Archive for February, 2011

Evgeni Kogan chats about Fedor Emelianenko

Evgeni Kogan Chats with Knucklepit

© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com

On February 12, 2011, the man Randy Couture described as “the best pound for pound fighter in the world”, Fedor Emelianenko, suffered his second loss at the Strikeforce/M-1 Global/ Showtime World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament.  Prior to Fedor’s two consecutive losses, Emelianenko won his first 31 fights before suffering a genuine loss.  The only other top-level athlete with an MMA record similar to Fedor’s is fellow Ukrainian-born legend, Igor Vovchanchyn.

Although both MMA superstars have similar winning streaks to their credit – Vovchanchyn 32 no-losses with one bout being a draw, and Emelianenko with 31 no-losses – these best-of-the-best athletes come from decisively different martial arts backgrounds.  Igor was a World Kickboxing Champion before crossing to MMA, and Fedor is a former Combat Sambo World Champion.

One similarity Fedor’s fans don’t want to see come to fruition with these two legends is the knowledge that Igor Vovchanchyn retired at 32 and Fedor Emelianenko, 34, was contemplating retirement after his loss to Antonio Silva.  Fortunately, M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelstein has already declared that Emelianenko does intend returning to competition.

And although any fan’s main concern would be for Fedor’s health and wellbeing, when Knucklepit caught up with M-1 Global’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan, we were assured that Fedor is in good health and spirits.

It’s fine.  The orbital bone is not broken, and as far as I’m told, because Fedor is in Stary Oskol now and I’m in Holland, I’m told that he is okay.

Read the rest of this entry »

Paul 'Semtex' Daley with loaded guns for BAMMA 5

© Marc Wickert 

www.knucklepit.com
Special thanks to:

Zara Shirwan & Izzy Carnwath of www.halo-pr.com

 Wad Alameddine of www.fight-management.com

 On February 26, Paul “Semtex” Daley (26-9-2) will be taking time out from his Strikeforce commitments to whip up a tempest in front of his British fans at M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, headlining BAMMA 5.  Daley’s opponent for this special event will be Japan’s Yuya Shirai (20-8-0), who is on a five-fight winning streak.

And Paul says he’s definitely excited about the bout: “I ain’t fought here for a long time.  I want family, friends and fans to see me fight live – plus flying around a lot does take it out of you.  If Shirai’s fighting at one-hundred percent I expect a hard fight.  I just hope he comes to fight…and a hard fight.  I hope he’s prepared to get KO’d because that’s what’s gonna happen.  He has good judo, boxing and submissions, but I will win by KO or TKO.  No decisions”

Read the rest of this entry »

British Welterweight Dean Amasinger

UCMMA Amasinger vs. Maguire

© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com

Special thanks to:

Izzy Carnwath and Wad Alameddine

On February 4, UK MMA sensation Dean “Renegade” Amasinger (7-2-0) squares off against John Maguire of the Tsunami Gym for the UCMMA Welterweight Championship.

Amasinger has been fighting most of his life, having taken up kickboxing at age four at his uncle’s gym in the Windsor area of England.

In 2009, Dean earned international attention when he defeated fellow Brit, Alex Reid, at The Ultimate Fighter (TUF): UK vs. USA.  And in retrospect, Dean says his time on TUF was an amazing experience.  “Looking back at it, I only have fond memories, but when I was going through it I definitely found it tough being away from my family and fiancée and to be without music, books or TV was difficult,” says Amasinger.

“I had a lot of fun there and only recently I watched some of the DVD back with Dave Faulkner and Ross Pearson and we laughed so much at what we got up to.

“The main thing though was how good the training was.  It’s rare to have so many good guys to train with on a daily basis that are all around the same weight.  Mike (Bisping) and his coaching team were brilliant and I definitely came away from the show a better fighter.”

Read the rest of this entry »