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M-1 FIGHTER Knucklepit Interviews ALEXANDER SHULDYAKOV
© Marc Wickert August 9, 2011 Special thanks to Eric Nicholl
On August 6, 2011, M-1 Global launched its M-1 Fighter event at Russia’s International Festival of Ol’gino Bikers. This was the coming together of Europe’s leading mixed martial arts promotion with the largest motorcycle meet in Russia’s North-West region, and it’s no surprise that MMA is becoming increasingly popular with bikies worldwide, so M-1 Fighter received a very warm reception from the enthusiastic crowd.
M-1 Fighter was created out of a necessity for up-and-coming fighters to prove themselves and qualify for the bigger M-1 shows. As M-1Global European matchmaker Alexander Shuldyakov says, “These bouts really showed the level of unfound talent currently available in the Eastern European clubs. Now that the fights are over, I can review the matches and determine who is ready to compete at a higher level.”
Alexander Shuldyakov kindly chatted with Knucklepit after Saturday’s big event. Alexander, was this the first M-1 Fighter event that took place on August 6 at the International Festival of Ol’gino Bikers? Yes, this tournament is a debut of our new project. There are a lot of talented Russian fighters so the goal of these tournaments is to watch them fighting and select the best of them for our bigger tournaments. M-1 Fighter is a good opportunity for them to show their skills and move one step closer to fighting on our best cards. How was the crowd response? Reaction from the people was great; they were cheering for the fighters they liked. Hopefully those who watched MMA fights live for the first time enjoyed them and judged the fighters on their merits. M-1 Fighter was booked as a special attraction at the International Festival of Ol’gino Bikers, but with its success this year, do you expect it to be an annual feature of the festival? Yes, we've already got very good responses from organizers who have made the offer to make our event an annual feature of the festival. I know Prime Minister Vladimir Putin rode a Harley Davidson Lehman trike at the 2010 Sevastopol bike show in Southern Ukraine, and many bikers visit Knucklepit, so for their benefit, was the Harley the main bike ridden at the Ol’gino festival? Unfortunately, I was swamped with all the organizational and logistical items so I simply didn't have time to take closer look at the bikes.
Which were the major martial arts clubs that provided athletes for the event? There were the representatives of the best fight teams from St.Petersburg: "Alexander Nevsky", "Alligator", Rusfighters", "MX", "SUNAO"; also there were fighters from team Sparta (Tcherepovets) and fighters from Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Cameroon. Is M-1 Fighter purely for Russia’s up-and-coming competitors or is it open to combatants outside Russia? As you can see from my previous answer, our first M-1 Fighter tournament got international status. Any good fighters from other countries are always welcome to compete. Were you surprised by the standard of undiscovered talent out there? I can't say that I was surprised; it's better to say that I was happy that many fighters met the expectations. I've been in MMA business for a while so I know which fighters have already progressed to the stage where they can be moved to the professional ranks. There were lots of great prospects and there will be more and more aspiring talent coming through this project. Which fighters showed they were ready to progress to the next level? I really liked the performance of Pavel Vitruk (Alexander Nevsky team), he's a three-time champion of St.Petersburg in Muay Thai and National UKADO champion; he showed very good skills and his victory was fully deserved. Unfortunately, he represents 65 kg weight class, which is not so popular in Russia yet. Also I'd like to mention Radzhi Aliev (Alligator), Rustam Abdurapov (Rusfighters), Alexei Martynov and Oleg L'vov (both MX). We will probably see some of them in the next M-1 Selection tournament. Also the guys who weren't so successful this time haven't lost their chances; I keep in touch with many fighters and managers and follow their careers. Is the triangle choke one of the more popular finishing holds of Russian MMA exponents? Russian fighters know a lot of interesting moves. I think, on the next card you will see more "favorite Russian moves". How popular is MMA in Russia and the former Soviet States? It's growing every year. M-1 Global is working on getting "official status of sport" for MMA in Russia. M-1 representatives have already achieved this status for MMA in Ukraine and Azerbaijan. It would be nice to see MMA as popular as soccer and ice hockey someday. Was the M-1 Fighter aired on television in Russia? This event was streamed online through an Internet broadcast; who knows though? Maybe in the next two years M-1 Fighter will make it to the national TV channels. How often will the M-1 Fighter event be held? There is no set schedule of M-1 Fighter events right now. The plan is to set a schedule of M-1 Figther events through 2012 and hold them on a regular basis. Alexander, is there anything you would like to add? Thank you very much for your attention and your time and good luck!
For more on M-1 Fighter: www.m-1global.com.
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