Fedor Aiding MMA in Russia

Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer discusses the impact that Fedor’s last nationally televised fight has had on MMA in Russia:

One thing that is legitimate, at least based on a television news report in Russia, is that after the fight aired on television (it was the first MMA fight in history to be broadcast on a major TV station in Russia), that there was a huge increase over the past few weeks in Russian teenagers wanting to join MMA gyms and Emelianenko was seen as the reason why.

 

Up until that time, the average Russian had no idea who he was. For the few who did, he was the guy who fought on a show Vladimir Putin attended several years ago (the Matt Lindland fight), if that. This event was the first time he got any significant media exposure because a few million people saw him fight on television. One of his fights was on PPV in Russia, but nobody bought it and his subsequent fights didn’t air.

 

While people will have you think he’s some sort of household name in Russia, Japan and South Korea, based on Google trends, the place he’s most famous by far is Croatia, and that’s largely because he’s the famous rival of Mirko Cro Cop, who is a legitimate national hero in his country. After that, the countries he’s most popular, in order, are Finland (MMA is on television every night there on a sports channel and his fights with Andrei Arlovski and Rogers were on TV there), Peru, Canada, U.S., Sweden and then Russia, followed by Brazil. He can draw in Japan among hardcores but among the casual people in Japan, they wouldn’t know who he is. Even in Finland, his name recognition would be less than Brock Lesnar (although significantly more than any other UFC fighter).

Payout Perspective:

It really is surprising to hear that Fedor hasn’t achieved a greater notoriety in the last several years, but it is encouraging that M-1 has secured a national television deal. The dividends of which are clearly showing in gym attendance figures (which is also something of a good trend in the United States over the last few years).

Any time you can build at the grassroots level of a sport, you’re helping to build life long interest. Fans that understand the sport are more likely to appreciate the ability and skill of those at the professional level, the theory goes, and that should translate into a larger audience.

And Russia could prove to be a solid MMA market in the years to come should Fedor continue to develop a name and increase the sport’s notoriety. The approximately 65 million television households – and 140 million people – is very material.