(Two fighters, two very different interpretations of “business casual.” Photo courtesy of mixfight.ru)
On November 20th in Moscow, Jeff Monson will attempt to become the fourth-straight fighter to defeat Fedor Emelianenko. If Fedor has any scrap of motivation left, he should be able to return to the ‘W’ column in his home country — but who even knows at this point? You have to wonder if the Snowman wants this one more.
It’s been nearly two years since Fedor has tasted victory in MMA. Monson’s last fight snapped an eight-fight win streak, and he hasn’t beaten anybody of note since 2009, when he won a decision against Roy Nelson and submitted Sergei Kharitonov.
The above photo came from a recent M-1 Global press-conference in Moscow. Here are some notable quotes, via Lowkick:
Fedor Emelianenko: “I’m very happy to fight at home. Since the majority of my fights took place in Japan or United States, I’m happy to be fighting in Russia again after 4 years. I would like to thank Jeff Monson for the opportunity to fight him, I always followed his career and hope that we’ll be able to show a beautiful fight for the fans…During my last three fights I always had a feeling that I can win. But somehow, in the last moment something always went wrong…We are currently negotiating a New Year’s Eve fight in Japan. I always loved to fight there. There’s much less ‘noise’ and hustle than in United States.”
Jeff Monson: “I always wanted to fight in Russia. I travel a lot as a fighter, but somehow I never fought in Russia. It’s a wonderful country with a lot of interesting places and people, but after all, I’m here to fight. Fedor Emelianenko is one of the greatest fighters on the planet and I’m honored to step inside the ring with him…I wanted to fight Fedor for a very long time, simply because he’s the best. It’s a very special fight and I’m definitely going to be well-prepared for that…I think every fight is unique. Last time when I watched his fight with Dan Henderson, I think Fedor got caught. Everyone wins and loses, and Fedor went unbeaten for 10 years fighting best of the best. When I fight him it’s not going to have any ghosts of past fights. Its not going to give me any extra confidence because it’s not going to have any effect on my fight.”
Evgeni Kogan (from their second press conference): “We’re still in talks with Showtime as well as several other possibilities to show this fight in North America. I guess there’s not a huge amount of time left to do a deal, so maybe within two or three weeks we will have something sorted, but it everything is continuing. I think it’s very likely that the bout will be live in North America, albeit, very early on the Sunday morning in the U.S., especially on the West Coast.”
