Ray Sefo nam otkrio : WSOF je MMA organizacija, no sve je moguće - pa i kickboxing borbe
Legendarni Ray Sefo vodio je bitke u kickboxing ringovima preko 16 godina, a ona posljednja te vrste održala se, naravno, na Final Fightu protiv Mirka Filipovića. "Sugarfoot" se u ovoj fazi karijere odlučio na nešto drugačiji put, a prvi rezultati dvogodišnjeg truda vidjet će se 3. studenoga.
Na taj datum debitira Sefova organizacija World Series Of Fighting, a prvi event predvode Andrei Arlovski i Devin Cole. Popričali smo s Novozelanđaninom uoči priredbe koju mnogi s nestrpljenjem iščekuju, a zanimljive informacije saznajte u nastavku.
Koju ulogu imaš u WSOF-u? Poznato je da si predsjednik, no koje ćeš sve aktivnosti obavljati? Hoćeš li se baciti na posao iza scene, ili ćemo te češće viđati na konferencijama za novinare i u promotivnim video isječcima?
"Ja sam predsjednik i lice WSOF-a. Biti ću uključen u sve, od produkcije i medija, do matchmakinga."
Što te inspiriralo da kreneš u ovu vrstu posla baš sada? Koliko si dugo planirao ovako nešto?
"Na ovome radimo već dvije godine i ovo je bio prirodan sljedeći korak za mene kao borca."
WSOF je isključivo MMA organizacija, je li tako? Postoji li šansa da ikada vidimo kombiniranu priredbu, s kickboxing i MMA mečevima?
"Da, to je MMA organizacija, a što se tiče kickboxing borbi, nikad se ne zna."
Jasno je da su mnogi uzbuđeni uoči debija WSOF-a, pogotovo zbog jake postave u prvijencu, no neki su skeptični, te smatraju da jednostavno nema mjesta za novu MMA organizaciju. U emisiji The MMA Beat spomenuli su kako je najbolje krenuti s promocijom na lokalnoj razini te ju postepeno graditi, i da je to bolje od "uzimanja prečaca do TV mreže NBC Sports, što je alarmantno." Što kažeš na to?
"Mrzitelji će mrziti a fanovi će biti fanovi bez obzira na sve. Nema nikakvih prečaca i sjajno je što je NBC Sports Networks dio svega ovoga. Što se tiče mjesta u sportu, ovo je bogata industrija i svijet je prepun talentiranih boraca. Idemo korak po korak i ne žurimo s ničim. Kao što sam rekao, trebalo nam je dvije godine da krenemo."
Dogovor s NBC-om uključuje 8 do 10 borbi, zar ne? Što ste zamislili za taj period i koliko često možemo očekivati priredbe?
"Planiramo organizirati event svaka 2 mjeseca."
Pričalo se da bi hrvatski borac Stipe Bekavac mogao nastupiti na WSOF-u, hoće li se to dogoditi?
"Nisam siguran, za sada ne znam ništa o tome. Ako ima talent, sigurno će se boriti kod nas uskoro."
Cro Cop je spomenuo da nije gotov sa slobodnom borbom, te da je blizu potpisa ugovora s organizacijom koja nije UFC. Postoji li šansa da vidimo Mirka u tvojoj organizaciji?
"Nisam siguran, da vam iskreno kažem."
Ina Ferenčić
●●● English version ●●●
What role do you have in WSOF. To my understanding, you are the president, but what activities will you be in charge of - will you be more of a behind the scenes guy, or will fans see more of you, in press conferences, promo videos etc?
Yes I am the President of WSOF, I'm also the face of WSOF. I will be involved in everything to do with WSOF from production and matchmaking to media and so on.
What inspired you to get in this business adventure at this particulate period of time? Is this something you planned for a long time and this was the right period to get it rolling, or?
Yes it's taken 2 years of putting it together and it is the natural next step in my life as a Martial Artis.
Correct me if im wrong, but this is specifically an MMA organisation, right? If so - was there ever and will there ever be an option to make kickboxing/MMA cards, or something similar to that format?
Yes, it is an MMA fight organization. In terms of kickboxing, I can't say for sure right now but you never know.
It's clear many are excited to see what will WSOF bring to the table, especially since you have the star power in your inaugural event, but some people are skeptical, saying that maybe there is not that much room for new MMA organisation. On new show The MMA Beat they talked about how its better to start with new promotion locally and then gradually built it up and expand the horizons instead of "taking a shortcut to NBC Sports, which is an automatic red flag." What do you say to that?
Haters will always be haters and the fans will always be fans of the sport no matter what. There are no shortcuts what so ever with what we're doing and the fact that NBC Sports Networks is part of what we're doing makes it even better. As for room, this is a billion dollar industry and there is talent all over the world. We're taking one step at the time so we're not trying to rush anything. As you can see, it's taken 2 years to put everything together.
You have, if im not mistaken, a deal with NBC Sports to air 8 to 10 events. What did you envision and what are your goals for that period? Also, with that number of events, what kind of a time frame are we looking at? 1 year, 2 years, how often will we see WSOF events?
We're looking to do show's every 2 months.
Croatian fighter Stipe Bekavac was at one point talked about. Will we see him fighting in your organisation?
I dont know anything about that right now, but I'm pretty sure if he's got talent then he will be fighting for WSOF sometime soon.
Cro Cop talked about how he's not done with MMA, and that he's close to signing a deal with some organisation, not UFC. Is there any chance we will see Mirko in WSOF?
I'm not sure, to be honest.
-WSOF web page-
Na taj datum debitira Sefova organizacija World Series Of Fighting, a prvi event predvode Andrei Arlovski i Devin Cole. Popričali smo s Novozelanđaninom uoči priredbe koju mnogi s nestrpljenjem iščekuju, a zanimljive informacije saznajte u nastavku.
Koju ulogu imaš u WSOF-u? Poznato je da si predsjednik, no koje ćeš sve aktivnosti obavljati? Hoćeš li se baciti na posao iza scene, ili ćemo te češće viđati na konferencijama za novinare i u promotivnim video isječcima?
"Ja sam predsjednik i lice WSOF-a. Biti ću uključen u sve, od produkcije i medija, do matchmakinga."
Što te inspiriralo da kreneš u ovu vrstu posla baš sada? Koliko si dugo planirao ovako nešto?
"Na ovome radimo već dvije godine i ovo je bio prirodan sljedeći korak za mene kao borca."
WSOF je isključivo MMA organizacija, je li tako? Postoji li šansa da ikada vidimo kombiniranu priredbu, s kickboxing i MMA mečevima?
"Da, to je MMA organizacija, a što se tiče kickboxing borbi, nikad se ne zna."
Jasno je da su mnogi uzbuđeni uoči debija WSOF-a, pogotovo zbog jake postave u prvijencu, no neki su skeptični, te smatraju da jednostavno nema mjesta za novu MMA organizaciju. U emisiji The MMA Beat spomenuli su kako je najbolje krenuti s promocijom na lokalnoj razini te ju postepeno graditi, i da je to bolje od "uzimanja prečaca do TV mreže NBC Sports, što je alarmantno." Što kažeš na to?
"Mrzitelji će mrziti a fanovi će biti fanovi bez obzira na sve. Nema nikakvih prečaca i sjajno je što je NBC Sports Networks dio svega ovoga. Što se tiče mjesta u sportu, ovo je bogata industrija i svijet je prepun talentiranih boraca. Idemo korak po korak i ne žurimo s ničim. Kao što sam rekao, trebalo nam je dvije godine da krenemo."
Dogovor s NBC-om uključuje 8 do 10 borbi, zar ne? Što ste zamislili za taj period i koliko često možemo očekivati priredbe?
"Planiramo organizirati event svaka 2 mjeseca."
Pričalo se da bi hrvatski borac Stipe Bekavac mogao nastupiti na WSOF-u, hoće li se to dogoditi?
"Nisam siguran, za sada ne znam ništa o tome. Ako ima talent, sigurno će se boriti kod nas uskoro."
Cro Cop je spomenuo da nije gotov sa slobodnom borbom, te da je blizu potpisa ugovora s organizacijom koja nije UFC. Postoji li šansa da vidimo Mirka u tvojoj organizaciji?
"Nisam siguran, da vam iskreno kažem."
●●● English version ●●●
What role do you have in WSOF. To my understanding, you are the president, but what activities will you be in charge of - will you be more of a behind the scenes guy, or will fans see more of you, in press conferences, promo videos etc?
Yes I am the President of WSOF, I'm also the face of WSOF. I will be involved in everything to do with WSOF from production and matchmaking to media and so on.
What inspired you to get in this business adventure at this particulate period of time? Is this something you planned for a long time and this was the right period to get it rolling, or?
Yes it's taken 2 years of putting it together and it is the natural next step in my life as a Martial Artis.
Correct me if im wrong, but this is specifically an MMA organisation, right? If so - was there ever and will there ever be an option to make kickboxing/MMA cards, or something similar to that format?
Yes, it is an MMA fight organization. In terms of kickboxing, I can't say for sure right now but you never know.
It's clear many are excited to see what will WSOF bring to the table, especially since you have the star power in your inaugural event, but some people are skeptical, saying that maybe there is not that much room for new MMA organisation. On new show The MMA Beat they talked about how its better to start with new promotion locally and then gradually built it up and expand the horizons instead of "taking a shortcut to NBC Sports, which is an automatic red flag." What do you say to that?
Haters will always be haters and the fans will always be fans of the sport no matter what. There are no shortcuts what so ever with what we're doing and the fact that NBC Sports Networks is part of what we're doing makes it even better. As for room, this is a billion dollar industry and there is talent all over the world. We're taking one step at the time so we're not trying to rush anything. As you can see, it's taken 2 years to put everything together.
You have, if im not mistaken, a deal with NBC Sports to air 8 to 10 events. What did you envision and what are your goals for that period? Also, with that number of events, what kind of a time frame are we looking at? 1 year, 2 years, how often will we see WSOF events?
We're looking to do show's every 2 months.
Croatian fighter Stipe Bekavac was at one point talked about. Will we see him fighting in your organisation?
I dont know anything about that right now, but I'm pretty sure if he's got talent then he will be fighting for WSOF sometime soon.
Cro Cop talked about how he's not done with MMA, and that he's close to signing a deal with some organisation, not UFC. Is there any chance we will see Mirko in WSOF?
I'm not sure, to be honest.
-WSOF web page-
