Mousasi who pretty much ran from them when he saw what their demands at the time were. They wanted to own fighters.

These days, when they do develop talent: they now sign with the big leagues. The co-promotion attempts and ownership are gone. So, they are not developing or growing, they've accepted their role as a third-tier promotion and former Fedor promoter.

 

[Feniamin]

They weren't "miscast" they worked on generating that imagine themselves. Nobody made them produce multiple "Guram is Coming" Promos or insist on co-promotion.

A number of their fighters have been signed by UFC. Including Mousasi who pretty much ran from them when he saw what their demands at the time were. They wanted to own fighters.

These days, when they do develop talent: they now sign with the big leagues. The co-promotion attempts and ownership are gone. So, they are not developing or growing, they've accepted their role as a third-tier promotion and former Fedor promoter.

Vadim said that they "wanted to co-promote" because Fedor signed exclusive contract with M-1 (now all UFC fighters signs exclusive contracts, for example) so other promotions was able to just wait until Fedor finishes his contract or until it expires. I think M-1 co-promoted one card in 2014 with ACB. There was talks about co-promotion with Fight Nights, but Vadim said that it can't be done (Fight Nights shows their events at Fight Pass (some countires like Russia have TV deals) while M-1 have contracts with TV channels; according to contracts all M-1 fights should happen in "Rage", plus different set of rules (in M-1 elbows to the face and head are illegal; at some events there is 2 round fights at Fight Nights events)). Vadim said that instead of co-promote, they may send their fighters to compete at Fight Nights events (and Fight Nights will do the same with their fighters and M-1 events).